The dredge funding requires the private company to also pay $15 million for the $30 million dredge and provide work to Dare County at a reduced rate in exchange for a state loan eventually being forgiven. Republicans countered that it was not uncommon when Democrats were in the majority for nearly a century that budgets were negotiated behind closed doors, then dropped in the laps of members just hours before a vote. Republican leaders of the state House and Senate created a conference committee of 40 members, all from the GOP, to hammer out the $23.9 billion spending proposal for the fiscal year that starts July 1.īut using the conference report process shuts off any debate or amendments and only allows up-or-down votes by the various committees, then the full chambers, which has not happened with a budget in modern history.ĭemocrats say they have been shut out from having any say in the proposal. The biggest local provision authorizes $15 million from the shallow draft inlet dredging fund to create a partnership between the state and a yet-to-be-identified private company to purchase a hopper dredge, with Dare County paying for its operation in Oregon and Hatteras inlets and other channels. This year’s legislative short session is expected to be about as short as it can get, and passing an adjusted state budget is going to be even shorter in what’s being called an unprecedented move.
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