The state won't go hog-wild with spending under a budget approved by the General Assembly, but these days, who is, and who can afford to? What's important is that some bases were covered that need to be. Teachers at all levels of public education will receive 3 percent raises -- not a king's ransom, but not bad. State employees get a little less, and retirees get a little less still for cost-of-living. There may be some understandable disappointment, but plenty of folks in the private sector are sharing the pain.

Meanwhile, money will flow to some worthwhile things: help for disabled children in schools. Covering the costs of forensic exams in rape cases (victims have had to pay). Boosting programs to enable probation officials to track those who have broken probation. That latter item was a direct response to the murders of UNC-Chapel Hill's Eve Carson and Duke University's Abhijit Mahato.

The budget will help community colleges and the University of North Carolina system keep up with enrollment growth. And more poor children will qualify for a health insurance program and will be eligible for child-care subsidies. Some of the money that will go to expand four prisons might have been plowed instead into alternative punishment programs, but the needs of punishment and public safety must be served.

All told, this seems to be a responsible and enlightened budget. It adds money where needed but doesn't engage in lavish spending. It is cautious with tax breaks. Passage was timely. Unfortunately, a good bit of the budget was crafted in virtual secrecy by a few powerful lawmakers, a not-very-glorious tradition on Jones Street.

Now, a feature that has come under question is $857 million in borrowing for new buildings on UNC campuses, expanding the state Museum of Natural Sciences and providing a new building for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Borrowing when the economy is unstable and consumers are not confident?

But here's the point, as noted by Democratic Rep. Bill Owens of Elizabeth City. "We can build cheaper now than probably any time in the future. The contractors are hungry, they need the work, interest rates are low. It's a good time to do it."

That's a fair point, and construction always spurs the creation of new jobs, which the state desperately needs. That is economic stimulation at its most sensible.

Assuming that the national and state economies will eventually rebound, North Carolina does indeed need to invest more in teacher pay. It's true as well that states will have to move toward health care reform within their borders, to ensure that those in the middle-class can have access to affordable insurance.

In addition, although North Carolina is making some overdue moves in this direction, public transit will become all the more important even if fuel should take a dive in price. Reliance on oil is not a stable way to live, even when prices are more reasonable. These are all big-ticket agendas, and should move to the front burners of the next governor and lawmakers once it appears a bounce-back has begun.

For now, it appears legislators have done about as well as they could do, as reflected in the bipartisan (though far from unanimous among Republicans) support the budget received.