The “Gov. Perdue's budget slashes 10,000 state jobs - CharlotteObserver.com”

Gov. Perdue's budget slashes 10,000 state jobs - CharlotteObserver.com

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Posted: Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011

The proposed $19.9 billion budget unveiled by Gov. Bev Perdue this morning would slash about 10,000 state workers while seeking to protect funding for K-12 education and the state university system.

As she mentioned in her State of the State address earlier this week, Perdue would cut the state's corporate tax rate from 6.9 percent to 4.9 percent. The cut would make the state's tax on businesses among the lowest in the nation and give Republicans a political victory.

However, Perdue's budget also keeps most of the 1 cent temporary sales tax Republicans have pledged to let expire. Perdue's budget keeps the tax at 3/4 of a cent, making the total state portion of the sales tax at 5.5 cents.

Perdue's budget proposes eliminating about 5,000 state jobs through eliminating or reorganizing 176 state-supported programs, and another 4,000 workers through mandated cuts at state agencies.

Another 1,000 jobs are to be shed through offering early retirement packages to state workers. Workers could get payments of between $10,000 and $20,000 to leave, depending on whether they have the years in to be eligible for full or partial retirement benefits.

None of those job cuts would be in education. Perdue's budget protects all state-funded teachers and teacher assistents. She also gives a modest increase in funding to the UNC-system to help cover the cost of enrollment growth. There will still be cuts to programs at the universities and a tuition increase for students.

Community colleges also fare reasonably well. Perdue has proposed the N.C. Career and College Promise — a new program that provides two-years of tuition-free college credit to state high school students who maintain high grades and meet other standards.

Perdue's budget also trims some popular state services. State parks would be closed two days a week, as would the state welcome centers at interstate rest stops.

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