RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - Republicans and Democrats joined together in a bipartisan campaign Tuesday to officially kick off the effort to convince voters to give a thumbs up to a $2 billion infrastructure bond that will appear on the March 15 primary ballot.

Among those endorsing the bond: Gov. Pat McCrory, House Speaker Tim Moore of Cleveland County, Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue of Wake County, and various members of the Council of State.

The kickoff was emceed by former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, who is co-chairman of the bond campaign.

The governor talked about the projects that would be funded if the bond passes and emphasized that the bond will not require a tax increase.

Projects include local water and sewer infrastructure, upgrades to National Guard amories, new labs for the state's universities and community college facilities, and improvements for some state parks and the North Carolina Zoo.

Sen. Blue focused on funding that would flow to areas of the state that have not enjoyed the robust recovery of the major metropolitan areas. Projects would impact 76 counties.

No formal opposition to the bond's passage has yet to emerge. Some conservative talk show hosts and bloggers have expressed concern about number of projects and the wisdom of borrowing rather than funding the projects through regular operating funds.

The last statewide bond package to be passed by voters was in 2000, when a $3.1 billion bond for the UNC System and Community College System.

Details on the bond can be found at http://connect.nc.gov/