Shrugging off the chants of teachers assembled outside the General Assembly building, the North Carolina House gave tentative approval to a $19.3 billion state budget that sharply reduces education spending and eliminates thousands of jobs. The bill moves to the Senate, where Republican leaders hope to make even deeper cuts and pass a more austere budget.
Given the size of North Carolinaís revenue shortfall, citizens expect lawmakers to construct a budget that responsibly reduces the size of government while also protecting those areas most critical to the stateís future. The House budget clearly values the first mandate more than the second, and Raleigh must strike a fairer balance between the two in order to serve the public.
It has been said that a budget should be seen as a statement of priorities more than a list of funding appropriations. How a government spends the peopleís money in a fiscal year should reflect citizensí expectation for public services as well as their aspirations for the future. Some investments made now will not reap dividends for years to come, but that does not diminish their importance.
Education is the perfect example. Cuts made to the university system or the community college system have both short-term and long-term implications for their resident communities and the state as a whole. Slashing funding for public schools promises to harm a generation of students ó the very future of North Carolina. Spending decisions in these areas must be made with tremendous care.
That does not seem the case with the House budget. On the campaign trail last year, Republicans pledged to close the $2.4 billion shortfall without tax increases and while allowing the expiration of temporary taxes, two promises fulfilled by this spending plan. However, this bill raises a multitude of fees instead of taxes and still cuts education spending by 8.8 percent. And even by GOP estimates, it will eliminate thousands of jobs at a time of record unemployment.
Voters made their voices heard last year when they elected a Republican majority, and certainly the revenue shortfall calls for belt-tightening. However, this budget goes too far by unnecessarily ransoming the future of public school students and recklessly cutting jobs in critical areas of need. …
ó Daily Reflector
Greenville