The Wilmington morning star., 1947-01-19
Lexis lature Is Quiet
After A Stormy Week

RALEIGH, Jan. 18.@P-After a
stormy week during which il
received from Governor Cherry
proposals calling for. the largest
budget in state history and became
involved in a week-long debate on
boosting the salaries of teachers
and state employees, the general as
sembly was quiet today.
With only a handful OF members
present, the two chambers met
briefly this morning, considered a
few local bills and adjourned to
resume parliamentary maneuver-
ing over the pay issue Monday eve
ming.
The House returned the issue OF
nigher emergency bonuses for
teachers and State employees to a
conference group when it met yes;
terday, and the Senate is expected
to name its conferees at Mondays
session.
Hence, the issue that convulsed
the General Assembly all this week
and resulted in two House votes
rejecting administration plans to
keep salary increases at a maxi
mum of 20 per cent, cannot be
finally settled before Tuesday.
Provisions for emergency pay
increases of 20 per cent here con
tanned in a bill introduced in both
Houses last Monday night along
with administration budget pro-
posals calling for the spending Of
a record 1908, 645, SAT to operate
State departments and institutions
during the 1947-49 biennium.
Speedily passed by the Senate,
the pay bill was amended in the
House by a group of legislators bent
on forcing salary increases fol-
the remainder of the fiscal year
and for the 1947-49 biennium above
the 20 per cent recommended by
Governor Cherry. The amendment
offered by Rep. Oscar Barker OF
Durham called for increases of %
to 80 per cent.
When the Senate refused to con-
cur in the House amendment, a
conference committee, composed Of
five representatives and three Sen
ators was named. The group work
ed out a compromise that would
have preserved the 20 per cent fig
ure but would have granted a sal
airy bonus almost equal to the So
$50, 900 provided for in the barker
amendment by making the bonus
retroactive to Dec. l, 1916 instead
Of Jan. l, 1947.
The House yesterday reinstated
it's five original c%onferees, Reps. R.
L. Harris of Person, Arch T. Allen
of Wake, Frank Taylor of Wayne,
F. E. Wallace of Lenoir and Bar
ker, and House Speaker Thomas J..
Pearsal of Nash named four addi-
tional %conferees, Reps. E. T. Bost.
Jr., of Cabarrus. Roy Taylor of
Buncombe, Fred Royster of Vance,
and Frank Sims of Mecklenburg.
The committee, like the original
group, is composed of a majority
of administration supporters who
favor limiting the pay INCREASES to
20 per cent, but Barker said that he
had not asked the House to instruct
its c%onferees because:
They ought to know by now that
we wont go along on any variation
of a 20 per cent plan"
A proposal Barker made to the
original conference group probably
will receive serious consideration
when the conferees meet again.
THIS plan calls for monthly pay in
creases as follows: $25 in the ST.
200 bracket, 1928 in the 81, $50
bracket, $3.50 in the 81, $50 bracket
S34 in the 81, TAO bracket, $37. so
in the $500 bracket, SAL in the
81, 100, and a maximum increase
of $45 in the brackets from 81. 4O1
up to Sc, 600.
Although the fight is being wag-
ed over increases for the remain.
oef of the fiscal wear. fha 1eoiSIa