News-Record.com

Hello and welcome to Capital Beat, the News & Record's latest blog.

My name is Mark Binker, the paper's state government reporter. I've been with the News & Record for about five years but have just started on this beat about a month ago. My prior beats have included the Guilford County, Greensboro and High Point governments as well as the furniture industry. And some of you may know me from my work over at Inside Scoop.

So about the name. . . we could have gone with one of two spellings: Capitol or Capital. And I can already hear some folks out there warming up to ask me what kind of ignoramous I am to spell it with an A?

After all, Capitol is generally used to connote "A building or complex of buildings in which a state legislature meets," according to my American Heritage College dictionary. That's actually why we shied away.

This blog is going to be - I hope - about more than the legislature. We're going to try to keep an eye on all the various doings of the state government here, including the Governor and his executive agencies. And more than that, I aim to help you understand how the doings here in Cap City affect you at home there in the Triad.

It's with that more expansive mission that we went with Capital, "a town or city that is the official seat of government."

Don't get me wrong, I hope to provide plenty of stuff to keep your inner policy wonk well fed. But my reporting emphasis is on how things in Raleigh affect everyday folks in the Triad, so that bias is bound to show up here.

For now, let me say thank you for dropping by. The site is still a bit sparse, something we hope to rectify shortly with some useful links and other decorations. And if there's something you'd like to see here, drop me a line either in the comments below or through my e-mail: mbinker@news-record.com

You probably already know that the Senate put out its budget bill today. We'll have a story in tomorrow's paper that details some of the goodies in there for Guilford County.

Senate leaders hope to pass the bill this week, putting the budget ball into the House's court next week.

In addition to hiking cigarette taxes to 40-cents a pack, the Senate budget bill creates a state lottery...sort of.

You'll be hearing a good deal about Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 55 in the coming weeks, commonly known as the Defense of Marriage bills.

Those bills call for defining marriage in the state constitution, and that definition would say that marriage can only happen between a man and woman. The objective is to outlaw gay marriages in North Carolina. To do that, supporters would need to pass this legislation and then win a constitutional referendum.

The state already has a law on the books outlawing gay marriage, but supporters say they are worried that North Carolina could be forced to recognize civil unions or gay marriages from other states that do allow them. Also, they worry that equal protection measures in North Carolina's constitution could be used by the courts to overturn the state's no-gay-marriage law.

There will be a rally near the state capital next week in support of the bill. Backers are frustrated that the House and Senate leadership have not allowed a debate and vote on the legislation and are hoping to move the bills forward.

As I said, there will be more to write about this. For now, I'm going to leave you with comments from two Guilford County legislators explaining why they back the measures: John Blust and Phil Berger. (Click the name for audio.)

With all the budget mess today, I didn't have a chance to snag audio from opponents in the Guilford delegation, but will endeavor to do that soon.

Guilford County isn't home to a big military base like some other places down east. But in economic development terms, the efforts to keep bases in North Carolina open is a statewide issue.

Lost in my e-mail yesterday was this release from Gov. Mike Easley:

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley announced today that 37,445 acres within five miles of North Carolina's military bases have been protected from incompatible development since the last round of federal base realignments and closures in 1995. The U.S. Department of Defense has identified encroachment by incompatible development near military installations as one of the primary concerns as it develops plans to close and realign military bases and ranges.

Click here to read the whole thing. (It's a Microsoft Word file.)

The obsession du jour here at the legislature is still the Senate budget, which should get some debate here in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the House continues to go about its business, including the Ways and Means committee which gave the thumbs up to House Bill 635, which would require public bodies to allow for comments from the public during their meetings. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat.

The Senate is in the throws of trying to pass a state budget this week. Senators get to draw first blood this session, with the House sitting on the sidelines until the Senate is finished.

They won't have to sit long if the Senate's Democratic leaders have their way.

After weeks and months of meetings behind closed doors, leaders unveiled their $17 billion (with a B) budget plan earlier this week. If everything proceeds according to schedule, those $17 billion will be in the House's hands by Friday.

