As one of his final acts as governor, Pat McCrory submitted his recommended budget for 2017-18. Outgoing governors are required by state law to submit a budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
The most significant of his recommendations is a more than $1 billion bond to address transportation needs.
“My recommended budget supports a future transportation bond of over $1 billion that will anticipate and prepare for future road needs,” he said, adding that the bond would not require a tax increase.
Details of the bond proposal were not included, however McCrory did propose a similar $1.4 billion bond in 2014 to address transportation projects including urban loops in Fayetteville and Winston-Salem and other highway improvements. The legislature, however, did not include that portion in the $2 billion bond package that would be approved by voters in March.
Legislative leaders indicated the idea would not pick up steam.
“I would doubt at this point that that is going to find much traction in the Senate,” Sen. Bill Rabon, co-chairman of the Senate transportation committee, said Tuesday.
He said he did not see the legislature, particularly the Senate, supporting a transportation bond until the N.C. Department of Transportation proved it could deliver projects in a timely manner.
Leave a Comment