Spiteful NC GOP strips $3M from UNC law school over hiring of legislative critic [View all]

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WRAL.com

Senate GOP docks UNC Law $3M

By Laura Leslie

RALEIGH, N.C. — A last-minute amendment by Senate leaders Wednesday docked the University of North Carolina School of Law budget by $3 million. Democrats say it's political payback for the school's employment of legislative critic Gene Nichol.

Despite the fact that Republican Senate leaders have been working on the budget behind closed doors for nearly three weeks, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Tom Apodaca apparently forgot until the end of Wednesday afternoon's floor debate – after Democrats had loudly criticized the GOP-penned budget for hours – that he wanted to take $3 million from the law school in Chapel Hill and give it to the Mountain Area Health Education Center, or MAHEC, located in Asheville.

The addition would increase MAHEC's state funding next year from $5.9 million to $8.9 million. The center serves a 16-county area, including Apodaca's district of Henderson County. Apodaca said the additional funds would help address the shortage of doctors in rural western North Carolina.

Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, spoke in support of the amendment.

"I think we all know the law school can absorb this, and nothing will change," Hise said. "I’ve been all across my district. I've never heard, 'If we could only get some more lawyers in my district, we could solve this problem.'"

Senate Democrats were left bewildered, with many saying that, while they support boosting MAHEC's funding to deal with rural provider shortages, the law school's budget isn't the best place to find the money.

Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, pointed out that the repeal of the privilege license tax for banks is costing the state $12 million, which would easily cover the additional funds without touching the law school's funding.

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http://www.wral.com/senate-gop-docks-unc-law-3m/14722786/