That's why there's not much new here. Critics also complained of too little information. The governor's expansion budget depends largely on the work of his tax loophole-closing and efficiency commission, which has begun to meet. But the critics wanted to have the list submitted with the budget. It's a long way until June 30, so the critics shouldn't panic.
Legislators can expect a detailed list as the governor has promised.
Those who speak of the budget as too much argue that the governor went too far in the level of spending and too far by assuming that a lottery tax would be in place in November 2002. The budget critics point out that spending is increasing at about the same rate as in the past two years. But Easley had much less flexibility than his predecessors, as he faced significant health care cost increases that squeezed all the revenue out of his pocket. Let those with some concrete ideas for controlling health care costs cast the first stone. Now the fate of the lottery tax is uncertain.