University cuts, the whims of the federal government and smart college students are likely to be topics of debate as the state House and Senate try to hammer out a final budget compromise in the coming weeks.
The House passed its budget on a final vote just after midnight Thursday. The Senate will reject the $18.9 billion proposal, sending the document into a joint committee room where Democratic lawmakers, who control both chambers, will hole up until they reach a final deal.
Both chambers passed budgets that are full of cuts because the recession has left the state with an $800 million revenue shortfall.
"This is the hardest year ever in our modern era," said House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat.
Democrats in the House pitched their budget as one that protects K-12 education and community colleges. The Senate will likely object to the House's plan to make the deepest cuts to the UNC system.
The House also killed a provision long protected by the Senate that gives in-state tuition rates to out-of-state scholarship athletes. On Thursday, a Republican-backed amendment succeeded in also stripping out in-state rates for academic scholarship students from out of state.
Both chambers' budgets counted on $500 million in federal Medicaid money that may or may not get to the state. House leaders say they are working on a plan that would keep the budget in balance if the money doesn't come through.
"We're not going home leaving a hole in the budget," House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman said.
Staff writer Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.
