Gov. Bev Perdue pulled the veto card on a Republican bill to cut more than a half a billion in spending this year, as Richmond County delegates foresaw when the bill was sent for her approval.

Among other groups, the cuts raised ire from county commissioners because it raided several funds such as the GoldenLEAF Foundation and the governor’s One North Carolina Fund, which have been instrumental in funding infrastructure projects and industry recruitment for the county.

Wednesday, N.C. Rep. Ken Goodman said all indications are the veto will stick.

“I think it will be upheld,” he said in a Wednesday morning e-mail. “The bill did not pass with enough votes to override. It was four votes short in the house.”

Republicans hold the votes needed to override the governor’s veto in the Senate, but the House would lock it into place if the votes fall down along party lines.

In a Tuesday press release, the North Carolina Democratic Party said it “is united” behind the decision to veto.

N.C. Sen. Bill Purcell pointed out Wednesday that his original vote was against the measure, as was Goodman’s, and said he supported the veto.

“My view on it was that at a time when we’re trying to bring jobs to North Carolina, this would take funding away from some of the most valuable tools we have to bring them here rather than surrounding states,” Purcell said Wednesday.

The General Assembly went back into session Wednesday afternoon, and there is no way to know how the veto will affect the budgeting process once the General Assembly comes up with its own budget proposals, but Purcell said Perdue’s decision to extend the three-quarters temporary sales tax will be another point of contention.

“I think the governor has presented a budget and the cuts are there,” he said. “There is certainly some other way to do it than to take money from these job development funds, that’s for sure.”

In other legislature news:

Gov. Perdue picked eight-term N.C. Rep. Pryor Gibson, a Democrat whose district borders Richmond County to the west, to serve as her new senior adviser for governmental affairs.

Gibson will remain in office until a replacement is appointed, so the pick won’t affect voting to uphold the veto.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 15, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.