You’ve likely heard by now that the N.C. House voted to override Gov. Perdue’s veto of the state budget late last night. The override was made possible by five House Democrats providing the needed 3/5 majority.
Reaction was predictable, with Republican leaders declaring victory and Democrats demonizing the budget with thoughtless hyperbole.
House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, who backed Perdue’s veto, was critical of the budget and the wee-hours override.
“If I had the worst budget in modern North Carolina history for education, the environment, for courts, for human services, I’d want to do it at midnight, too,” he said.
WRAL provides more reaction to the veto override here, as well as an interesting look at some of the “compromises” included in the final budget – specifically some goodies included for some of the five Democrats who sided with the Republican majority in the override vote.
Next up is a vote in the Senate expected for Thursday. Republicans hold a 31-19 advantage in the Senate, so no Democrat votes would be needed to sustain an override vote.
UPDATE: Under the Dome is reporting that the Senate will hold their override vote today.
[…] cuts at all to education constitute irreparable “generational damage” and the “worst budget in modern North Carolina history for education“, despite the fact that per-student education spending was much lower for most of the 1990s. […]