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For those following the long-running Jim Black saga, an entry in today’s North Carolina Register(MS Word Doc) might be interesting. It’s a copy of a letter, dated today, from N.C. Elections Director Gary Bartlett to one of Black's lawyers. It begins:

You have asked for an opinion pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 163-278.23 on whether, under Article 22A of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, the funds of the Jim Black Committee may be spent for the legal expenses of the Committee, its Treasurer Virginia Kelly and other campaign staff, Speaker Black, and Speaker Black's legislative staff.

Read a copy of the whole letter after the jump.

Official Raleigh has been moving at half-speed today, both because of the still idling legislative session and the snow/sleet/frogs falling from the sky.

Triad readers will be glad to know that despite the weather, Reps. Maggie Jeffus and Pricey Harrison (of Guilford) and Hugh Holliman (of Davidson) were on hand to represent this morning, even if three-quarters of the House showed up as empty seats.

Bits and pieces from those of us who were working today, after the jump.

The governor is making appointments today and some are of local note:

• Gov. Mike Easley today appointed Polly D. Sizemore to the District Court bench in the 18th Prosecutorial District in Guilford County. The District Court seat was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006. More here.

As was reported earlier this week, the Council of State is going to take on North Carolina’s thorny execution debate Tuesday.

The specific problem in this context involves what role, if any, the law requires health care professionals play in the death of an inmate.

The Council of State agenda came out today with two items specifically related to the execution debate attached:

• Click here for the first form. It appears to be a brief explaination of the court order that sent it to the COS.
• Click here for the other form. Appears to be the not protocol that the COS will be asked to adopt on Tuesday.

This is one of those serious discussions where you had to inject politics in the discussion. Yet, this is very definitely going to be a decision with political consequences.

The Council of State is made up of the 10 North Carolina Officials elected statewide. There are no legislative leaders on the council.

Although this is a decision that could have consequences for any of the 10 as they seek re-election or election to other offices, three have more skin in the game than others.

Both Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore are likely – read: all but declared – candidates for governor in 2008, so the political ramifications may most immediately affect them. AG Roy Cooper will almost certainly face a re-election challenge in 2008.

All three are Democrats and in the simplest possible terms, all three face the following choice from a political perspective:

• Establish their law-and-order credentials and sign off on the new execution protocol. This would win points with conservative dems and some Republicans but alienate some voters in the activist Democratic base.
• Vote against the execution protocol and open themselves up to criticism that they are soft on crime and criminals. This would win them points with the activist base but open them up to attack from the philosophical right.

Of course, one hopes that all 10 folks concerned are making the choice that they believe is righteous and that somehow the aggregate of those 10 reactions lead to an overall decision that is correct, whatever that may be.

But I’m not quite naïve/optimistic enough to think that politics will be ignored.

I have an article in Sunday’s paper regarding the age at which kids are allowed to enter Kindergarten in the normal course of things.

Click here to read that story.

The bill, which has yet to be filed, is championed by Rep. Dale Folwell and Rep. Earline Parmon, both of Forsyth County. Folwell is a Republican, Parmon a Democrat.

Briefly, under current state law, students may enter Kindergarten if they turn 5-years-old on or before Oct. 16. The proposed change in law would move that to Aug. 31, so all children entering Kindergarten will turn 5-years-old by the time they start school or a week into the year. Under current law and the proposed change, if a child misses the cutoff and a parent wants him or her to enter school anyway, they can appeal to the school's principal.

Any change likely couldn't happen before the 2008-2009 school year, and certain timing considerations may push that back to 2009-2010 if the bill is run later rather than sooner.

Click here to listen to Folwell give some of his reasons for seeking the change. Folwell sees the Kindergarten bill as connected to the high school drop out rate and teacher retention.

As the initial flood of bills began rolling into the clerks’ offices last week, I was flashing back to a post (click here) I wrote back almost two years ago. Republicans were complaining they weren’t being included in the legislative process and that their bills weren’t being allowed to move by key deadlines.

The result of all that pondering was a story for Monday’s paper. Click here to read that story.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Every legislative session for the past several, you’ll see a series of bills filed to do things like impose restrictions on the growth of the state budget or add a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

By and large, those bills go nowhere. That’s in large part due to the fact that those bills are introduced by philosophically conservative, mainly Republican legislators. The House and Senate are controlled by Democrats who may not perhaps be the most liberal specimens of their parties have no desire to trod an ideologically right-of-center path.

