House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, countered GOP criticism of the budget by saying that they start from a different place.
“They are not up to the job of governing in a recession when decisions are hard,” Hackney said during a morning press conference. “It’s a decision to make yourself irrelevant.”
Hackney was starting from the continuation budget, which included increases in Medicaid costs previously absorbed by county governments, and increases in enrollment in the university system.
“They would simply take that out before they start,” Hackney said.
GOP leaders earlier in the day said that the Democratic budget writers did not cut spending over the actual previous years spending.
[...] legislative leaders have responded to House Speaker Joe Hackney’s claim that the GOP has become “irrelevant” in the budget process by dismissing it as mere [...]