Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC) to Unveils $19.9B Budget

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — Gov. Beverly Perdue rolled out what she considers an austere state government budget proposal for the next two years that would eliminate more than 5,000 state government positions, seek another 900 early retirements and keep a portion of the temporary sales tax on longer.

Unveiling her plan to the new Republican-led Legislature, Perdue said her spending plan for the year starting July 1 would be $19.9 billion, nearly $1 billion higher than the current year's plan, but had to make up for $1.4 billion in lost federal stimulus funds used to close budget shortfall the past two years.

She closes next year's budget gap, estimated at $2.4 billion, in part by keeping intact three-quarters of a penny of the one-cent sales tax set to expire June 30, which would put the base tax most consumers pay at 7.5 percent, while still generating $827 million next year. It also doesn't appear her budget extends a temporary surtax on income tax bills for the highest wage earners, the other temporary tax used by the Democratic majority in the Legislature and Perdue with the sales tax to help close shortfalls during the Great Recession.