New report analyzes piecemeal budgets signed into law ahead of session

RALEIGH (Jan. 9, 2020) – As the General Assembly heads into session next week, the Budget & Tax Center has released a new report that looks at the dozens of piecemeal budgets North Carolina has proposed and passed in lieu of a comprehensive state budget, at least 20 of which have been signed into law.

“These piecemeal budgets have continued the decades-long trend of underinvestment in communities and services across the state,” said Suzy Khachaturyan, co-author of the report and Policy Analyst with the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. “Instead, we need a better comprehensive budget that serves the people, not the wealthy few. Neglecting North Carolina families is not the way forward.”

The brief, which includes a list of the piecemeal budgets that have been signed by the Governor, discusses how piecemeal budgeting and self-imposed tax cuts have pitted community priorities against each other. Upside-down taxation, inadequate revenue, and waning public investments have caused many pressing priorities to slip through the cracks, leaving working families to pick up the pieces. With a cleaned-up tax code, North Carolina could adequately fund Medicaid and teacher pay — the very issues that resulted in the 2019 budget veto.

“North Carolinians deserve better transparency and accountability in state budgeting,” said Leila Pedersen, Policy Analyst with the Budget & Tax Center and co-author of the report. “The current piecemeal approach to state budgeting fails to provide the certainty that agencies need to be effective, the direction local governments need to plan sustainably, and the opportunity to hold lawmakers accountable to the people they were elected to serve.”

Read the report.

The Budget and Tax Center conducts non-partisan analysis of state budget and tax policy and monitors economic conditions in the state. We produce timely and accessible research that contributes to policy discussions and public debate, with the goal of building a broader understanding of the role of policy in supporting economic opportunity for all.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Leila Pedersen, Budget & Tax Center Policy Analyst, leila@ncjustice.org or 919-861-1451; Suzy Khachaturyan, Budget & Tax Center Policy Analyst, suzyk@ncjustice.org or 919-861-2211; or Mel Umbarger, BTC Senior Communications Specialist, at mel@ncjustice.org.