Taking things into his own hands
Remember all that stuff you learned in civics class about how the legislature appropriates money for certain things and the governor executes that plan?
Forget about it.
Gov. Mike Easley announced this morning that he was getting a $75 million head start on next year's budget. (press release here)
Okay, now for that context stuff:
Schools across the state begin in August and North Carolina is under court order to fix disparities between poor schools and wealthier schools. Meanwhile, as loyal readers know, the General Assembly still hasn't passed a budget for the year. They should have had it done by June 30.
Easley's executive order to spend $75 million extra on certain education programs appears to satisfy much of that court order in advance of an August hearing in the case. And in the context of the over-all budget, $75 million won't break the bank.
And, yeah, sure, this is a pretty good way for Easley to show everyone he's working hard while the folks in the legislative branch are having a hard time getting things done.
Of course, Easley might find himself scrambling if the honorables don't include the $75 million in the final draft of the $17.1 billion budget. And, as I alluded to up above, there might be some folks who take exception to the governor shuffling around money that hasn't been appropriated.
If you don't mind some lower-than-usual quality audio, you can listen to the press conference by clicking here. (It's a 20 minute MP3 file.)