Now, there has been a lot of buzz on the House side among Republicans that they’ll have a better shot at running these conservative bills (Republican leader Rep. Paul Stam insists they’re bipartisan and shouldn’t be called “minority bills” or “Republican bills”) because of Rep. Joe Hackney’s election as Speaker.

Basically, I’m going to rain on this parade a little bit, although I do think these bills will have a better shot at getting committee hearings this time around. Here’s why the cloudy forecast for these ideologically right-of-center bills:

• The Senate’s leadership has not changed very much. With Pro Tempore Marc Basnight opening up his eighth session in the chamber’s top spot, he’s shown no real inclination to bring those bills up. In a phone conversation last week, he basically said that legislative time is limited and he wants to spend it on bills that have a shot at passing.

• Hackney does seem like he’ll be more open minded toward these types of bills, to a point. But in an interview last week he emphasized the Speaker’s discretion to control the flow of legislation. Click here to listen to his comments on the subject.

• Even if a conservative bill does make it to the House floor and does pass, the Senate still won’t be bound to take it up. I somehow can’t see Hackney going toe-to-toe with Basnight on behalf of conservative bill when they’ll be negotiating things like the budget.

• The bulk of the Democrats in the House and Senate are going to dance with thems that brought ‘em, and know that the formula of focusing on economic issues and steering clear of social flashpoints won the day in a 2006 election year that could have gone very poorly for them.

Some more audio on the topic:

• Sen. Phil Berger, the minority leader in the Senate. (We also talk a little zero-based budgeting.)

• Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam, the minority leader in the House. Again, he says bill like the marriage amendment bills should not be called “Republican bills” because they had Democratic sponsors.

• Rep. John Blust, Republican of Greensboro.

When Gov. Mike Easley spoke out forcefully for the first time on the Duke Lacrosse Case, he was a 500 mile drive up I-95.

Easley was talking to a group of NYU law students in New York, reported the News & Observer, when he blasted Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong.

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s roughly 500 miles from the 8.5 million citizens Easley governs, the people he represented when he appointed Nifong, the people who might rightfully have looked for him to intercede in what has become a hash of jurisprudence.

Should you be upset?

This was part of a notice that just went out from the governor's office on coverage of tomorrow's Council of State meeting:

Because of limited capacity in the meeting room, seating for members of the general public will be on a first come, first serve basis. Therefore, arrangements have been made for streaming audio of the meeting on the Internet. We appreciate the assistance of the news media in getting this information to the public. The web streaming URL will be at www.ncapt.tv. The Council of State meeting is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.

That link is: www.ncapt.tv.

For prior death penalty related posts: click here.

For those of you who remember this post and story, the group of legislators who asked the governor to suspend executions have updated their letter. Basically, they have added some new signatories and tweaked the language.

Read that release and the letter after the jump:

In a comment to this post, Jim asks that I write something on Amanda Marcotte, former N.C. Sen. (and presidential candidate) John Edwards’ latest web hire.

Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon is one of two recent web hires. The other is Melissa McEwan, late of Shakespeare’s Sister.

She has only just gotten up and running at Edwards’ blog, but Marcotte has engendered a lot of hostile traffic on the conservative/Republican end of the blogsphere, who find her writings on the Duke Lacrosse case objectionable. She probably didn’t help her cause with those folks any when she deleted one of her more caustic posts from her blog, but of course not the Google cashe.

For whatever reason, McEwan has escaped the same push-back.

Jim says that since we wrote about Mathew Gross, Edwards’ senior internet strategist, we ought to profile all his other web staff to.

Well, after consulting with my bosses, we’re probably not going to file a piece for the newspaper on Marcotte. The only reason we profiled Gross was that he’s local: he lives in Greensboro, is part of the Greensboro blogging community, etc. . .

Marcotte is from Texas and doesn’t hold the same appeal for us. We haven’t, for example, profiled Edwards’ fund raiser or campaign manager or press person for the same reason. Were she from Greensboro (or Guilford or Rockingham counties for that matter) I’d probably be working on something already.

However, if you’d like to see what folks who are bothered about the hiring are writing, I can point you to the following:

• Town Hall.
• Beltway.
• Jawa.
• Malkin.

There are more, but that should get you started. And if you’re interested in an opinion from the flip-side, Cliff Schecter at Huffington writes on it.

As always, the comments link is open.

The House and Senate spent their time tonight debating a resolution to honor former Rep. Bernard Allen, who died last year.

