State Legislators Field Public Opinions on Budget
Thursday, June 11, 2009
State Sen. Don Davis, D-Greene, is working on his first state budget this year, which just happens to fall during the worst economic crisis to hit North Carolina in decades.
"This is a very historic moment, and tough decisions are going to have to be made," he said.
Davis and his colleagues in the Senate and House have been bombarded with pleas from constituents asking them not to cut various education, health care and other state-funded programs as the legislature struggles to close a budget gap of at least $4 billion.
"I think right now a lot of residents are concerned about their jobs, about program funding, and I would say that I've really made my way around to hear the various concerns," said Davis, who has fielded calls at his Raleigh office and been approached during visits to his district, which covers Greene, Wayne and Pitt County.
Aides for other regional representatives - Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin; Rep. Van Braxton, D-Lenoir and Speaker pro tem William Wainwright, D-Craven - said the legislators had been swamped Tuesday with meetings and legislative sessions.
They could not be reached by press time for comment.
Gov. Bev Perdue has presented her budget to the legislature, and the Senate has passed its version. The House is still debating its version.
Davis said that once the House passes its budget, Senate and House budget writers will go into conference and hammer out a final budget.
"These are trying times for us, and really a historic moment for our state," he said. "We've really not seen anything like this in decades."
The freshman senator urged the public to remain hopeful and work together. He said the business cycle should swing back to prosperity soon.
"Continue to feel free to share with me, with us, as we are working through this moment of time, this critical moment," Davis said. "We're going to do everything we can to work through this, but its going to take everyone working together at all levels. Families are tightening up; our government's going to have to tighten up, and we're going to need everyone to really join together to get through this, and we will, we will."