Legislative Watch: Budgeting in the Dark
The 2018 North Carolina state budget bill, developed entirely in private by a small group of exclusively Republican state legislators, was publicly released late Sunday night, less than 14 hours before a Monday morning committee meeting at which it was first discussed. Legislative leaders chose to file the budget as a conference report, which means no amendments will be allowed–only an up or down vote in each chamber. Final votes are expected by Friday, only four days after the budget was unveiled.
This process, with no public input or input from legislators not involved in the conference committee, has not been used for a budget in at least 30 years. Media accounts questioned the secrecy of the process, and minority party legislators blasted it, claiming it was intended to preclude the chance for their members to put forward amendments to receive votes on the public record. Rep. Grier Martin (D-Wake) said, “This is the most abusive process I have ever seen. We are talking about how we’re going to spend several billion dollars of taxpayer money and yet cutting off the input of the taxpayers.”
As of press time for this CIB, the impact of the provisions pertaining to the environment and public health are still being analyzed, but initial reports are that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will not receive enough funding to properly safeguard our air and water from pollutants like GenX. Expect further communications from NCLCV in the coming days.