Click here to listen to what Rep. Earl Jones had to say. (I trimmed at the start so it would fit online)

Click here to listen to what Rep. Maggie Jeffus had to say.

The Council of State ended up approving the death penalty protocol this morning. I’m not sure this moves the state of things forward or backward much, but the deed is done.

LaborInsurance Commissioner Long, Sec. of Education Atkinson and Sec. of State Elaine Marshall voted no. The rest of the members voted yes.

The one thing everyone agreed on at the meeting: the Council of State should be taken out of this process.

AP's story is here.

Over at Blue NC, they dug up an old story with the following quote from then-Sen. Perdue:

Another death penalty backer, Sen. Beverly Perdue, D-Craven, suggested that doing away with the gas chamber would lessen capital punishment's deterrent value.

``I think we should make it painful and torturous,'' she said.

I was a little suspect that the quote may have been taken out of context so I went and looked up the story by Foon Rhee, myself. No, no ambiguity here:

Sen. Fountain Odom, D-Mecklenburg, the bill's main sponsor, isn't giving up. He plans to seek a Senate vote as soon as he has enough promises of support. Then again, he expected smooth passage of the bill this week.

``It's politics,'' Odom said of what happened to his bill.

It drew fire from capital punishment supporters, who fear it could give another reason for lawyers to appeal and delay death sentences.

``This, in my mind, just gives them another hook to hang their hat on,'' said Sen. Mark McDaniel, R-Forsyth. ``Swift punishment has gone out the window.''

Another death penalty backer, Sen. Beverly Perdue, D-Craven, suggested that doing away with the gas chamber would lessen capital punishment's deterrent value.

``I think we should make it painful and torturous,'' she said.

This is noteworthy because on Monday evening, Lt. Gov. Perdue sent out this news release:

Lt. Governor Bev Perdue is closely studying the death penalty protocol vote that will come before the Council of State tomorrow morning. But Lt. Governor Perdue recognizes that questions about the constitutionality of the death penalty administration have been accumulating. They have now reached a peak with questions about lethal injection and medical supervision. Lt. Governor Perdue believes that until these questions are clarified in the courts that there should be a moratorium on executions.

Lt. Governor Perdue wants to make clear that she is not linking tomorrow’s protocol vote with a vote for or against a moratorium.

Lt. Governor Perdue has long stood and continues to stand as a supporter of capital punishment. At the same time, she believes and has a demonstrated record in favor of insisting upon fairness in its administration.

The release did not say whether she still believed capital punishment should “painful and torturous.”

The Senate just appointed committees today. I don’t think there were any big surprises. Of local note, Sen. Kay Hagan is still an appropriations chair.

Click here to see what committees your friendly local Senator will be spending time on. (Update: This list has been updated by the Pro Tem's office a couple times since it was first sent out. This should be the final version.)

Update: Of local note - Sen. Stan Bingham, who represents both Davidson County and a piece of Guilford County, is one of a handful of Senate Republicans apppointed co-chairman of a committee. Bingham will help head the Senate Health Care committee.

A committee gets two or three co-chairmen when there’s more work than a single chair can handle. They are essentially the folks who set the committee’s agenda and run things on most days. (And they should not be confused with a vice chairman, which is a different and less important animal.)

Update:With all the updating of this list (there were four through the course of the afternoon) I got bum-fuzzled and missed some of the other GOP appointments. Sen. Fletcher Hartsell will head up the Senate J II committee. Sen. Richard Stevens will co-chair and appropriations sub-committee on education. Sen. Don East will co-chair a state and local government committee. A few Republicans have vice chairmanships, but those are a bit easier to come by.

Most House members I speak to say they expect committee assignments on that side of the building to be made either Thursday (2/8) or this coming Tuesday.

In the category of unconfirmed but reliable scuttlebutt: two Guilford County House members are apparently in the running for seats as House Appropriations Chairmen. This would be a big darned deal if it actually happens, sweeping away the last vestiges of the local delegation as a low octane group.

For those who remember the controversy over whether someone should be allowed to swear on a Koran in court, a bill has been filed in the General Assembly to allow just that.

Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird has filed SB 88 “AN ACT to clarify the existing law on administration of oaths.”

From the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Courtroom oaths could be taken using sacred texts other than the Bible in a bill filed in the state Senate on Wednesday, three weeks after a state appeals court agreed to let a lawsuit challenging the existing state law continue.

A Muslim woman and the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union have sued the state because she was not allowed to swear an oath on the Quran in 2003 when she was called as a witness in a court case. State law allows witnesses to use only the Bible when swearing or affirming truthful testimony.

