Gerlach fights for Easley's interests

Budget talks enter crucial week

For some at the legislature, a rumpled, quick-witted state bureaucrat named Dan Gerlach might as well be the governor of North Carolina.

Gerlach in fact reports to Gov. Mike Easley, and this week, with talks on the budget urgent and a key deadline close, he will be pacing the halls, pushing Easley's priorities, helping shape the numbers as lawmakers try to make a deal.

Gerlach is Easley's main guy at the legislature. Easley himself will contact legislators directly only occasionally.

"Gov. Easley? Who's that?" joked Rep. Paul Stam, the Republican leader in the House. "You could go ahead and say Gerlach is the governor."

Gerlach, 40, is in an especially crucial role these days as Easley's time in office runs out. Easley, a Democrat, has 18 months left in his second term. Many of the governor's biggest ideas require funding in the budget -- and this year and next are Easley's last chances.

The new fiscal year begins Sunday (the day a new budget is supposed to be in place), but Easley and legislators are at odds on major points:

* Easley wants to keep sales and income tax increases from 2001 on the books, for example, but the Senate is pushing to eliminate them.

* Easley wants to spend heavily on education efforts, including an online initiative for high schoolers and a new $50 million scholarship program that he promises will help needy students graduate from college debt-free. Legislators haven't been as enthusiastic.

* Easley wants to revamp one of his pet projects -- the lottery -- to boost prizes and the programs that lottery money supports. But lawmakers want to hold off changes.

Gerlach is leading the negotiating for Easley, but it's not from a position of entire strength. If the House and Senate agree on a budget, Easley's role is reduced to approving it or vetoing it. In the unlikely event of a veto, enough lawmakers could still override it.

Shuttling among offices one day last week, Gerlach paused in a hallway at the state government complex. He acknowledged there are a lot of things the sides can't agree on -- "just yet."

Asked whether he would need to give in on major points, he said no.

"We can't give up," he said. "I don't give up. The governor doesn't give up."

Effective, expert

And so Gerlach's job is to ensure that Easley can live with most of what is included in the budget that passes both chambers.

Gerlach has been ranked in annual surveys as one of the most effective lobbyists in Raleigh, a showing that reflects his boss, but also his methods.

"A different man with a different personality would be way less successful as the governor's emissary," said Sen. David Hoyle, a Gaston County Democrat. "When Dan gets it down to the specifics, the governor ends up winning a lot because of it."

Gerlach is known for a dry humor and a self-deprecating wit. He calls people "commander" and "lieutenant," and is an admitted Star Trek geek. To Gerlach, a memo isn't a memo. It's a "magnum opus" or -- to denote gravity and authority -- a "basso profundo."

Last week, in the midst of a budget meeting, lawmakers broke out in song on Gerlach's 40th birthday. Gerlach seized the moment. He shut his eyes and made a wish, then opened them. "Darn," he said. "You're all still here."

He's also known for providing accurate numbers in a place where having reliable information is like owning a water spigot in a desert.

Gerlach is an expert on the state budget and tax structure. But he rarely carries a piece of paper -- his brain seems to hold it all. Gerlach can quickly summon numbers on a vast array of programs and initiatives, from Medicaid to building construction plans.