With its leadership team chosen, the North Carolina Republican legislative caucus plans to start its budget-crafting work in earnest, with top leaders launching the laborious process of planning how to slash the state’s deficit next month.
Presumed House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, said the GOP plans to begin in December “with zero-based buildups on a department-by-department basis.” The goal is to overcome an estimated $3.2 billion deficit without raising taxes or cutting core services too deeply.
The legislature won’t convene until Jan. 26, but the incoming Republican majorities, faced with a daunting lineup of legislative hurdles, aren’t wasting time.
“What we hope to do is already have a lot of the people who are going to be playing roles in the committees [in place] fairly early in the legislative session,” Tillis said. “They need to start meeting and start going through that process now with staff and with the departments.”
The GOP caucus nominated Tillis for speaker on Saturday. The final vote won’t take place until the session begins.
Tillis edged out Wake County Republican Paul “Skip” Stam, the party’s minority leader since 2006, for the top post. The caucus nominated Stam for majority leader, the second-in-command position, Rep. Dale Folwell of Winston-Salem for speaker pro tem, and Rep. Marilyn Avila of Wake County for liaison of the joint House-Senate GOP caucus.
On the Senate side, Phil Berger of Eden, picked by the caucus as president pro tem, said caucus members already are “working on some transition issues” and getting staff together to tackle the budget.
Berger ran unopposed in his bid for the Senate’s top job last week. The Senate GOP caucus also nominated Sens. Harry Brown of Onslow County for majority leader, James Forrester of Gaston County as deputy president pro tem, Jerry Tillman of Randolph County as majority whip, Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County as caucus secretary, and Jean Preston of Carteret County as House-Senate GOP caucus liaison.
Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue is required to propose her budget first, then the General Assembly offers its own version. Perdue’s budget could come out as early as March.
Each legislative biennium, the House and Senate take turns voting on the budget first. In 2011 and 2012, the House gets first dibs.
On the Democrats’ side, outgoing House Speaker Joe Hackney of Orange County has announced he’ll run for the minority leader position. In the Senate, outgoing President Pro Tem Marc Basnight of Dare County said he wouldn’t run for the minority leader slot, paving the way for second-in-command Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County.
When the session convenes in January, Republicans will have a veto-proof 31-19 majority in the Senate and a 68-52 majority in the House.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.