Quick turnaround? You bet. And Republicans have griped they haven't had time to thoroughly review the 400-plus pages that make up the budget.

I can empathize.

Senators gave their final blessing to the budget this morning, shifting the tax and spending fun to the House.

About the only thing anyone can say for sure at this point is that House members wouldn't pass the Senate's proposal verbatim, even without the lottery provisions.

So after a few days of trying to learn the ways of the budget (and the Senate) I'm back in my office catching up on everything else I've been ignoring. Among those things is Rep. Howard Coble's potential run-in with ethics problems. (Yeah, yeah, he's in D.C., but he's from N.C.)

Coble took a trip to London and Ireland in 2003. The thing he might have done wrong (aids say the paperwork was just done incorrectly and will likely be exonerated) was allow a lobbyist to pay for part of that trip.

The funny bit is, Coble wrote to the House ethics committee before going on the trip to ask if he was going to run afoul of the chamber's ethics guidelines. The committee wrote back that they thought the trip would be okay. We'll have more on this in tomorrow's paper.

As I find my way through the corridors of power here in Raleigh, I'm learning (or relearning) quirks of our legislature. This Associated Press blurb explains the "crossover" deadline as well as I could hope to do on my own right at the moment:

(AP) - Legislative leaders appear ready to put off their deadline for approving legislation in at least one chamber by at least two weeks. In odd-numbered years, House and Senate rules require bills that don't incur spending or adjust taxes and fees to pass at least one chamber by a certain date. Otherwise they can't be considered for the remainder of the two-year session. This year's "crossover deadline" is May 19, but Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said it will be pushed back to June 2. He said that after spending so much time on the lottery and the budget, legislators believe more time is needed to get other substantive bills through one chamber. The House would have go along with the change. When asked if the deadline would be delayed, Rep. Bill Culpepper, D-Chowan, the House Rules Committee chairman, only said: "We're talking about that."

I get a lot of e-mailed press releases from various folks in government. Some I trash immediately, some I set aside for future story ideas and some (occasionally) I act on immediately. And sometimes I just read them, think they're interesting, but have not really good way of sharing them . . . until now.

In this case, I'm also forwarding it to our business desk. From Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain:

"While traditional textile and apparel manufacturing jobs have taken a hit due to unfair federal trade policies, North Carolina's nonwoven textile industry continues to grow and thrive."

Read the whole thing by clicking here.

While cleaning out my afternoon barrage of e-mail, I found one from the N.C. Democratic Party titled "NC Democratic Party Chair’s Statement on Reports of Waynesville Church Kicking Out Democrats," which immediately made me say "what?"

I had not heard about this story on a minister who excommunicated nine church members for not supporting President George W. Bush.

At any rate, here's North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek's take on it:

"One of the Bible's most repeated commands is to 'Love your neighbor.' If these reports are true, this minister is not only acting extremely inappropriately by injecting partisan politics into a house of worship, but he is also potentially breaking the law and threatening the church's 501 (c) (3) non-profit status."

Discuss among yourselves.

After spending the day at the mother ship in Greensboro, I'm about to wrap things up and head home for the weekend. A few final notes for the week - or starting notes for your Monday morning if you prefer:

Good Monday morning. A couple of you have written in about this story, which regards a bill submitted by Greensboro Rep. Earl Jones to repay victims of North Carolina's Eugenics program.

For your convenience, if you haven't weighed in yet and want to have that discussion with others, here's a forum. Just click on the comment link below this post.

. . . even if it does come from a politician. Here is Gov. Mike Easley's news release re: Hurricane Preparedness Week.

As someone who is frequently on the phone while on the road, I must confess more than a professional interest in this bill, which would outlaw talking on a mobile phone while driving. There is an exception for the use of a hands free device, which I usually use.

I've seen a lot of wacky maneuvering by people who are distracted while driving, and more often than not that distraction is coming from their cell phone. So I can see clearly the reason for wanting to do something like this.

Although, personally, I find the running conversation I have with my nearly-two-year-old boy to be more engrossing - but I don't think anyone is going to pass a law to keep me from driving him around.

