How to close North Carolina's projected $139 million Medicaid shortfall this year is once again breeding conflict between the governor's office and Legislature.

Gov. Beverly Perdue's administration on Tuesday accused the Republican-led General Assembly of reneging on a promise to help narrow the expected spending gap by infusing some cash, citing a letter written by legislative leaders as proof. But Republicans, who maintain that they're open to working with the Democratic governor, said she's the one who's got to manage the budget they passed over her veto.

Without help, Perdue aides say, the Department of Health and Human Services will be required to cut further how much they reimburse medical providers for Medicaid patients and eliminate services the federal government doesn't require the state to provide.

"The law very clearly lays out how we must find the money," Perdue senior adviser Al Delia said. "They're not the primary ways to deal with it. It's the only way."

A GOP budget-writer and House Speaker Thom Tillis' office disagreed with Delia's interpretation of the Nov. 17 letter. In it, Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger told Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler that it was up to his department to carry out the budget that the Legislature approved.