In the cramped confines of the State Capitol Building, Easley declared a state of emergency and more plans for balancing the budget.
The last time an N.C. governor used emergency powers to deal with a budget crisis was in 1991 when the state faced a budget shortfall of more than a billion dollars.
Most recent estimates indicate that the state's budget deficit will reach between $600 million and $790 million by the end of the fiscal year.
Easley ordered three specific actions -- reviewing budget allocations on a monthly rather than quarterly basis, authorizing himself to take further actions if necessary, and creating an escrow account in the Office of the State Controller into which funds will be collected from several sources and could be used to deal with the budget shortfall.
The funding in the escrow account will come from the suspension of contributions to the state retirement fund, suspension of debt payments to local governments, collecting on money owed by the federal government and pulling funds out of several other accounts.
All told, the additional cuts will bring in $558 million in dealing with the budget deficit.
Easley also mentioned the possibility of pulling $40 million out of funding to the Hurricane Floyd relief effort, though he said such a move would be a last resort.
Easley already has allocated close to $400 million in dealing with the budget deficit -- all of which could bring in enough funding to deal with a budget shortfall of up to $1 billion.
"(These actions) will balance the budget even given the worst-case scenarios," Easley said.
