News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

Senate Democrats and Republicans sittin in a tree...yep. Never thought we'd see a budget with this kind of vote huh? With a 47-2 vote, the Senate tentatively approved its version of the budget.

Don't get me wrong, Republicans have plenty of problems with it (spending, COPS, etc.) but several times today we've heard the R's say it's the best budget they have ever seen.

Namely, two temporary taxes are cut and there's some ghost positions eliminated, and Republicans admit they are initiatives they've been pushing for years and that's why they agree.

A real interesting point was Sen. Fred Smith not only voting for it but speaking on behalf of the budget after the vote. Why is that interesting? He's running for governor and he's a Republican. I'm sure his opponents will have something to say. However, he told reporters no matter how he would vote he would be critiicized.

The two no votes came from Sen. Andrew Brock and Sen. Eddie Goodall. Sen. Brock said he would have voted yes if it was for the $1.2 billion in COPS for universities.

It will be interesting to see how the House reacts to this now as the two sides meet to "compromise"!