Berger: Make your move, Gov

Senate Leader Phil Berger says Gov. Bev Perdue should make up her mind on the budget as the legislature moves into what Berger says will be the final two weeks of regular session this year. 

Berger said recent news coverage of Perdue makes a veto sound likely, even though the budget passed both chambers by a veto-proof margin. “If she has decided she’s going to veto the budget,” Berger said, “she should go ahead and do that so we can move forward with addressing that particular issue.”

However, he added, “I would encourage her to sign it.”

Berger says Senate priorities for the next two weeks include a charter school bill – "more of the lifting of the cap and less of the other things that we’ve seen in various bills," he said - as well as voter ID, medical malpractice reform, annexation reform, and various election reforms which he expects will make crossover this week.

Asked about recent House protests, Berger said he thinks relations between the parties in the Senate remain civil.  But overall, he said, the rhetoric coming from critics of the GOP "has taken on a tone that I think is troubling.”

Berger said he's not surprised that some people are upset about changes Republicans are making.  "We’ve characterized it all along as some people being guardians of the status quo," Berger said.  But he added, “We should be careful about some of the kinds of things people are willing to do to voice their opposition.”