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RALEIGH – There's another showdown between Governor Bev Perdue and the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

Wednesday, Perdue issued an Executive Order about the state's pre-Kindergarten program, formerly known as “More at Four.” It directs the NC Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to accept all eligible at-risk children who apply for the pre-k program.

Republican lawmakers say the governor is over-stepping her bounds and spending money the state doesn't have. Earlier this year, they cut back funding for the program in the budget.

Last month, Judge Howard Manning ruled the cuts unconstitutional, saying the state could not turn away at-risk children who apply. Republicans vowed to appeal the ruling and didn't allocate any additional funding.

But Wednesday, the governor's executive order directed DHHS to accept all eligible children into the program.

“If we find we're not able to fund all the children who are at risk who need to be in the pre-K program, [Perdue] will have to go back to the legislature to ask for additional funding,” said Deputy Secretary for DHHS Maria Spaulding.

Lawmakers say they've already approved a bi-partisan budget. Perdue vetoed it, but Republicans got enough bi-partisan support to over-ride her veto. Now, they say
the governor doesn't have the authority to require a department to spend more money than allocated in the approved budget.

“Certainly I do not support the Governor trying to, and continuing what seems to be a pattern now, of issuing executive orders to get around what the General Assembly has done,” said Representative Justin Burr, a Republican out of Stanly County. “She's trying to give herself line item veto, which she doesn't have.”

Bob Orr, Founder of the Institute for Constitutional Law and a former State Supreme Court Justice says the governor is required to uphold Judge Manning's order last month by making sure the state provides the pre-K program to all children. He doesn't see anything controversial in her executive order and says it may not even be a budget dispute.

“It may well be the executive branch simply has to address larger numbers [of children in the program] with the same amount of money,” he said. “I think by way of analogy, we understand the state has to serve all the kindergarten through high school students that apply. We don't just take 80 percent of them.”

DHHS administrators say they're moving forward with the pre-K program and the governor's orders to serve every eligible child who applies. But they say they can't serve more children with less money.

“Decreasing the level of service is definitely not an option,” Spaulding said.

In a written statement Wednesday, Governor Perdue said, “If the funds that the General Assembly has provided are insufficient to cover the constitutional mandate for these services, I will call upon the legislature to appropriate additional funds to meet our obligation. However, if additional funds become necessary for N.C. Pre-K, the General Assembly must not inflict further cuts on other educational programs."

Republican lawmakers say they are consulting with their attorneys about the legality of the executive order and how to proceed. They expect it will be challenged it court.