State Budget
JUST RELEASED: The Final 2015 Budget Undermines NC's Competitiveness
Lawmakers failed to provide a high-quality education for all children, protect natural resources, support community-based economic development, or provide adequate health and human services to North Carolina residents. By neglecting to make such investments, state leaders are hampering the recovery of struggling communities and failing to build a foundation for an economy that works for all. These shortcomings in the budget are another reminder that the state cannot afford the growing cost of the 2013 tax plan, which drained resources for schools and other basic services to mainly benefit high-income households.
Click here to read the complete BTC Report on the final budget.
You can learn more about Gov. McCrory's budget proposal here, the Senate’s budget proposal by clicking here and here, and the House’s budget proposal by clicking here.
IN FOCUS: 2013-2015 Budget Toolkit
Coming soon! The Budget & Tax Center is hard at work to update the resources on the 2013-2015 budget to reflect the latest legislative session. In the meantime, check out our blog series on the latest spending decisions here.
Here are some of our issue-specific fact sheets from the first year of the biennial budget.
- 2013-2015 Budget Factsheet
- K-12 Education Factsheet
- Higher Education Factsheet
- Women & the Budget Factsheet
- Economic development in rural areas and communities of color factsheet
- Spending Cuts infographic
- The 2013-2015 Final Budget
For more tools to talk about the state budget and its impacts, visit Together NC's Budget Toolkit here. togethernc.org/budget-toolkit/
ABOUT OUR STATE BUDGET WORK
The state budget is a reflection of North Carolina’s values and commitment to supporting economic opportunity and investing in the state’s future. The Budget and Tax Center produces rigorous analysis of state budget proposals to determine if they adequately fund public structures and services, particularly those that promote shared prosperity, quality education, and healthy communities.
Public Investments – Every year, the Budget and Tax Center produces a report on each of the state budget proposals—from the governor, the NC House and the NC Senate—and one on the final budget. We analyze the budgets to determine if they make adequate investments in education, health and human services, the courts and public safety, transportation and the environment. Legislators often refer to our analyses during budget debates, and public officials and progressive organizations throughout the state rely on our reports to help them understand the state budget and what it means for their communities and issue areas.
Fiscal Responsibility – The Budget and Tax Center is the only research organization that looks not only at what investments the state is making but also how it pays for them. In addition to our tax analysis, we look at how decisions about savings, fund transfers, and the use of one-time money affect the state’s long-term fiscal health. The Budget and Tax Center also monitors the transparency and accountability of the budget process.
Human Impacts – The budget makes a difference in our everyday lives and the vibrancy of our communities. The Budget and Tax Center works to engage with communities on the budget and its impacts and monitor and document how it is affecting North Carolinians.