RALEIGH — Gov. Beverly Perdue on Wednesday began a campaign for as much as $1.5 billion in tax increases to stave off what she said would be crippling budget cuts for public schools.
At a rally in the Capitol, Perdue, a Democrat, urged the legislature to raise taxes higher than the $780 million proposed in the House budget. Although she declined to say publicly what she would support, the governor privately told lawmakers that between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in new revenues should be generated — as much as twice the amount of the House plan.
