The Senate's $19.4 billion budget officially introduced Tuesday failed to win over Democrats in the legislature or Gov. Bev Perdue, who continued to reject proposed education cuts.
The education budget remains a key sticking point, even though Senate Republicans added a little more than $140 million than the House proposed, bringing the total for K-12 public schools, community colleges and the UNC system to $10.7 billion.
Perdue has been pushing back on proposed education cuts, and she took her campaign to schools across the state this month.
Perdue's spokeswoman, Chrissy Pearson, said the governor is reviewing the Senate proposal and continues to be concerned about cuts to community colleges and teacher assistants.
"There were some good overtures made by the Senate," Pearson said. "They talk the good talk. They need to back that up with the House in the final budget, or she'll be forced to veto it."
Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said the budget is a step in trying to work things out with the governor. "This is a responsible budget that cuts taxes, reforms education and reduces spending, and it does it all in the context of a $2.5 billion shortfall," he added.
The budget lets expire a one-cent temporary sales tax increase and a temporary income tax surcharge. Perdue proposed keeping a portion of the temporary sales tax.
The Senate budget would eliminate teacher assistants for all but kindergarten classes, while getting a start on a Senate plan to reduce class sizes to one teacher for every 15 students in the first- through third-grades.
The Senate budget committee is expected to debate and vote on the plan today, with the full Senate voting next week.
The Senate budget would damage education, mental health care and protections for women, Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat, said.
"They are going right to the heart of what the people of this state care about," he said. "Obviously, the gloves are off."
Five House Democrats voted for the GOP House budget, and Republicans would like to keep at least four of them as 'yes' votes in case of a Perdue veto. If all House Republicans are present, four Democratic votes would be enough to override a veto.
Republicans didn't have those four Tuesday.
Big change for SBI
The budget made other changes in transportation, health and criminal justice.
If approved, the proposed Senate budget would cut the size of the state's Department of Justice by more than half, moving the State Bureau of Investigation, the state crime lab and justice training programs out from under the supervision of the state's elected Attorney General.
The SBI would be moved to the new Department of Public Safety, a consolidated agency that would also include what are now the cabinet-level departments of Correction, Crime Control and Public Safety, and Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
GOP budget writers hope to cut cost and shed high-paying administrative jobs through consolidating control over all public safety functions into one agency. The Senate budget would also require the secretary of the new agency to be nominated by the governor but then approved by the legislature, a provision that would potentially weaken the authority of the state's chief executive.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said the SBI was created as a part of the Justice Department precisely so that it would not be under the supervision of the governor. SBI agents are routinely called in to investigate allegations of wrongdoing involving other state agencies, including the Highway Patrol.
Under the Senate's organizational plan, the SBI would be in the same department as those it might be called on to investigate. That could potentially create conflicts of interests.
"That independence has been vital in allowing agents to work unfettered by pressure or expectations to uncover corruption in the legislative, executive and judicial branches," Cooper said in a statement released by his office. "To have the SBI report to an agency head appointed by the governor and approved by legislators puts that freedom to investigate at great risk."
Health and the DOT
In health, the Senate proposed eliminating several optional Medicaid services for adults in 2012-2013, including physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy, and would limit dental care to emergency cases, unless the patient is pregnant.
Sen. Doug Berger, a Franklin County Democrat, protested making service cuts before an open discussion about the effect on patients.
Senate Democrats opposed a move to dissolve the Smart Start parent office, the N.C. Partnership for Children, and roll the administrative duties into the state Department of Health and Human Services. The move would save about $5 million. Democrats said it would impair the ability of local Smart Start offices to raise outside money, as required by law.
The transportation budget would cancel two toll road and bridge projects and block state funding for rail transit in Charlotte as part of an effort to reserve extra money for road maintenance and bridge repair.
Fiscal researchers said the Senate plan would provide enough money to replace 36 percent of North Carolina's substandard bridges over the next two years.
"We wanted to target more dollars to maintaining the system we have - as opposed to building new roads, new bridges, new parts of the system," Phil Berger said.
The Senate would kill state funds for two rail transit projects in Charlotte. That could set a precedent for Triangle officials who are counting on the state to cover 25 percent of construction costs for planned light rail and commuter train projects that could cost a total of $3.5 billion over the next 15 years.
"This would hurt Charlotte in the very near term and, if it were to stand, would hurt us in the Triangle, clearly," said David King, general manager of Triangle Transit.
But Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary, one of the chief budget writers, warned against reading too much into the current plan. He said he would not rule out prospects for Triangle rail transit funding in future years.
Staff writer Jane Stancill contributed to this report.
