State lawmakers are on track for voting on a budget early next month, for now at least.
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger told reporters lawmakers will have a better sense in a couple of weeks of whether the budget process will, in his words, "go off the rails" or stay on target for completion by the start of the fiscal year on July 1st.
Berger also said while legislators have not entirely ruled out using some of the state's $1-billion+ surplus for rebates for North Carolinian households, he does not think it is likely.
"I don't think there'd be an interest in doing it unless the amount we could send out would be an amount that would make a difference," he said, "You know, more than half a tank of gas and stuff like that."
Berger said the senate probably won't take up any votes again until later next week.