Gov. Bev Perdue today issued the following statement:
"I'm disappointed by the statements Republican legislative leaders made today about my efforts to reach a bi-partisan agreement on the budget.
"Last week, I reached out to Speaker Tillis and President Pro Tem Berger in an effort to reach a consensus on the budget. I didn't ask them to meet me halfway, I just asked them to do a little bit better and invest a little bit more in our children's future.
"Today--after we learned that the state fiscal year will close out with an additional $117 million in over-collected revenue--I was hopeful that a bipartisan agreement was within reach.
"The extra investments I asked for would not have corrected all the flaws in their budget -- far from it. But in light of all the policy and ideological divisions, I hoped and believed that the extra resources I requested were reasonable, would make their budget just a little bit better, would improve our ability to prepare our children to compete in the 21st century global economy, and could form the basis of a workable agreement.
"There's still time. I renew my call for the leaders in the General Assembly to work with me to reach an agreement on a budget that can become law by July 1."
Source: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/NewsItems/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?newsItemID=2488
