Perdue offers budget

A spokesman for Republican Governor-elected Pat McCrory said the Democrat's outline will be used as a "starting point" in constructing next year's budget.

Posted 9:36 p.m. Dec 17, 2012 — Updated 9:36 p.m. Dec 17, 2012

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue won't be around next year when the General Assembly convenes and begins considering a new state budget. But that didn't stop her from passing on her thoughts to incoming Gov. Pat McCrory.

“Over the last four years, we took decisive action to head off severe financial crises that many other states have experienced,” said Gov. Perdue. “As the economy continues to recover, we need to preserve and maintain our long history of fiscal discipline, but at the same time, we must continue our tradition of investing in North Carolina and its nearly ten million residents.”

Among Perdue's recommendations is "adding $50 million to expand NC Pre-K program by adding 9,175 all “at-risk” four-year-olds to high-quality pre-kindergarten classes."

It's not unusual for governor's to leave behind a briefing on the state of the budget for their successors, although it's not always transmitted by way of a news release.

"I think we're reviewing the assumptions and recommended changes in her budget," said Chris Walker, a spokesman for McCrory. "We're reviewing that and using it as a benchmark in our budget for next year."

Perdue's budget outline is here. Her transmittal letter is here.

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