Source: Mark Binker, WRAL, 2/9/17

North Carolina will end its current fiscal year $552 million ahead of where state budget writers projected the state would be last summer, according to a consensus revenue forecast produced by legislative fiscal researchers and the governor's Office of State Budget and Management.  That extra padding will be welcome news for lawmakers holding their first budget hearings next week, although Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders will likely be divided on how to handle the surplus. 

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