The state Court of Appeals last month reversed a lower court decision that threw out the lawsuit questioning law's constitutionality.

The bill filed by state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, would allow an oath-taker to place a hand ''upon the Bible or any text sacred to the party's religious faith.''

The court system wouldn't be required to provide additional sacred texts other than the Bible, but it could accept donations of those books to help administer the law.

Kinnaird's bill also would make clear that oaths could be performed without the words ''so help me God'' if appropriate to the person's faith.

If this gets to a committee hearing, it should provide some interesting debate.

No big news from the floors of the House and Senate today. Speaker Hackney said that committee assignments were complete for the House but “not in publishable form.” He told the members to expect those to be announced on Monday night or Tuesday.

On the House floor today, Rep. Annie Mobley honored Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat. On Wednesday night, Adams got an award from the AFL-CIO for her work on the minimum wage increase that passed last year.

Click here to listen to Mobley’s floor speech.

Now that committees are assigned, expect the fun and games to start spinning up next week and then really kick into gear the week after.

Closing the loop on this post, the Associated Press reports Edwards will keep his two new controversial bloggers.

For what it's worth, Media Matters has been pushing the flip side of this story pretty hard...something about glass houses and stone throwing.

So the meaning of getting “Googled” has changed around here. No longer is it a mark of self-absorbed narcissism - “Dude, are you Googling yourself again?” – or online information finding – “I’ll just Google it.”

Nope. From here on out, the new usage seems to be more along the lines of, “Man, that stinks! We totally got Googled on that deal.”

And while the Google deal may win awards for hubris and outlandish expectations – expecting 170 legislators not to not talk about why they’re tweaking the state’s tax laws is beyond optimistic – it’s not the only time that state officials have been asked to clam up and fork over.

Just as everyone was getting all cranky about Google last week, honorables at every level of government were celebrating the arrival of Honda Jet. Compared to Google, the Honda deal is chump change: $6.68 million from the state plus some other goodies from local governments. It didn't even require a change to the state's existing tax law to pull off.

This time of the session, there are a few things to keep us scruffy press types occupied at the General Assembly:

• Roll out of bed extra early so we can listen to staff briefings on various aspects of the state budget. Coffee shops do really well downtown on those days.
• Read through all the interesting bits of legislation that are being filed and write stories about them.
• Watch the freshman legislators (and rookie staffers/reporters/lobbyists) run about the buildings in circles because they still can’t find their way from their offices to the House floor and back.
• Ask the leadership offices for the ump-teenth time whether they’ve assigned committees yet.

So as you might imagine, a lot of stories like this one about making billboards more visible are getting written.

And while only a fraction of bills filed will get through the committee process, much less get approved and signed, this time of year everyone has high hopes. All bills are heading to the same place and getting exactly the same amount of work, from those filed by the lowliest member of the minority party to those authored by the highest ranking leaders.

Of course, all that will change once things get going, but for now its rather egalitarian racket down here.

For those of you playing “General Assembly – the home game,” here’s a fun (disclaimer: fun is relative term used in this context to describe something only government geeks find amusing) thing to do. Surf over the House members list or the Senate members list, click on your favorite legislator, and once their profile loads click on the “Introduced Bills” tab. Scroll through the list of legislation they’ve signed onto as a sponsor of co-sponsor and see if what they’re working on lines up with your interests.

For extra credit, e-mail mail me (mbinker@news-record.com) with bills you have questions about.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper held a press conference this morning laying out ways in which he thinks the General Assembly should crack down on child predators. (Press releases here; and a more detailed folio here.)

I don’t think anyone will argue with the intent of those bills and if I had to handicap them, I’d say the package in part or full will probably have a relatively easy time getting through the General Assembly.

A couple notes:

• Cooper wants MySpace and other similar services to “get parents’ permission before children can join.” He also calls for parents to have greater control/oversight over what their children posts. As a parent who still has a few years to go before my oldest starts posting anything to the Internet, I appreciate the intent, but I wonder about the enforceability.

• Cooper also called for making lying to an SBI agent a felony. How he pitched it Monday:

  Making lying to an SBI Agent a felony would provide a critical incentive for sex offenders to tell investigators where the child is so that the SBI can rescue the child and prevent further exploitation.

  SBI agents know witnesses withhold information or lie outright. When an FBI agent is present, a dishonest witness can be charged with a crime, since federal law makes it a felony to lie to federal agents.

