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Sen. Phil Berger can find plenty to criticize about the Senate version of the budget passed last week. He says it spends too much money, hurts counties and paves the way for unwise tax increases.

But what irks the Eden Republican and the GOP leader in the Senate the most is this: He wasn’t really sure what he was voting against. The budget passed the Senate 30-16 Thursday and now goes to the House.

The budget, Berger said, was written mainly behind closed doors and Republicans had little say in its crafting.

“That is the way under the leadership of the Democrats that business is conducted in the Senate,” Berger said. “There’s a certain amount of arrogance to it.”

Berger’s complaint is not a new one. Across the country, the party that holds fewer seats in the legislature frequently complains it is shut out from meaningful budget negotiations and party members’ bills are often never heard.

Democrats hold a 30-20 advantage in the North Carolina Senate. In the House, Democrats hold a 68-52 advantage.

“The way our system is set up, if you have the majority of votes, then you run the show,” said Thom Little, an adjunct professor at UNCG who also works with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation.

Little said most House speakers or Senate president pro tempores — the top officials in those chambers — would say they treat the minority party fairly, even as legislators such as Berger complain about inequities.

In fact, when Dare County Democrat Marc Basnight, who leads the Senate, is asked about Republicans’ input into the budget, he says: “They can have all they want.

“There’s a committee system that they’re involved in, and it is inside that committee that you will see the budget come together.”

Berger is skeptical of that claim, saying that the real decisions are made outside the committee system and largely out of public view.

Little said those are not uncommon complaints, but they rarely rile the public. “Maybe it should matter to voters, but really, it’s an inside game. And really what voters are looking for is the impact at the end of the day.”

And voters seem satisfied with the Democrats’ management of the state, said Mileah Kromer, assistant director of the Elon University Poll.

A recent poll found voters generally approved of the job that House and Senate leaders were doing.

Aside from winning more seats, Kromer said, Republicans need to do a better job of making their case on specific issues.

“What the Republicans would have to do is somehow get public opinion on their side,” she said. For example, she said, the GOP would have to offer an alternative to the budget crafted by Democrats and convince voters their ideas are better.

As it stands, some Republicans can make headway. Sen. Stan Bingham, a Denton Republican, sometimes votes with Democrats. In exchange, he has been granted a committee co-chairmanship and is able to move legislation through committees.

But Republicans who don’t break ranks have trouble getting their legislation heard.

“This idea that you create some super-members and some subservient members is unfair,” said Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican who has long advocated for amending legislative rules. “And it’s unfair to the voters from the people’s districts.”

He argues that voters from Chatham County have more of a say in the operations of the state than those from Guilford County because the House’s top leader, Speaker Joe Hackney of Chapel Hill, represents Chatham.

“We’re all supposed to be equal, but that’s not the way it is,” Blust said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com