A senior House Finance Committee chairman resigns his post in a spat with Speaker Thom Tills. Senators will wrap up their week by sending the House a $20.6 billion budget.

Senators gave tentative approval Wednesday to a $20.6 billion budget that Republican leaders say will help right North Carolina fiscal ship even as Democrats slammed cuts to schools and economic development programs.

House lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday on a bill that would dissolve the lease for the Dorothea Dix property but offer the City of Raleigh concessions for not fighting a rewrite of the deal.

The Senate's $20.6 billion budget pursues many of the education policy changes lawmakers have pursued throughout the spring. It would also trim services for those who receive Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.