I'm tentatively scheduling myself to attend a House committee hearing on the phoning while driving law Wednesday morning so shout out if there’s something you think I should be looking for.

I've been playing with some new toys that allow me to record decent audio from General Assembly sessions and package them for play here.

There was nothing specifically related to Guilford County to record tonight (Monday) but, there might be some interested in House Joint Resolution 198, which honors civil rights leaders Milton Fitch Sr. and his wife, Cora Whitted Fitch.

Click here for the debate from the House floor honoring the Fitches. It's a bit long (6.7 MBs) but I think the quality should be tolerable.

I'm not much for the NASCAR myself, but North Carolina's General Assembly has some racin' fans. Want proof?

Click here for audio of today's joint session honoring NASCAR and it's founders. (It's an 11MB file.)

What's this all about? As NASCAR gains nationwide popularity, the stock car association is putting more events in other states and taking them from North Carolina. The General Assembly is doing it's best to establish North Carolina as the home of racin', hence the session. (Oh, and there's the small matter of some folks wanting to locate the NASCAR hall of fame in Charlotte...that's part of this too.)

Update: Click here to read stuff from someone who actually knows about racing.

I know one thing for certain. If Gov. Mike Easley ever asks to borrow my car, he's getting a big fat "NO!" Every time the man gets behind the wheel something bad happens.

Memo to NASCAR...when you see him coming, hide the keys.

From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Two years after crashing a stock car at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Gov. Mike Easley nearly brought out the caution flag again Tuesday when he veered a NASCAR racer out of control on a drive through downtown.

Easley, participating in a celebration of the state's motorsports, fishtailed and ran up on a curb - narrowly avoiding a parked car and a utility pole — as he drove Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet from the executive mansion to the Legislative Building.

I haven't checked the ol' e-mail yet this morning, but on the off chance that this story on a bill that would let judges carry guns to their courtroom sparks some discussion, here's a forum. (Just click the comments link below.)

Find more info on the bill by clicking here.

I can see both sides of this argument. Those on the pro side will say that judges who already have conceal-carry permits are already authorized to carry guns most other places. And if we trust anyone in our society with a special level of judgment, it is those on the bench.

On the other hand, those against will say that sheriff's deputies, not judge, should provide courtroom security. That line of thinking says allowing judges to tote guns to court is a return to the days of the wild and wooly west.

I imagine both sides will play out in committee.

One final after note on the story: I wanted to interview Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake of the N.C. Supreme Court. Not only is he the state's top judge, he also holds a conceal-carry permit. (And no, the bill does not include appellate court judges.)

Update: An alert reader pointed me to this website: http://www.freeheadset.org/home.php It purports to offer free headsets (except for the cost of shipping) to anyone for the asking.

It looks legit to me, but has anyone had any experience with them out there?

-----

Good morning. Some of you might be here after reading this story, regarding a proposed law that would require drivers to use a hands-free device if they are talking on a cell phone.

More info on the bill itself can be found by clicking here.

For your science types, this page has links to various UNC studies on the topic. And this is a news release describing a University of Utah study that I mentioned in the story.

As part of our work on the story, the News and Record asked some 300 readers in our Reader Advisory Network what they thought of the law. About 30 responded and we were going to use some of their responses in the paper. Alas, we ran out of space.

But there's plenty of room out here in cyberspace, so I've included some of their replies after the jump.

You can chip in your two cents by clicking the comments link below, or by e-mailing my colleague Eric Townsend at etownsend@news-record.com, who is writing a column for Saturday's paper on the issue. Eric is one of the contributors to our Fast Forward blog.

Now the jump and some of those reader responses I mentioned:

Folks interested in these stories about childhood exposure to lead may be interested in a bill filed by Rep. Pricey Harrison.

This bill would offer tax credits to property owners who voluntarily clean up lead hazards, including landlords who clean up apartments.

A story on this will run in the paper sometime over the next few days, but folks who work in the environmental health field seem to think it might go a long way to meeting the state's goal of eliminating lead poisoning in children by 2010.

Update: For a story from Sunday's paper, click here.

