(RALEIGH) -- The full State House began debating a proposed budget on Tuesday morning. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said the first of two required votes on the $19.3 billion spending will take place on Tuesday.

Republicans argued that the budget represents a “return to fiscal responsibility” that brings tax state spending in-line with revenue. Democrats cited estimates released by the Department of Public Instruction that suggest more than 18,500 education positions will be eliminated. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, even called it a “truly radical” plan that would scrap more than 30,000 state positions in all.

“We’ve never had anything like this in North Carolina before to take this sort of a hatchet to public education,” said Hackney last week.

Republican leaders said Democrats are exaggerating the actual number of state jobs being cut. House Majority Leader Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, said the public school funding is only reduced by roughly 5 percent when compared to the actual budget currently in place. Stam referenced figures provided by the Fiscal Research Division.

Speaker Tillis said the actual number of state jobs lost would be closer to 5,000 to 7,000. He said that normal turnover and retirement would contribute to the lower number of people actually being laid-off. Plus, he argued that budget would help create many new private sector jobs. Tillis referenced an analysis provided by the UNC Center for Competitive Economies.

“We have estimates of as many as 14,000 jobs are being created in the private sector by having that money state in the pockets of working families and businesses and having it flow through the private sector,” said Tillis.