NCGA: A conservative direction? (THAT is not what the numbers tell us.) | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton reminds us that Republicans also need to be managed in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    If you believe the GOPe campaign rhetoric, they've got our state headed in a "conservative direction." *Wow. That sounds great. We must be cutting taxes and the size of government all over the doggone place. Right? (Um, right?)*

    Well, we decided to verify all that talk with the good folks at the National Association of State Budget Officers. This organization publishes a helpful document called a "State Expenditure Report." (This report covers 2013-2015. Republicans have controlled the purse strings in Raleigh during that entire period, and - arguably - HAVE in DC. )

    Check out page 8 of the linked document. It shows that - over the last three years - North Carolina sad state government has been one of the biggest spenders in the southeastern United States. Only the folks in Richmond and Tallahassee have the folks in Raleigh beat. Georgia comes in a close 4th behind North Carolina in the ranking of big spenders in the southeast.

    The NASBO study offers up the following spending data (capital inclusive) for North Carolina State government:

FY 2013: General Fund - $20.2 billion;
federal funds - $12.64 billion;
other state funds - $9.8 billion;
Bonds - $231 million
(2013 TOTAL: $42.86 billion)

FY 2014: General Fund - $20.23 billion;
federal funds - $13.51 billion;
other state funds - $9.86 billion;
Bonds - $187 million
(2014 TOTAL: $43.79 billion)

FY 2015: General Fund - $20.67 billion;
federal funds - $13.93 billion;
other state funds - $9.76 billion;
Bonds - $101 million
(2014 TOTAL: $44.46 billion)
    Gee. And here I am thinking "conservative" means tightening your purse strings and spending LESS. *Silly me.

    You can blame some of this on mandatory federal spending. (But the GOP had de jure control of THAT during this entire period!) I do see the General Fund spending creeping up each of those years. (And THAT has been under the control of Republican majorities.)