Source: NC PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE, 7/8/21

 Conservation groups are praising Senate lawmakers' recent budget proposal, which provides more than $100 million toward the state's land and water conservation fund, parks and recreation fund, and farmland preservation trust fund. The budget also includes $1.5 billion in federally funded grants for businesses impacted by the pandemic, more than $1 billion in water and sewer rehabilitations and $700 million to expand rural broadband.

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