While Phil Berger might be the savviest Republican in Raleigh, Thom Tillis and the House budget writers should rank a close second. The budget that emerged from the House can be accurately described as bipartisan. Eight Democrats ended up voting for it, with only one Republican voting against. In today’s incredibly polarized environment, that’s no mean feat.
Back in 2011, the House consistently relied on five conservative Democrats to help enact Republican policies and override Bev Perdue’s vetoes. But it wasn’t just conservative Democrats voting for the House budget, but Democrats from across the ideological spectrum. The eight Democrats: Marcus Brandon, William Brisson, Tricia Cotham of Matthews, Ken Goodman of Rockingham, Charles Graham of Lumberton, Edward Hanes of Winston-Salem, Paul Tine of Kitty Hawk and Ken Waddell of Chadbourn.
A few of those Democrats are in competitive districts and voted the budget so they could return to their constituents and say that they gave raises to teachers. But most of them represent safe Democratic districts, and one of them, Brandon, won’t even be back next session. They voted for the budget not because of politics, but because it was a good budget, plain and simple.
The GOP didn’t need the help of the minority party this time to enact this year’s budget, of course, but their support gives it bipartisan credibility. And it will help Thom Tillis in his race for U.S. Senate. Voters across the nation are sick of polarization and want a Congress that can get things done. Well, Thom Tillis has gotten things done, and he’s done a lot of it with bipartisan support.
Of course, now comes the really hard part – getting the House and the Senate and the governor to agree on things. So far, though, the GOP leadership in North Carolina has weathered the potential storm of their second legislative session quite effectively. A fiscally responsible, bipartisan budget which gives raises to teachers would be the cherry on top.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
Is this supposed to be a satirical story (and picture)?
…or just really lazy spin?
Thank you, Troy, for bringing us back down to Earth.
Well lets see. By count, there are currently 121 members of the house, including new appointees and 5 seats vacant due to resignation. Of the 121, 34 are Democrats and of those, 8 voted for the budget.
In other words, bi-partisanship is comprised of 6.6% of the total members of the House and 23.5% of all the Democratic members currently in the House.
I can only conclude that never have so few, been credited with so much, for so little.
I agree with your post, but the House has 120 members (not 121), with no current vacancies.
I didn’t figure the General Assembly website would be up to date. I went there and simply counted so obviously I overcounted by one. Please forgive the error, it wasn’t done purposefully.
Only you, John, and the other delusional conservatives, could call this budget bipartisan and fiscally responsible. There are at least 2 kinds of irresponsible budgets — those that overspend and those that, despite real societal needs, underspend. This House bill is the latter, and is especially ill-advised because it uses a trick source of revenues that likely won’t materialize.