ASHEVILLE – State Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, said improvements in education funding were among the main reasons he voted for the House budget bill recently but worries a forthcoming Senate version will not be as positive.
Two percent pay raises for teachers and state employees, a provision raising starting teacher pay to at least $35,000 a year and a large increase in textbook funding were big factors in his vote, Turner told the Citizen-Times editorial board Monday. Other factors included restoration of a tax credit for historic preservation projects and restoring an income tax deduction for medical expenses, he said.
Republicans were in charge of the budget process, but, “I’m not going to vote for or against something just because of the party that wrote it,” Turner said. “Good policy is good policy, no matter where it comes from.”
The budget bill passed 93-23 on May 22 with support of a majority of both political parties. There were 32 Democrats voting in favor and 12 against. Eleven more conservative Republicans voted against the bill.
The vote split the all-Democrat Buncombe County House delegation, with Turner and Rep. John Ager voting in favor and Rep. Susan Fisher against. Democrats who opposed the bill generally said it did not do enough for education and Republicans casting “no” votes said some of the tax breaks in the bill cater to special interests or criticized it as spending too much.
Turner said there were several aspects of the bill that he didn’t like, but, “I thought there was more good than bad in it.”
“It’s one of the better budgets that we’ve seen in the past four or five years,” he said.
After the House vote, the bill went to the Senate, where leaders say they will make significant changes. They have criticized the amount of spending in the $22.2 billion bill.
The Senate could pass a budget bill as soon as next week, almost surely setting up negotiations between the two chambers on a final bill.
Turner won his first term in the House last November and represents a district taking in most of southern and western Buncombe County. On other topics Monday, he said:
•It would have been difficult for city or county government to get a dedicated share of proceeds of a proposed increase in the Buncombe County hotel-motel room tax. A bill to raise the tax from 4 to 6 percent is moving through the General Assembly.
Tourism industry groups statewide would oppose any move to use a room tax to fund projects not related to tourism, he said. Local hoteliers have taken the same stance.
Turner said Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, has “been pretty clear that he won’t be supportive of anything the industry’s not backing.”
•Partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts has a detrimental effect on the legislative process.
Some legislators, he said, “are really beholden to no one. Their districts were drawn so they’re untouchable.” Turner favors having an independent commission draw district lines.
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