Sorry kids, there will most likely be no bloggy goodness today. I'm headed to a journalism seminar for the day. The comments feature is open if you want to chat among yourselves.

You need a topic? Fine. Pick one from:

Monday's House calendar

or

Monday's Senate calendar.

If you see something that you want to know more about, let me know.

General Assembly members don't show up at the legislative building in force until late on most Monday's of session, but it looks like at least some of your elected reps will be toting that barge and lifting that shovel (or whatever the parliamentary equivalent of all that is) right off the bat this week.

Alert Capital Beat reader Mary Johnson copied me on an e-mail that says the Guilford County delegation is going to be meeting with some of the pediatricians, nurse practitioners and other health types from our area at a shindig hosted by Moses Cone Health Systems. The e-mail doesn't list a time, but does say the docs and nurses will brief "the Guilford County legislative delegation on the most important issues affecting child/adolescent health in the current session of the NC General Assembly." I'm thinking the cuts to Medicaid in the Senate budget might come up. Anybody going to this shindig who wants to share any thoughts is welcome.

The Senate chambers will be buzzing first thing in the morning, but it will be a different branch of government in temporary residence. The N.C. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear STATE V. PHILIP MORRIS USA, ET AL at 9:30 a.m. The Supremes' usual digs are being redone, and this being a tobacco case, there is probably a lot of interest.

And of course, both houses are scheduled to meet in session starting at 7 p.m., which means if you tune in at 7:20 p.m. or so you should be in time to catch the opening prayer. Each has a pretty full agenda. On the Senate side, a lot of folks will be watching debate on Senate Bill 189, which would set age limits for who could drive one those off-road All Terrain Vehicles. No one younger than 12 would be able to if this law passes, and anyone 12-16 would not be allowed to drive one with a engine bigger than 90 cubic centimeters. The idea behind the bill is to prevent injuries to kids who are over-matched by their machines. The bill has met resistance from some Senators who have shown that Democrats and Republicans alike can have a Libertarian streak.

The rest of the week is looking pretty busy too. Politics fans will get some extra innings this weekend when the GOP holds its annual convention in Ashville (May 20 - 22).

From today's paper:

Community college students applying for some programs could be screened

RALEIGH - Community colleges could run criminal background checks on students hoping to enter programs that lead to a state-issued license if a bill approved by the House on Monday becomes law.

The Senate will next consider the proposal, which would allow the community college system to require a variety of academic or nonacademic criteria to screen students applying to programs such as nursing and massage therapy.

From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH (AP) - According to Mike Wilkins, the chief of staff to Speaker Jim Black, the House is working to get its budget passed by June 9. House budget-writers met Monday to set their calendar to pass their spending plan for state government. If the chamber meets its projections, then the budget bill would come out the week after the House and Senate meet the "crossover" deadline the week before. With crossover, House and Senate rules require bills that don't incur spending or adjust taxes and fees to pass at least one chamber by a certain date. Otherwise they can't be considered for the remainder of the two-year session.

The bill that would allow judges to carry concealed weapons in their courtrooms passed the Senate Judiciary II committee Tuesday morning. (Click here for my newspaper story on this topic.)

As might be expected, the bill got an endorsement from the NRA and was opposed by a group called North Carolinians Against Gun Violence.

Not much new information from the committee hearing. The bill sponsor, Sen. Tom Apodaca , did say he had been contacted by more judges who say they might not carry guns into their courtrooms but might use the law to be able to carry weapons on their way to and from their car.

It turns out there is a House version of this proposal that I didn't find out about until a few days ago, which hasn't been heard in that body yet.

Next stop for the Senate bill is the Senate floor. I'm not smart enough to do a dependable handicap, but I can say that the bill left committee on a voice vote with no one voicing opposition.

A Senate committee just cleared a bill that would ban Internet hunting in North Carolina. Specifically, it would ban someone setting up an operation in North Carolina that offers one the opportunity to view and shoot game over the Internet.

The bill has already been cleared by the House and with the nod from the Senate’s Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources committee it next heads to the Senate floor.

There was such an operation in Texas. See stories from The Washington Post and the L.A. Times on the place. (Registration required in both cases.)

