A lot of the news lately from the General Assembly has been about proposals to wildly expand charter schools, deny loans to community college students and allow guns in bars and restaurants, but deliberations about the state budget are proceeding too, mostly at 8:30 every morning.

That's when budget subcommittees are reviewing not only the spending recommendations from Gov. Beverly Perdue, but also “options” presented by legislative staff to help lawmakers find another $1.5 billion to cut beyond the reductions Perdue proposed.

Legislative leaders continue to refuse to consider raising new revenue to avoid draconian cuts and have also ruled out continuing the 2009 temporary tax increases for two more years. Perdue's budget leaves  3/4 of the one-cent sales tax increase in place.

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