Perdue orders 7 percent budget cuts
Fiscal analysts said this week that the state budget deficit had grown from earlier forecasts and would likely hit $2 billion this fiscal year.
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“The global recession has forced our state to make tough financial decisions,” Perdue said in a statement. “North Carolina has earned a reputation for managing our money wisely, and I will continue our state’s practice of sound fiscal management. I will meet my constitutional obligation to balance the budget, and I will meet it responsibly.”
Fiscal analysts said this week that the deficit had grown from earlier forecasts and would likely hit $2 billion this fiscal year. The current state budget runs through June 30.
Former Gov. Mike Easley last fall ordered agencies to cut their budgets by 2 percent and later increased the demand to up to 5 percent. Public schools, Medicaid and a few other programs are exempt from the cuts.
In addition to the 7 percent cuts, Perdue implemented a state government hiring freeze, banned travel and training and stopped the purchase of all goods and services aside from routine supplies and equipment and classroom instructional materials.
Pay-as-you-go appropriations for capital improvements and repair and renovation projects also were placed on hold.
Perdue visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to ask members of the state's congressional delegation and President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration for federal help with the deficit.
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