(RALEIGH) -- Democratic state lawmakers kicked off a weeklong tour on Monday designed to highlight private and public sector layoffs caused by the Republican-drawn budget.

The “NC Forward Tour” began with a stop in downtown Raleigh, where several speakers criticized cuts to education and health services. Democrats said many of those layoffs could have been avoided by extending a temporary sales tax that expired earlier this year.

“We’re going to talk to people about how that’s working out for them and how that could have been different,” said House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange.

Democrats insist more than 12,000 positions were eliminated by the $19.7 billion spending plan that went into effect July 1. However, Republicans say those figures are exaggerated. Likewise, GOP leaders say tax cuts and other regulatory changes will ultimately allow private companies to hire more people.

Nearly three dozen Democrats have endorsed a plan that would increase the sales tax in order to restore many government and private sector jobs lost due to budget cuts. Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, said the proposal could put more than 200,000 people back to work and drive the state’s unemployment rate below 6 percent. That’s down from the current rate of 10.4 percent in August.