The way I read it, House Bill 772 only bans computer assisted hunting by remote. So, if you're on site, and use a computer to track your quarry and "pull" the trigger, you're free to blast away.

Bill sponsor Rep. Fred Steen, a Landis Republican, summed up this bill best when he told the committee: "I don't think we want anywhere in North Carolina where you can click a mouse and delete a Moose."

This one goes out to all the students in the UNC system.

As you may or may no know, you have a representative on the system's Board of Governors, the top policy making body. What you may not know is that person, usually the president of the student body association, does not have a vote on the board.

Rep. Alma Adams is the chief proponent of a bill to give that student representative a vote and equal status to the other 32 governors. The measure passed the House Tuesday, but not after some tense debate.

I'll leave it to you to figure out which representatives are giving y'all a little respect and which ones just give you little respect.

Click here for audio of the floor debate.

I wrote a story a couple weeks ago (not posted) about a proposal to create a pledge to the North Carolina flag. It turns out that some civic clubs have been saying a pledge that isn't official. Some have even dropped the ritual of saying the state salute.

Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, a Hamlet Democrat, has proposed a bill that would make the pledge official. The text, which was approved by the House Tuesday and now goes to the Senate, reads:

"I salute the flag of North Carolina and pledge to the Old North State love, loyalty, and faith."

Click here to listen audio of Goodwin as she instructed members on how to perform the salute properly.

Update: Well, all that whining on my part for nothing. Gov. Easley announced a $300,000 in grants for technology-themed high schools, none of them in Guilford, Rockingham or Randolph.

Click here to read the news release.

Update 2: Click here for more on the award to Alamance-Burlington.

-----

If reporters have a common gripe about Gov. Mike Easley, it's that the wording in this announcement is all too common:

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley will make an education announcement at 10:15 a.m. WEDNESDAY (May 18) in the Governor's Press Conference Room in the Administration Building (115 W. Jones St.) in Raleigh.

A couple of General Assembly items from today's paper with ties to Rockingham County:

Gov. Mike Easley wants you to know that the state just gave $10.8 million in grants to various parks projects.

According to this list, the closest one to Greensboro is in Asheboro.

Well, sort of. I've been busy today writing stuff for the dead-tree edition of the paper and ignoring all you good folks out here in cyberspace. Frankly, I'm pooped.

But never fear! You're elected representatives are going to fill in, by way of their e-mail newsletters.

Disclaimer: This is info straight from the politicians' mouth, er, keyboard. And while I wouldn't be putting it up here if I thought it was a load of hooey, neither have I challenged or probed it much.

First From Sen. Kay Hagan's weekly e-mail newsletter:

Greetings from Raleigh,

As you know, creating jobs and growing our economy is a top priority for the Senate. This week new legislation, Senate Bill 967, (Link added.-mb) was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee to help small businesses grow in North Carolina.

Good Monday morning. I'm cleaning up a few e-mails from over the weekend that tell me some of you folks are itching to talk.

I've gotten a few responses from folks unhappy with the idea of giving state funding and sanction to needle exchange programs, as proposed in House Bill 411. (My story from last week is unposted.)

Basically, the argument seems to be between folks who think giving clean needles to users of illegal drugs would help prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases and those who think such programs merely encourage more drug use.

Other stories from over the weekend include:

Coming up this week: The House will be taking a road trip to Edenton, where the General Assembly last met about 300 years ago. The town was the first colonial capital of North Carolina.

The House session, which begins at 11 a.m., will help celebrate a $3 million renovation of the Chowan County Courthouse there.

And for those who want to boss me around, tonight's calendars can be found here for the House and Senate. If anything of interest pops out at you, let me know via e-mail: mbinker@news-record.com .

I've been contemplating a short story on a state program that certifies roadside fruit and vegetable stands as selling locally grown produce. Has anyone out there used this Dept. of Ag website to find a fruit or vegetable stand near you? Anyone have a particular roadside stand in Davidson, Guilford or Rockingham counties?

