No matter how hard as you try, it’s STILL a pig in lipstick
The competing state spending plans in Raleigh are what we’re talking about. Majority Republicans in each legislative chamber are beating on each other — trying to paint the other side as big-spending and out-of-touch. A majority of House Democrats are backing the House Republican plan. A liberal think tank attacks the House plan as *too conservative.* Senate plan supporters are bashing their House colleagues as tax-raisers.
In spite of those realities, supporters of each chamber’s spending plan tout their respective plans as the most conservative. What’s really going on here?
It’s as though we have a Republican establishment that is trying to redefine conservatism. (Thom Tillis is actually trying to run for reelection as a — get this – *conservative.*)
Tracking spending relative to the size of the state economy is nonsense. Both spending plans spend the same escalating amount for the next two years. Spending more money than you have now is decidedly not conservative.
First of all, what is being called “the budget” by the media and politicians is actually only The General Fund — a piece of overall state spending.
If you don’t believe me, look to what the John Locke Foundation had to say – back when they actually used to give a damn:
[…] State government reached its highest General Fund appropriation in 2009, with an inflation-adjusted amount of $22.5 billion, Curry reports. “Since that time, General Fund spending has been slowly decreasing, but total state expenditures have increased, as more and more state spending moves outside the General Fund.”
The shift away from the highly publicized General Fund has created a lack of transparency in North Carolina’s budget process, Curry said. “Government budgets have a reputation for being difficult for the typical citizen to understand, and North Carolina is no exception,” she said. “For many, the persistent growth in state spending is not easily visible because of the undue focus on the General Fund, particularly within the media.”
Media reports often label North Carolina’s General Fund as “the state budget.” Curry’s report explains that state spending also includes federal dollars, along with spending on non-General Fund items such as transportation and debt service.
“North Carolina has received about 45 percent of its total budget from the federal government over the past 10 years,” Curry said. “The number was even higher in 2010 and 2011, when the so-called federal stimulus package boosted federal funding to a historic high of 56 percent of North Carolina’s total budget.”
State government officials should be “wary” of allowing such a large part of the state’s expenditures to be dependent on federal funding, Curry said. “In reality, the federal government borrows all of this money before sending it to North Carolina state government,” she said. “This funding source suffers from the same uncertainty that plagues all of Washington’s deficit spending.”
Because of the lack of transparency in state government spending, many people might not realize that the state spends more on health and human services than on education, Curry said. “Since 2005, during former Gov. Mike Easley’s administration, the total HHS budget has been consistently higher than the total amount of funds spent on public education.”
Within non-General Fund spending categories, North Carolina spent about $4.5 billion on transportation-related items in the most recent fiscal year, Curry said. “That expense has grown by 123 percent since 1980,” she said. “In addition, the state’s debt service spending was relatively stable until surges in 1997 and 2003. Debt service spending increased by 193 percent during this period.”
[…]
A focus on total state spending would help policymakers who are interested in improving North Carolina’s economy, Curry said. “Total state spending is a more complete measure of the extent to which state government diverts real resources — land, labor, and capital — away from the private sector, where all economic growth is generated,” she said. “This diversion, also known as ‘crowding out,’ leads to less economic growth and job creation. This is why our elected officials must begin the process of reducing the size of state government.”[…]
In 2023, total spending approved for the General Fund was $30 billion. For 2024-2025, total amount for the General Fund was bumped up to $31.7 billion. In what’s being debated right now, the General Fund will get $32.6 billion in July 2025 and $33.3 billion in July 2026. The total amount within the General Fund is increasing each year.
Spending more money month after month and year after year is not conservative. It’s not. Who cares how you try to dress it up? Who cares how much lipstick you apply to it?
