Perdue becomes 1st NC gov to veto budget plan

RALEIGH, N.C. — Democrat Beverly Perdue has become the first North Carolina governor to veto a budget bill since the chief executive was given the power in 1997.

Perdue’s announcement Sunday in the old Capitol building said the Republican-led Legislature’s $20 billion proposal would do “generational damage” to public education. She says the Legislature has turned its “back on our schools, our children, our longstanding investments in education and our future economic prospects.”

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said the veto was irresponsible and political. He says the budget plan she rejected does more to create jobs and help public schools than her own.

North Carolina governors have vetoed 15 bills over the past 14 years, but never a budget plan.