Senate gets first crack to pass NC budget changes
RALEIGH -- The legislature's first crack at adjusting next year's North Carolina government spending plan falls to the Senate.
Senators planned an unusual Friday afternoon session to debate the Republican-penned budget bill and hold the first of two required votes. The second vote should follow just after midnight.
The proposal changes the second year of the two-year budget approved last summer. It would spend more than $21 billion - less than 1 percent above what Gov. Pat McCrory proposed for the year starting July 1. But McCrory says he's concerned about the proposal in several areas, including education and health. Senate Republicans want to go in a different direction than McCrory on Medicaid reform and teacher compensation.
The House will follow the Senate with its own plan later.