Fresh from the governor's office by way of my e-mail box:

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley has reappointed Jesse Meeks of Eden to the N.C. Auctioneers' Commission.

Meeks is the owner of Jesse Meeks Real Estate Auction and Appraisal, LLC. He is a certified real estate broker and appraiser. Meeks is a member of the National Auctioneers' Association and the N.C. Auctioneers' Association Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the Auction Marketing Institute.

The Auctioneers' Commission protects the public from incompetent or unqualified persons engaging in auctioneering activities. There are five members on the board, each serving a three-year term. The governor appoints all members.

Half-ways anyway.

The House abandoned Raleigh late Tuesday afternoon for their trip to the Chowan County and the restored courthouse there. (The county was home to North Carolina's capitol back in the colonial days.) That means the volume here in Cap City is turned down a notch or two today. House members will be back in town Thursday.

The agenda for the House session down in Chowan is far from a barn burner, but the honorables are expected to put the finishing touches on bills that would make the Venus Flytrap the state's official carnivorous plant, make the Fraser Fir the state's official Christmas tree and congratulate the UNC Basketball team.

It's not all fun and games today, though. The Senate is still open for business, and I'm jetting off right now to listen to Kay Hagan press her case for a bill that would require schools to teach financial literacy.

Update: Hagan's bill cleared the Senate's education committee easily, so expect to see it on the floor Thursday.

I got an e-mail this morning telling me that Alma Adams' bill to raise the minimum wage is in the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday, June 1. (Prior coverage linked to here.)

That may sound innocuous enough, but if you're a fan of the bill get ready to sit on the edge of your seat.

Every year the General Assembly sets a deadline by which bills that don't deal with fees or taxes have to pass one house or the other in order to be considered. Called crossover, that deadline falls on Thursday, June 2.

And to pass out of the House once it hits the floor, a bill has to get two separate affirmative votes by the body. Although there are ways to expedite those votes, a determined opponent might be able to slow things to a point where the bill simply doesn't meet the crossover deadline. (Heck, some folks who might not like the bill could even vote for it on the first of those votes but work to keep that second vote from happening.)

And the minimum wage bill will have plenty of company. Every session, there are bills that die not for a lack of votes but for a lack of voting. Next week should be interesting.

On another scheduling note: The House and Senate will meet in skeleton sessions on Friday, with no recorded votes taken. The honorables, like most everyone else, will be taking Monday off. Then on Tuesday, things will kick into high gear as bill sponsors rush to beat crossover.

I got an e-mail this morning that our Legislative Briefs column didn't run in today's paper. So here it is (the last two items courtesy of our friends at AP):

FINANCIAL LITERACY
Schools would be required to teach financial literacy classes under a bill that cleared the Senate 48-0 Thursday. The measure now goes to the House.

Sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, the proposed law would require the State Board of Education to develop a personal financial literacy curriculum within the next two years.

"You have to understand debt and money issues in order to get by in the world today," Hagan told her colleagues on the floor Thursday.
Howard Lee, chairman of the state board, told legislators earlier this week that he and the other board members supported the bill.

"I think it's critical that every student have access to this information," Lee told the Senate's Education Committee.

Hagan said the curriculum the state board will develop would not a be a full-year or even a full-semester course, but be part of the curriculum of an existing course.

House OKs bill to expand legislative police powers
Members of the special police force that protects members of the General Assembly would be able to use their powers throughout much of Raleigh and, in certain cases, across the state under a bill the House approved Thursday.

As the law stands now, the 17-member General Assembly special police can only make arrests and exercise other police powers in the capitol building, legislative office building and surrounding grounds in downtown Raleigh.

The proposal to expand their powers will now go to the Senate.

As it is written, the General Assembly Police's powers would extend to the inner borders of Interstate 440 , called the inner beltline, which circles downtown Raleigh.

And those powers would extend to other places in the state where the General Assembly is conducting official business, such as the House session in Chowan County earlier this week.

"Say we had to evacuate the building and take the members across the street," said Jeff Weaver, chief of the General Assembly's police force. "Right now, we'd be out of our jurisdiction."

Weaver said the expanded powers were not meant to give his force the latitude to escort individual members as they traveled throughout the state.

