State budget receives mixed reviews

The state budget modifications passed by the N.C. General Assembly last week have left some groups satisfied, and others wanting more.

Legislators have lauded the proposed bill for its fiscal responsibility, because they filled a $500 million budget shortfall in education and health and human services.

But some believe the budget is not doing an adequate job funding education.

The budget provides for a tax break for businesses and does not raise taxes. It also gives public school teachers and state employees a pay raise.

The bill revises the biennial budget approved last June for fiscal years 2011-13.

Rep. Mike Hager, R-Cleveland, praised the budget for its ability to fill a hole while funding for education. But given the economic difficulties faced by the state, he said it was best that could be done.

“It forces the whole state government to live within its means until we can find a better time,” he said.

Jay Schalin, director of state policy for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, said the proposed budget did not come as a surprise.

“This was a continuation of last year’s budget with less than one percent added,” he said. “It won’t affect UNC’s operation’s hardly at all.”

UNC-system President Thomas Ross said in a statement that he supports the budget.

“We understand that resources are scarce in every part of state government and believe the legislature worked hard to address our most significant needs and assist us in protecting the quality of education we deliver to our students,” he said.

But some progressive advocacy groups are angry about the budget’s potential affect on public and higher education in the state.

Alexandra Sirota, a budget analyst for the N.C. Justice Center, said the budget is a $2 billion decline in pre-recession level spending.

“It will compromise our state’s future because it does not invest in public institutions,” she said.

Sirota said the UNC system is operating with 11 percent less money than before the recession, but demand for higher education is higher than ever.

Despite raising the salary of teachers, Sirota said the budget would eliminate an estimated 3,000 teaching positions at public schools.

“There is a lack of reinvestment in a critical time in our state’s economic recovery,” she said.

Hager said many of the problems with education are structural in nature and cannot be fixed by spending more money.

The N.C. Justice Center is among groups like the N.C. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Clean Water for North Carolina and Democracy N.C. in its opposition to the budget.

“Our budget is a reflection of our values and how we want our state to look in five or ten years,” Sirota said.

“We’re not investing in things that bring broadly shared prosperity, like infrastructure, schools and small businesses. Policy makers are making decisions for a few at the expense of the whole.”

Contact the State & National Editor at state@dailytarheel.com.