"We're going to go in Sunday morning -- early -- and see if we can't finish it up by Sunday night," N.C. Rep. Joe Tolson, one of the House's chairs of the conference committee, said Friday.

Weekend work has been the norm, said N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell, a conferee for the Senate.

"I went in last Sunday around noon and didn't get out of there until 10 p.m.," Swindell said. "It's been long weeks for two or three weeks now, but I think we are getting close."

N.C. Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield has had it a little easier than the others. After four years on the House's appropriations committee, she is now in her second year on its finance committee.

"I'm learning how to make money rather than spend it," she said with a laugh. "I think it's easier."

Interviewed separately Thursday and Friday, the Wilson County delegation doesn't see many obstacles to completing the budget and other business. Most of the remaining issues revolve around education.

The House budget includes $45 million to help school districts with rising fuel costs, the Senate's $11 million. Swindell believes the final figure will be around $30 million.

Easley asked this week for the authority to raise teachers' salaries mid-year, should revenues be better than expected, but Tolson said House members "are not real excited about that."

Many states in the Southeast are struggling not to lay off employees, let alone boost their pay, Tolson said. "I feel really good that, in a tight time, we are able to offer these raises to our state employees."

Both Tolson and Swindell expect the state to expand the More at Four pre-school program, but neither can say exactly what the increase will be.

The final budget may also be tweaked to account for enrollment growth at the state's community college and university systems, Tolson said.

The state's mental health system also has questions that will be resolved next week, Tolson said. Primarily, legislators want to ensure the new mental health hospital in Butner opens safely, that staffing remain at appropriate levels at the other hospitals, and a safety net be maintained for all people with crises, he said.

Each of the legislators has items they hope will survive the final budget cuts.

Chairwoman of the House's aging committee, Farmer-Butterfield had sought $2.5 million this year in additional Home and Community Care block grants. As of Friday, chances looked good that $2 million would be appropriated.

If it's in the budget, that money will be used to boost programs across the state that serve senior citizens in their homes and help keep them out of adult care or nursing homes.

Swindell was the primary sponsor of a bill calling for an independent study by the University of North Carolina of the structure of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Right now $200,000 is in the budget.

Who calls the shots at DPI is often confusing to the public, Swindell said. The state superintendent is elected statewide, but the State Board of Education and its chair, appointed by the governor, hold the power. An assistant superintendent reports directly to the board and seems to run the day-to-day operations, he said.

The UNC study would evaluate the chain of command, compare it to other models and determine if it could work better, he said.

A retired educator, Tolson is excited to see the state complete a project to connect every school in North Carolina to high-speed Internet service. The 2008-09 budget will have $11 million to finish the backbone of the system.

If all students have access to the resources they need, that should pay off in better attendance and performance with fewer discipline problems, he said.

The General Assembly next convenes Monday at 7 p.m.

mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878