Owens will likely vote to override veto

[barbmarz]

FROM THE DAILY ADVANCE

Owens: Veto override likely

By Reggie Ponder

The Daily Advance

Friday, June 3, 2011

State Rep. Bill Owens said Friday that if Gov. Bev Perdue vetoes the
General Assembly’s $19.7 billion budget, helikely will vote to override
her veto. The nine-term lawmaker also said he’s “95 percent” certain his
current two-year term will be his last.
Owens, D-Pasquotank, was one of five House Democrats to vote Friday for
a state-spending plan written by Republican lawmakers that’s been
criticized by state Democrats as cutting too deeply funding for
education, the environment and other programs.
The state Senate, which is also controlled by the GOP, is expected to
sign off on the budget today. From there, the plan will go to Perdue, a
Democrat who said Friday that she has not made a decision yet on whether
to veto the GOP budget.
But thanks to Owens and the four other House Democrats, the veto
question may be moot. If Owens and at least three of his fellow
Democrats — Tim Spear, D-Washington, Jim Crawford, D-Granville, Bill
Brisson, D-Bladen, and Dewey Hill, D-Columbus — stick with their
Republican colleagues on the budget plan, the House and Senate should
have enough votes to override Perdue’s veto.
The new budget plan reinstates some 13,000 teacher assistant positions
that had been cut in earlier versions of the budget. It also funds a
number of projects in the northeastern region that Owens and Spear
pushed for, including continuing funding for Museum of the Albemarle and
the N.C. Seafood Industrial Park and not adding tolls on the Knotts
Island or Ocracoke ferries.
Hill told the Associated Press Friday that he would vote to override a budget veto by Perdue.
Although Owens hedged his comment by insisting “I’m not going to cross
that bridge until it happens,” he acknowledged “I would guess that all
five of us would vote to override the veto the way things are now.”
Owens said he feels obligated to vote for a budget plan that he helped
work out, especially since Republican lawmakers agreed to reinstate all
the teacher assistant positions.
“To be honest with you, we never thought they would come this far, and they did,” Owens said.
Owens said he still supports the governor and they are still friends. He will work for Perdue’s re-election next year, he said.
“This will not have any effect on how I think of her,” Owens said.
He said he understands that Perdue probably is angry with him right now. But he said he has done what he believed was right.
“My word was my bond,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing the right thing
rather than the politically right thing. I believe in negotiating and
trying to make it better rather than just put my head in the sand and
say I don’t like it and put war paint on and fight.”
Owens said he had always voted for the next year’s budget, whether it was as a county commissioner or a state legislator.
He said he believes he and the rest of the small group of Democrats got
things done by being in the room with the Republicans. He said they
were trying, among other things, to avoid a possible shutdown of state
government.
There are bad things in every budget, but this budget now funds K-12
public education at a level only one-half of one percent less than what
was in the governor’s budget, he said.
Total spending is roughly $230 million less than the governor’s budget — about a one percent difference, he said.
On another topic, Owens also said Friday evening that he was “95 percent” sure he will not run for re-election next year.
“I’m probably not going to,” he said. “I’m 95 percent there. You never
say never, but unless something drastically changes, I’m not.”
Owens said his decision may depend partly on the results of
redistricting and certainly will take into consideration whether there
are good candidates that file next year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Contact Reggie Ponder at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]