As Apex Town Council members discussed the town’s economic future, some lamented the state’s budget deadlock. Negotiations in the General Assembly have been stalled since July of last year, with no end in sight despite the budget now being more than eight months overdue.
“A state budget would be great,” council member Shane Reese said Tuesday, towards the end of a nearly four-hour work session on economic development. “And I joke, but only half, because that offers us the stability that allows us to move forward.”
Ironically, one of the factors that had been holding up the state budget was a recent, big economic victory for the town: the new NC Children’s Hospital to be built at the intersection of US-1 and NC-540. The hospital—which will be the second largest in the country when completed—will engage in research and education backed by Duke and UNC Health. State senators originally asked for an additional $638 million in the budget to support the project, but drastically cut back that ask after talks with the House stalled. The hospital is expected to bring nearly 8,000 jobs to Apex and Wake County…