Perdue calls for more taxes, fewer education cuts
GREENSBORO — Two young girls greeted Gov. Bev Perdue at Smith High School auditorium with signs that set the tone for the afternoon.
“Save teacher jobs, save class size.”
Perdue told gatherings of teachers in Greensboro and Raleigh on Wednesday that lawmakers should raise taxes to protect public school classrooms from budget cuts.
“It’s been hard for me to watch the General Assembly work to try to close this enormous gap ... to make sure the state works for all you all,” Perdue said at Smith.
In Raleigh, she called the idea of adding two children per classroom next year and three children per classroom the year after “totally unacceptable.” She also called on lawmakers, who began negotiating a final budget deal this week, to avoid cuts to teacher pay and classroom supplies such as books.
“I have talked to them about the money that is necessary to keep North Carolina’s public schools whole and let us have an economic development future,” Perdue told reporters.
Those words fell on many skeptical ears in Greensboro, where teachers and school system officials questioned the likelihood of anything but significant cuts to education, pointing to cuts made this year.
“I feel very betrayed by the governor,” said Mike Moser, a Kernodle Middle School teacher. “What she did to us here today was just a repeat of what she did to get elected.”
Moser, a teacher in Guilford County for seven years, said the proposed job cuts had been hard on Kernodle staff and many worry next year will be difficult.
Perdue visited a meeting of the top legislative budget writers early Wednesday and said she spoke to them “the need for revenues,” meaning new fees and taxes.
The House and Senate are trying to reconcile previous versions of the budget into one agreement that is due by July 1. The final agreement will have to bridge a $4.7 billion gap between the money North Carolina projects it will make from taxes and the spending it needs to continue programs at current levels.
The House has proposed raising taxes by $784 million through a combination of methods, including adding two new income tax brackets and raising sales taxes.
Perdue said Wednesday that more increases were needed and made a pitch once again for raising the excise taxes on beer, wine and cigarettes. House and Senate lawmakers rejected those increases this spring but might be pushed to reconsider them by the worsening budget situation.
Although Perdue declined to say how much she wanted to see taxes raised, legislative leaders said she is asking for up to $1.5 billion in new taxes — double what the House proposed.
Alan Duncan, the Guilford County school board chairman, wondered where the details were in Perdue’s rallying cries. “The governor hasn’t offered any specifics about how to get there,” he said.
Sen. David Hoyle, a Dallas Democrat and one of the Senate’s chief tax writers, said he thought the General Assembly could raise that much in new revenue if lawmakers were willing to make extensive changes to how taxes are collected.
“Everybody’s going to have to take a bad dose of medicine, but we’re not going to give them a lethal dose,” Hoyle said.
Income, sales and corporate taxes would have to be applied to more people, items and services under a Senate plan for tax changes, Hoyle said.
In exchange, the rate paid on any one item or for any one income level would come down.
A similar idea was in the House budget, which proposes expanding sales taxes to such items as warranties and appliance installations. The Senate proposals, which were floated this year and have been echoed by independent tax reform commissions, would take that idea further.
Most attending the Greensboro rally were members and supporters of the N.C. Association of Educators, an association of teachers that acts much like a union and pushes for changes in public policy.
Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com
Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Gov. Bev Perdue
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