State lawmakers today will begin discussing a proposal that would make smoking an even more expensive habit. Gov. Mike Easley has proposed increasing the state's cigarette tax by 20 cents as a way to finance a 6.9 percent pay hike for teachers.

Today's start of a "short session" of the N.C. General Assembly will be dedicated to tweaking the state spending plan, which was crafted last year.

While legislators will have $150 million in extra revenue to work with in the upcoming budget,

the amount of extra revenue is down significantly from prior years.

Meanwhile, Easley's $21.5 billion budget proposal calls for a 6.9 percent pay increase for teachers and a 1.5 percent increase for other state employees.

However, both are increases that will cost the state more than the extra $150 million that is available. That's why lawmakers will consider increasing the cigarette tax from 35 cents per pack to 55 cents to help pay for the increases, said Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, the Senate president pro tempore.

The tax increase is expected to generate about $100 million.

Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, said the governor's priorities would be considered as lawmakers search for spending cuts to help offset the increases. He said they would look across the board for potential cuts.

"I don't think anything would be sacred," Owens said.

The legislature could also look into issuing statewide bond referenda.

While referenda were not included in Easley's proposal, lawmakers have identified a number of needs that could be met through bond funding.

"I would like to see a bond for universities, community colleges, highways, roads, water and sewer," Basnight said.

Basnight said education and infrastructure are keys to the state's success and indicated bond projects could help the economy. However, he also said the idea may be met with resistance in the legislature.

"Many members are skeptical of these kinds of proposals," he said.

Owens said it might be tough to justify issuing a bond referendum for some projects rather than others.

"A lot of people want water and sewer bonds," Owens said. "There are a lot of other issues out there."

According to Basnight, other budget priorities include mental health reform, gang prevention and dropout prevention.

Neither Basnight or Owens said they were aware of requests from local counties to sponsor legislation during the short session.

Typically, controversial bills are not introduced during the short session, Owens said.

Owens said he hopes legislators will be able to wrap up the session before the end of July.