Wednesday Wrap: Reading budget tea leaves
There's still no budget deal - and not even any formal negotiations between the House and the Senate - but the @NCCapitol team senses some movement toward a resolution in the offing.
Posted — Updated- Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, and Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly, two key lawmakers in the budget negotiations, were exchanging friendly banter Wednesday morning at a Senate Rules Committee.
- Lawmakers have stopped public sniping against members of the other chamber.
- The House Rules Committee will take up a technical corrections bill on Thursday.
Outside the budget, the Senate gave preliminary approval to an economic development bill that also includes a controversial provision to cap local sales tax rates at 2.5 percent. That would prevent Wake County from either approving a half-cent increase to its tax rate for a regional transit system with Durham and Orange counties or a quarter-cent increase to boost teacher pay.
The provision highlighted a split between lawmakers from urban and rural counties.
The Senate Rules Committee approved a bill that would allow Fayetteville to restart its red light camera program. But the committee is apparently killing a bill that would allow law enforcement to put license plate scanners along state highways.
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