News-Record.com

According to this one, the honorables may consider doing a separate supplemental budget after the main budget is put to rest this summer. This supplemental would contain a bunch of earmarked funding that gets left out of the $18.8 billion main budget, which is due for approval by July 1.

In other words, instead of simmering the pork - excuse me, vital local economic development projects - with the stuff that actually runs statewide government programs, the honorables would haul out a brand new frying pan to crisp up the bacon. Local groups that came looking for help with operational expenses, nonprofit building projects that needed government grants and other bits of largess could all be tossed in.

The crazy thing is, a group of us scrubby press types were talking about this possibility before the current session began. It was sort of a "wouldn't it be goofy if" type conversations.

So when the first person to mention the idea to me brought it up last week, I thought this was a case of the media brewing up its own story. When it came up a second time from someone completely different, it was time to dig a bit.

The source of this rumor seems to have been a House Democratic caucus meeting last week. A few people who were there have told me it was brought up as "an idea." Now since "ideas" that come up in those caucus meetings have a habit of becoming actual proposals, I don't blame folks for giving it a little credence.

But why even think about doing such a thing? Wouldn't it be just as easy to salt the main budget with special projects if you're going to do it?

The logic goes something like this: The Senate has sent over a relatively austere - if not completely pork-free - budget. House members either won't want to be tagged by campaign opponents with hamming up the budget or get into a protracted budget negotiation with the Senate. To avoid this, they pass out and negotiate a final budget that is relatively lean.

That will surely disappoint some constituents, who will complain loudly that worthy projects that just need a little help from the state being left out. And hey, the honorables love being able to go back home and tell the Rotarians or whoever that the new bypass/museum/organic-fruit-stand/whatever got money from the General Assembly.

At the same time, it's possible that some extra money might come Raleigh-way either from extra-fruitful tax collections or some account who forgot to carry the 1 or something. Really, some mind boggling sums can be found between the legislative sofa cushions.

Rather than let the money sit fallow until next year - some of these boys and girls will be out of office next year - they'll take some and divide it between all the oxen that got gored during the main budget process.

So far, this seems to be an idea unique to the House.

"I have not heard that," said Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat and one of the Senate’s appropriations co-chairs. "I cannot imagine why." she said, before trailing off and repeating, "I have not heard that, no."

And remember, in the budget dance, it takes both chambers to tango.

Even so, while this rumor doesn’t seem to have both feet in the world of fact, it has at least a toe-hold and bears watching.

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Remainders: For those who are interested, the bill sponsored by Sen. Stan Bingham that would make it illegal for those under 18 to use a cell phone while driving cleared a Senate judiciary committee last week. It should wander onto the floor sometime soon, after which it would head to the House.