RALEIGH -- The House approved an $18.9 billion budget Thursday after more than six hours of debate in which Republicans slipped through small, but meaningful, changes.
Democrats, who control the chamber and write the budget, pitched their proposal as one that protects K-12 education and offers help for small businesses. Not one Republican voted for the budget, and none were expected to vote for it on its final vote, shortly after midnight.
House Speaker Joe Hackney said he was disappointed in Republicans, who he said didn't offer meaningful solutions to the state's $800 million revenue shortfall.
"They just won't do the hard work of governing," Hackney said.
Republicans said that Democrats didn't cut deep enough and didn't include real help for small businesses.
"Who in his or her right mind is going to hire somebody for a year because of the prospect of getting $250?" state Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican and the chamber's minority leader, asked about the bill's tax credit for businesses. "Most of the provisions of this bill about jobs are a fig leaf. They're not real."
The tally was 62-55, with four Democrats voting against it. The budget is headed next for a conference with the Senate. The two chambers will work out a final compromise in which many of the hard-fought details can be changed. A key issue for negotiators is the House's proposal to spare K-12 education at the expense of the UNC system.
The House budget would move money from the state lottery to preserve K-12 teacher jobs and would include millions to cover a 16 percent increase in community-college enrollment driven by the recession. It includes deep cuts to the UNC system and banks on a half billion dollars in federal money that is anything but certain.
"There had to be a haircut somewhere in the budget," Rep. Ray Rapp, a Mars Hill Democrat, said in explaining the university cuts.
Republican triumphs
House members debated nearly three dozen amendments over six hours and 10 minutes Thursday. As usually happens in the Democrat-controlled chamber, Republicans threw up a lot of amendments that failed.
But two notable Republican-backed amendments were successful. Both had failed in Democrat-dominated committee meetings this week.
One amendment, by Rep. Bryan Holloway, a Republican and former teacher from King, would eliminate end-of-course tests for students in U.S. history, physical science and civics.
EOC tests take beating
Holloway said the tests are meaningless and wildly unpopular with students, parents and teachers. The tests don't show whether a student actually learned anything in a course and are not required by the federal No Child Left Behind program, he said.
"This body is smart enough and intelligent enough to listen to the people you represent," Holloway told House members.
Rep. Bill Faison, an Orange County Democrat, said the tests mean that teachers stop teaching the course material as the year ends and start teaching the tests.
"This stuff is an absolute complete waste," Faison said.
The amendment would divert $2 million from the tests to pay for classroom supplies.
Another change by Onslow County Republican Rep. George Cleveland diverts $6 million to technical education at the expense of a tuition break for out-of-state university students on academic scholarships.
"I do not think our constituents should be supplying millions of dollars to support students from out of state and out of country," Cleveland said.
The House budget had already denied in-state rates to out-of-state students on athletic scholarship. Opponents of Cleveland's amendment said the out-of-state students who are qualified enough to earn full academic scholarships are just the kind of students the state wants to attract. Many of them stay in North Carolina.
Headed to the exits
The fact that the budget has cleared two chambers in early June may not be a record for the legislature, but it certainly shows an unusual eagerness to finish the session quickly.
Rep. Hugh Holliman, the House's Democratic majority leader, said lawmakers don't want to hang around much longer than a couple of weeks.
"Let's finish this up and go home," he said.
Staff writer Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.
