News-Record.com

Leading honorables cut a deal on the state budget Friday, and this week the whole lot of them will put on the show of debating the thing. But the original budget drafts passed the House and Senate with all Democrats on board and a healthy helping of Republicans in either chamber.

The compromise deal doesn’t really deviate enough from either the House or Senate package that anyone who voted for their chamber’s package should be all that unhappy with what’s before them now. Frankly, the guy who’s going to vote for the budget but is probably the least happy is Senate Leader Marc Basnight, who saw his proposal for a landfill moratorium go down during the negotiations.

When the budget voting is over, heck even while it’s going on, the honorables will be jockeying for position in the home stretch of the legislative session. Although estimates vary, the consensus among legislators and legislative watchers is that the boys and girls down on Jones Street want to leave town July 17 at the latest.

That said, the honorables have left a passel of issues, big and small, on the table. Among the biggest, or at least highest profile, is the minimum wage.

I talked with Rep. Alma Adams, a Guilford County Democrat and leading proponent of the minimum wage fight, in her legislative office about this last week. I think I woke her up from a nap, but she was chatty anyway.

She said there have been some informal negotiations over the minimum wage between the House and Senate. This struck me as odd: The House had passed a $1 increase, the Senate passed pretty much the same thing as part of its budget bill, so this thing should be a slam dunk. A $6.15 an hour salary for the state’s lowest paid workers ought to be the easiest thing to do this year.

Apparently not.

Democratic senators have been making noises like they really want to pass the thing but it could be a tough sell. And they have been running the idea of passing a $1 minimum wage hike for those over age 18, while leaving the minimum wage at $5.15 an hour for those under the age of 18.

That was an idea offered up and soundly rejected in an amendment offered during the House debate on the bill. Those who back the two-tiered plan say it would let those who hire teenagers during the summer to keep on doing so. Opponents of the idea say it creates a weird disincentive to hire relatively older workers and under-values the work of kids who might be saving for college.

I can’t imagine, given the scads of polling data and a widespread agreement, at least among Democrats, that something won’t get done before the end of session.

Also among the end of session items to keep an eye on:

• Landfill moratorium: Basnight seemed to think that if the landfill moratorium wasn’t in the budget it wouldn’t get done. But word has it that some House members promised to do a bill when they removed the provision from the budget, although Senators don’t think the House would pass such a thing.

  I don’t know about that. What I do know is that Basnight, in addition to being a nice guy with a fish restaurant, has a reputation a stubborn you-know-what when it comes down to it. So if there’s an opening, expect him to pounce.

• Pork budget: Rumors continue to circulate about a pork budget, a vehicle to fund all those pet nonprofit projects that weren’t included in the main budget. Was this just wishful thinking among House members or something that might actually come down? I haven’t found a reserve tucked away in the main budget that would allow for such a thing, but it may be there and I’m just too dumb to see it.

• Ethics reform: The House has pumped out a raft of ethics-related bills. It’s now the Senate’s turn to take a whack at those bills. Although some of the restrictions make the honorables uncomfortable, going home and explaining to voters why they didn’t clean up their collective act would be a whole lot more uncomfortable.

• Beer: Okay, okay, the bill is actually called something like “The Governor’s DWI Task Force Changes,” but what most law abiding folks need to know is this: It will be slightly more of a hassle to bring home a keg for a party due to new tracking and licensing restrictions. The restrictions are meant to curb under-age drinking.

• Local bills:Although not the most important issues state wide, local governments are looking for a hand-full of locally-aimed legislation to pass. Among other things, policing powers for the Randleman Dam and switching the High Point City Council election schedule are in the mix.