Wednesday Wrap: Budget highlight reel outtakes
The full Senate budget was released shortly before midnight Wednesday and included a number of policy provisions not noted among the budget "highlights" rolled out Tuesday by Republican leaders.
Posted — UpdatedOne would discard the Jordan Lake Rules, Falls Lake Rules and other water-quality regulations and put the Environmental Management Commission in charge of drafting a statewide water-quality plan by 2019. Another would reinstate a priority pass for state ferries for anyone who shells out $150.
The spending plan steamed through two committees Wednesday and will be on the Senate floor for votes Thursday and early Friday.
Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, said he will eliminate Fayetteville State University, Winston-Salem State University and Elizabeth City State University from a budget provision that would have reduced their tuition to $500 per semester for in-state students after supporters of historically black colleges criticized the plan and marginalizing the schools.
In non-budget news, a Senate committee discussed tossing high school math curriculum and reinstating a "traditional" sequence of algebra and geometry, and two House committees passed a proposal to cancel the state's contract to build toll lanes on Interstate 77 near Charlotte.
Gov. Pat McCrory also signed North Carolina's waiver application to the federal government to carry out the state's Medicaid reform plan.
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
