South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A new report from the NC Budget and Tax Center analyzes the final state budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 recently enacted by the NC General Assembly — a budget that “takes no significant actions to address the state’s growing structural budget deficit.” From the report:

Although the final budget increases spending by 1.2 percent over the continuation budget, when compared to state spending before the Great Recession it reflects a tremendously diminished baseline budget – one that has resulted in fewer teachers in classrooms, aging and out-of-date textbooks, skyrocketing tuition rates for students at public colleges and universities, higher costs for accessing the courts, and widespread disrepair in the state’s transportation infrastructure.
—
… From an overall fiscal standpoint, the final budget continues in the same direction as the one set in the 2011 legislative session. As such, it will continue to significantly underfund the education, well-being, and safety of all North Carolinians.