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RALEIGH (AP) — The General Assembly worked out Wednesday a stopgap spending measure to keep state government operating for another two weeks because a final budget remains out of reach. Gov. Beverly Perdue quickly signed the measure.

Democratic leaders agreed to extend through July 31 a so-called "continuing resolution" that would have expired at midnight.

The Senate and House each approved by wide margins the compromise measure, which directs Perdue and state agencies to spend no more than 84 percent of what was approved in last year's budget to save money. The previous temporary spending plan limited spending to 85 percent.

Perdue has been trying to coax fellow Democrats to approve a spending plan while urging them to raise more than the $990 million in additional tax revenues they've targeted for this year.

She met with House and Senate members earlier Wednesday, Perdue spokesman David Kochman said.

"The General Assembly must continue working aggressively to pass a balanced budget that protects education and core health and public safety services," Perdue said in a prepared statement after the bill signing.

The tax issue remains the largest obstacle to completing a budget, said Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, one of the House's chief budget negotiators. House and Senate Democrats meeting separately on taxes have been exchanging offers but have made little progress over the past month.

"There are a couple of stalemates out there that I don't have any control over at all," Michaux said on the House floor while debating the temporary plan. "Once that gets settled, I can move."

Although the House approved the stopgap plan by a wide, bipartisan margin, some Republicans jumped on the second delay in the budget's approval since June 30 to criticize the slow movement and what they call bloated spending.

If state government can operate for up to a month on 84 percent of the $21.3 billion budget — or less than $18 billion, there's no reason why they can't adopt a budget for the year without raising taxes, said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett.

"Maybe we need to look at spending a little bit less," Lewis said. "Maybe the state government can share in some of the belt-tightening" that citizens are having to make due to unemployment and salary cuts, he added.

House and Senate Democrats have been working daily on the spending side of the budget, but several controversial items remain unresolved.

Legislators say they haven't decided how much they'll increase the average number of students in public school classrooms, which in turn would save money by reducing spending for teacher salaries. Perdue and the state's top teacher lobbying group are opposed to the idea, saying it would lead to teacher layoffs.

And they also haven't agreed whether athletic and academic scholarships for out-of-state residents should continue to be offered at in-state rates, with taxpayers picking up the difference.