From Charlotte Observer:

N.C. Senate leader Marc Basnight on Thursday proposed raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to help prop up crumbling state revenue numbers.

It was the first public mention of possible tax increases this year by the state’s political leaders. Gov. Bev Perdue, in her first month on the job, has talked primarily about finding ways to cut spending as the economic downturn erodes state revenues.

Perdue and other Democratic leaders in the legislature did not dismiss Basnight’s proposal. Republicans, who are in the minority in the House and Senate, were quick to criticize the notion of raising taxes in difficult economic times.

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J.W. Williamson writes over on WataugaWatch that Senator Basenight’s proposal might be a little less than fig leaf of a solution to the $3 billion budget hole in North Carolina.