Adjournment, finally: Consider it a job.....done

Editorial by Burlington Times-News, September 30, 2015.

By any standard the N.C. General Assembly just wrapped up a very long long session. It took eight months — speeding well past July 4 and beyond Labor Day. A budget was just completed, landing more than two months behind schedule and drawing mostly mixed reviews. The bond package favored by Gov. Pat McCrory to pay for roads and other infrastructure needs was among the final items approved, even though it was talked about for months. This occurred just after midnight and into Wednesday morning.

Roughly the time the cows come home, as the old expression goes.

So it was probably understandable that members of the state Senate burst into cheers when Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, that body’s presiding officer, gaveled the session to a merciful end around 4 a.m.

Some no doubt will hail a job done, if not exactly well done. After all, there was plenty of squabbling this session even amid the Republican majority members in both chambers. Critics, among them Democrats, environmentalists and educators, breathed a sigh of relief that no more damage could be inflicted. That was a view imparted to the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education by Superintendent Bill Harrison earlier this week, who bemoaned “another budget that is not good.”

As always, the session was an assorted bag of hits and misses. On the plus side, lawmakers brought back the historic preservation tax credits, a program that has had a huge impact in Alamance County in terms of restoring old mills and other former manufacturing structures for new purposes. On the debit side, lawmakers thought it OK to allow state employees like magistrates to opt out of performing same-sex marriage ceremonies even though it’s part of their jobs to do so.

Among the notable “who knows” measures, the General Assembly voted to privatize Medicaid, which could save the state money and reform a program in need of alteration. But the options taken in the Senate and House compromise have had mixed results in other states and may not bode well for North Carolina.

State lawmakers also:

? Approved another round of tax cuts for families and small businesses, and lowered corporate income tax rates, the latter in hopes of luring an automaker to the state.

? Toyed with the idea of eliminating the driver education program in schools, and also kept teacher assistants in limbo for months. The delays in decision-making created budget problems for school systems statewide.

? Raised pay for teachers early in their careers, but once again failed to do much of anything for veteran teachers. A study by WalletHub found this week that North Carolina is the second worst state in the nation for teachers. On the plus side, teachers will get a tax deduction for purchasing classroom supplies.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/article/20150930/OPINION/150939855/15233/OPINION