Stone joins Tillis & Berger's call for court clarification on pre-K decision

Phil Berger

President Pro Tempore

North Carolina Senate

Thom Tillis

Speaker of the House

North Carolina House of Representatives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 15, 2011

GA leaders call for court clarification on pre-K decision

Raleigh, N.C. – To protect taxpayers and the integrity of North Carolina’s pre-kindergarten program, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis are requesting clarification from Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning regarding his recent order on pre-kindergarten.

Leaders of the General Assembly believe Manning shares their intent to maximize the number of at-risk children in the state’s pre-kindergarten program. The state budget, which took effect July 1, ensures 80 percent of the slots in the program are available to children facing financial hardship – the same as every state budget since 2004.

For weeks, General Assembly leaders have urged Gov. Beverly Perdue to seek clarification from the courts. She did not. But Perdue mandated the state create a massive, multi-million-dollar entitlement anyway – a blatantly unconstitutional move that would bust state and local budgets. Perdue and the executive and judiciary branches have no constitutional authority to appropriate taxpayer money without the General Assembly’s approval, according to Article V Section VII of the North Carolina Constitution.

“The best way to protect North Carolina’s children and their future is to keep our budget balanced, protect our AAA credit rating, and resist the urge to recklessly spend money we don’t have,” said Berger (R-Rockingham). “We’re doing what Gov. Perdue should have done weeks ago. But rather than govern responsibly, Perdue chose to pick another political fight in a desperate attempt to boost her dismal poll numbers. Our children, and all North Carolinians, need leaders willing to protect our state’s fragile economy – not career politicians who use kids as pawns to win the next election.”

Perdue and state agencies insist Manning’s July 18 decision mandated a new pre-kindergarten/ daycare entitlement to every at-risk 4-year-old in the state – a position clearly contradicted by the North Carolina Supreme Court in Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina (i.e. Leandro II). A motion asking the court to clarify the order was scheduled to be filed Monday evening.

“This is an effort to gain clarification from the Court,” said Tillis (R-Mecklenburg). “The initial ruling was unclear at key points, and unfortunately, it appears that the governor has taken advantage of the lack of clarity to try to create a constitutional problem.  Our budget serves pre-K students in the same way that they have been served in the past.  The majority in the General Assembly has no higher priority than providing services to pre-K students.  However, we simply cannot afford an expanded entitlement program that the governor appears intent on creating.”

State attorneys representing the state in Manning’s Leandro hearing believe seeking a clarification creates a conflict of interest between the legislative and executive branches. With Wednesday’s deadline to appeal, the General Assembly was forced to retain private counsel with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, of Raleigh.

The Attorney General’s office has assured members of the General Assembly that it will file a notice of appeal of Manning’s July 18 order by the Wednesday deadline.

###