"We don't really need statewide jurisdiction," Weaver said.

General Assembly officers are armed, but the force does not own any marked cars or cars with lights, Weaver said.

Bill would help Charlotte pay for NASCAR museum
The General Assembly approved a bill to allow the Charlotte area to raise its hotel room tax to help pay for a possible NASCAR hall of fame. The House voted 92-18 to give Mecklenburg County the right to raise the local occupancy tax from 6 percent to 8 percent.

The Senate already approved that authority to tax. The tax would generate about half the money needed for a proposed $137.5 million bid by North Carolina to bring the hall to Charlotte.

Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Fla., Kansas City, Kan., and Richmond, Va., also are in the running for the hall. NASCAR's bid deadline is Tuesday.

House committee moves to close autopsy findings
A House judiciary panel debated a bill that would exempt photographs and recordings of official autopsy reports from the definition of a public record.

The measure would generally bar a person off the street from receiving copies of photos or recordings from death investigations.
People could still review the findings at reasonable times. Written autopsies could still be copied.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Karen Ray, R-Iredell, said she's not aware of any North Carolina newspapers or Web sites that have published or posted these photos.

The N .C. Press Association opposes the bill. A newspaper editor says the obstacles placed in the bill to review the photos will make it difficult for an average person with few resources to examine them. No vote was taken.

I wrote a story in today's paper regarding a proposal that restaurants be required to completley separate smokers from non-smokers.

The bill is a compromise, falling short of the total ban that was proposed earlier in the session.

Our crack online department has also thrown up an informal poll to gauge whether readers think the proposal is a good idea.

If merely clikcing a mouse isn't enough for your, light up the comments below.

Two stories in the paper today (Sunday) out of state government.

This is about an effort in the state senate to limit the amount of money paid to folks drawing workers compensation.

The issues are pretty complex and those who are proposing changes say they want to curb fraud in the system. They also complain that businesses are paying too much in workers comp costs.

On the other side, opponents say businesses wouldn't save all that much money through the reforms that are proposed. And they argue that the changes would end up hurting folks who least could afford it.

Although the debate has a lot more texture, at the General Assembly building it is turning into a wrestling match between the various business lobbyists (like NCCBI) and the trial lawyers' bar. Some union groups are also in the mix.

On a final note: I've got to thank Gail Meehan, who I write about in this article, for taking the time to share her story with me.

Chris Coletta, who will be working with the News & Record for the summer, authored this piece on the debate over whether the student member of the UNC system's board of governors should have a vote.

Regular readers of this blog (hey you three!) will remember I posted audio from the House debate in which some of the honorables laid out their point of view. (Click here to find that post.)

At least one Greensboro blogger thinks the student member couldn't stand the pressure of having a vote. Gate of gatecity blog writes: "A student having voting rights would create an additional dynamic to the game, and they would be lobbied by all. I doubt that a young student would be able to handle the pressure that would be put on him or her. It is unfortunate that I feel this is so, but I think it is the realist in me."

Coletta gives another take in his story, from board member Ray Farris, who says: "students' ability to advocate actually would be diminished under the plan. Voting board members are required to be impartial policy-makers, he said, and can't advocate for one group as students now do. 'I think it would be difficult for a student representative to take a certain position (and have a vote),' he said. 'They are expected to advocate for students. We lose the whole purpose of having a student on the board by having them do as others do.' "

I know there are plenty who disagree with those views, saying that if you bother to put a student on the board you ought to let them participate fully. I've heard some make a numerical argument that goes something like, "Well, the student would only have one of 33 votes. How badly could they screw something up?"

The thing I found most interesting in Coletta's piece is the fact the current board member is serving in a number of capacities, including as part of the search committee to find a new system president. Both sides use this as evidence to back their argument, with those against saying that the student already serves effectively without a vote and backers saying it is an example of the student exercising their power wisely.

I'm open to your thoughts. Or e-mail Chris by clicking here.

I heard from a bunch of folks via e-mail back when I posted on a bill that would restricted cell phone use while driving. To sum up the comments: