On the afternoon following a midnight veto override in the House, the N.C. Senate followed suit—overriding Governor Perdue’s veto on a 31-19 party-line vote. The General Assembly’s budget reconciles a $2.4 billion budget shortfall and makes good on Republican promises not to extend the temporary Sales Tax. Following the Senate’s veto override, the Republican Senate Caucus released a memo—heralding the budget as right-sizing government and justifying their veto override as not succumbing to Perdue’s political games. The following is an excerpt from the memo, including a message from Senate President Pro Tempore Berger:
“Final passage of this bipartisan budget signals a new, more responsible era in North Carolina state government – one in which legislators spend tax dollars wisely, fuel job creation in the private sector, and refuse to settle for average results in public classrooms,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham). “Despite the governor’s frantic media campaign, extreme rhetoric, and creative accounting, the facts are clear: our $19.7 billion budget will do more for public classrooms and help the economy create more jobs than her own proposal. On this historic day, the will of the voters and the representatives they elected prevailed over the governor’s desperate attempts to defend the status quo and appease her liberal political allies.”
This is the second time in North Carolina’s history that a governor’s veto has been overridden.
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