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Wed.: 102-12
posted at 2008-06-05 01:50 | Last modified 2008-06-05 01:59
Yep, the budget passed the House - in a big, big way. 39 out of 52 Republicans voted for it, praising its conservative growth (3.9% to 4.9%, depending on who you ask) and its lack of new taxes.
Mostly, though, a lot of folks just seem to think it's a pretty good budget. There are cuts, but they’re distributed fairly evenly. There’s very little that qualifies as pork. And even though budget writers didn’t have a lot of spare change, they managed to sink a sizable chunk of it into long-term investments like infrastructure projects, land conservation, and dropout and gang prevention programs.
Transportation didn’t get as much love – maybe because folks were hoping for a bond on the ballot this fall. That may not happen. Maj. Leader Hugh Holliman said the House probably won’t be able to do much more for transportation till next session.
No love for the lottery
House members unanimously agreed to a floor amendment today that caps lottery employees' raises at the same rate as other state employees. That's after the Lottery Commission decided last month to okay 5% raises for agency workers.
The measure by Wake Dem Ty Harrell was a logical next step after last night's lottery flap in Approps. (Harrell backed Hurley's proposal to cut lottery officials' salaries.) Harrell was pretty happy about today's vote. His extended comments:
Listen Now!
Lottery officials couldn't be reached for comment tonight. But in the past, they've argued they ought to be able to set their own raises because their salaries come from ticket sales, not tax dollars.
Civility in motion
Since becoming Speaker last year, Joe Hackney has talked a lot about setting a tone of bipartisan civility in the House. One small vote today proved it’s working.
Minority Leader Skip Stam had to recuse himself from the budget vote because of a conflict of interest. (Turns out his wife and her family have a financial interest in some property included in a DOT earmark.) But he still wanted to be able to argue and vote on amendments to other parts of the bill.
That presented two problems. First, House rules don’t really allow it. If you say you can’t vote on a bill, you generally don’t get to vote on amendments to it. Second, as minority leader, Stam’s likely to throw a monkey wrench or two into the process, with references to Justinian and the Magna Carta on top.
Still, Hackney agreed to let Stam ask the House to suspend its rules to allow him to weigh in. The response was unanimous. Every member on the floor agreed to give Stam the right to speak, regardless of what he might say.
You might think respecting the minority leader would be a no-brainer. It ought to be. But I can remember sessions where I doubt that motion would’ve even been allowed, let alone unanimously sustained. Nicely played, folks.
About that monkey wrench…
Stam says he’ll ask for another suspension of the rules tomorrow – this time, to consider a budget amendment that would repeal the land transfer tax option. I’m anticipating a bit less bipartisan unity on that one.
But, hey, you never know. The Dems might just agree to repeal it. Politically speaking, it’s poison: it’s been beaten so thoroughly in so many counties already that it’s pretty much untouchable now. Worse yet, it could become the Dems’ albatross in November if the realtors’ and homebuilders’ lobbies stay mad enough to bankroll some key GOP challengers.
Happy(-ish) Birthday
Meck GOP Freshman Ric Killian stood up today to wish his seatmate, Guilford Rep. John Blust, a happy 54th birthday. Tongue firmly in cheek, Killian had some fun with his seatmate’s reputation.
“If someone were to ask me to describe my seatmate, many words would come to mind. …In fact, Representative Martin and I are working on co-authoring a bill for a combat legislative patch for my service back here.”
Killian's best wishes are here.
Listen Now!
Heads will roll
The anti-forced-annexation folks turned out to lobby lawmakers today. Points for the best lobby-day prop EVER - an actual guillotine (Binker has fabulous pix). Points for perfect timing, too - turns out today was also lobby day for the NC League of Municipalities, the anti-annexers' nemesis.
Apart from some elbow-fencing in the elevators, I didn’t see any physical contact. But rumor had it the anti-annexers planned to protest the League’s legislative wine-and-cheese reception this evening. I overheard one NCLM staffer saying some lawmakers had already told her they wouldn’t cross the picket line.
I don’t know how that all worked out. But judging from some of the lawmakers who drifted back in later this evening, I’d say a few of them managed to have a pretty nice time, guillotines notwithstanding.
Comments? Drop me a line.
