LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN: House Budget Recommendations

 By Alexandra Forter Sirota
Director, Budget & Tax Center
April 26, 2011

• The budget proposal from the NC House relies almost exclusively on spending cuts to reach an $18.3 billion budget target—an 8.4 percent reduction over the current-year budget that represents the largest year-over-year reduction in total state spending in the last 30 years.
• These proposed budget cuts would negatively affect public structures and services at a time when there is greater demand for them to help struggling families, support a growing and diverse population and build an economy that works for all.
• North Carolina’s policymakers do have choices available to them that could minimize the worst impacts of proposed budget cuts. Raising revenue through forward-looking reforms could provide the resources needed to support the state’s public structures, promote economic recovery and address the state’s fiscal challenges for the long term.