By Peter Biello
Wilmington, NC – Governor Mike Easley says he's working hard to get lawmakers to agree on a new state budget.
The debate over how to pay for Medicaid is keeping the new budget from passing. Governor Easley says he's trying to get the House and Senate to agree on a provision that would take Medicaid from the counties and give counties the option to levy a 0.4% property transfer tax.
If we have some additional revenues that the counties can use then they can lower property taxes and pick up Medicaid, make sure that gets used, to help our low-wealth counties.
North Carolina is one of the last states in the nation to require counties to pay a portion of Medicaid costs. Lawmakers have passed a stop-gap spending resolution, which will keep the government running for 30 days.