The Senate's budget was unveiled Tuesday, and it sets up a fight with the House over who gets the bigger raises next year, teachers or state employees.
Teachers have been the winners in recent years and continue to be so under the House budget. But Senate leaders say it's time to give other state workers some love, and their budget would give them more than teachers for a change.
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Other wrinkles in the Senate plan include tweaks to the franchise tax rollback and the slight increase in the standard deduction to eliminate any notion of an overall tax increase as they levy more against the operators of the new Medicaid managed care contracts.
Speaking of Medicaid, like the House version, the Senate doesn't include any expansion in its budget, setting up a battle with Gov. Roy Cooper, who has made expansion a top priority this year.
Senators also tinker with changes to the state Certificate of Need process for building new health care facilities, film grants and other programs in their spending plan.