On Thursday, the House and Senate approved the third continuing resolution of this Session . This resolution, presented as Senate Bill 191, continues the operations of state government through Thursday, August 11. Legislative leaders will continue to work on crafting a 2005-07 budget conference report that is acceptable to both chambers and falls within the 5.6% cap on spending growth that has been set by Governor Easley.
One major breakthrough on the budget was achieved this week. House and Senate negotiators reached tentative agreement on the cigarette tax increase. The conferees will recommend an increase from the current $.05 per pack tax to $.30 per pack during the current year. The tax would rise an additional $.05 on July 1, 2006.
The remaining issues delaying the budget conference report appear to be the state employee pay raise, several components of the proposed state lottery, and granting authority to UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University to independently set tuition rates. This last item has emerged during the past two weeks as an important point of contention between the Senate and the House.