  This is not the first time that Cooper has called for the General Assembly to grant SBI agents that power. He did it last year under the banner of fighting public corruption. It was part of a package of legislation he sent to the General Assembly during the height of the furor surrounding then-House Speaker Jim Black.

I haven’t made it all the way through it, but the NY Times magazine had a feature piece on the death penalty this weekend.(Reg. may be required) Some points seem relevant to N.C.’s own death penalty debate. From the story:

Included in the extensive hearing transcripts of various lethal-injection challenges around the country are stories of inmates, like one in Ohio, raising his head in the middle of his own execution to say, “It’s not working.” In Alabama, officials at one point said they would execute an inmate who had compromised veins by placing an IV in the saphenous vein in his arm; that vein is actually in the leg. In an important case in California — the state with the most prisoners on death row — investigations have revealed inadequate execution conditions comparable to those in Missouri, in addition to alarming problems with an incompetent execution team. As these various court proceedings were unfolding, corrections officials in Starke, Fla., executed Angel Diaz by lethal injection on Dec. 13, 2006. But because the execution team punctured the veins in Diaz’s arms when putting in the intravenous catheters, forcing the drugs into the soft tissue instead, Diaz grimaced for as long as 26 minutes, suffering from 11-inch and 12-inch chemical burns on his left and right arms respectively, and took 34 minutes to die.

So House Speaker Joe Hackney handed out gavels and committee chairmanships Monday night. Click here for the whole list.

If you’re from the Greensboro and environs, here’s how your friendly local Democratic legislator faired:

• Reps. Maggie Jeffus and Alma Adams are two of the eight co-chairs on the House Appropriations Committee. Sen. Kay Hagan kept her seat on the Senate Appropriations committee. So if you’re keeping score at home, three of the 18 “big chairs” of the House and Senate Appropriations and Finance committees are from Greensboro.

  Now I’m not saying they’ll be pork to be fried this year. But if there is, Greensboro should start heating up the skillet. (Okay, maybe that’s a bit much, but the area should do relatively well in budget terms.)

• Rep. Earl Jones kept his chairmanship of the Local Government II committee and was named chairman of the House Science Committee. Expect him to use that seat to push for state funding of stem cell research.

• Rep. Pricey Harrison will chair the newly formed Energy and Energy Efficiency Committee. Expect this panel to be looking at things like Harrison’s renewable energy portfolio standard bill, which would require state government to buy a percentage of its energy from renewable sources like solar and biomass.

• Rep. Hugh Holliman will be a co-chair of the House Insurance Committee.

• Rep. Nelson Cole falls a notch in the House power structure. He no longer is a co-chair of the powerful Rules Committee, but did land a spot as a co-chairman of the House Appropriations Transportation subcommittee.

The House Ethics Committee appears to be the only House panel with a Republican co-chair. That means Reps. Laura Wiley and John Blust won’t be wielding any gavels this session, although both will sit on a handful of committees each.

Does anyone else remember Gov. Easley saying we had a de facto moratorium on executions?

From the Department of Corrections this afternoon:

Execution date set for Archie Lee Billings

RALEIGH - Correction Secretary Theodis Beck has set March 2, 2007, as the execution date for inmate Archie Lee Billings. The execution is scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Billings, 33, was sentenced to death June 5, 1996, in Caswell County Superior Court for the first degree murder of Amy Jackson. He also received consecutive sentences of 34 years and five months for first-degree rape, 10 years and nine months for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to inflict serious injury and nine years and 11 months for first-degree burglary.

On May 8, 1998, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Billings’ conviction and sentence of death.

On January 8, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States denied Billings’ petition to review the decision of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, dismissing his appeal and causing this execution date to be set.

((SNIP))

Execution date set for Allen R. Holman, Sr.

RALEIGH - Correction Secretary Theodis Beck has set March 9, 2007, as the execution date for inmate Allen R. Holman, Sr. The execution is scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Holman, 47, was sentenced to death April 7, 1998, in Wake County Superior Court for the first degree murder of Linda Holman.

On August 18, 2005, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Holman’s conviction and sentence of death.

Holman declined further appeals efforts and requested that an execution date be set.
On December 14, 2006, a federal judge ruled Holman was mentally competent to withdraw his appeals.

Back when he was first elected Speaker, Rep. Joe Hackney held a news conference and was asked whether this year’s appropriation bills would allow the small direct grants – roughly the state legislative equivalent of federal earmarks – this go around.

You see, in the wake of all the Jim Black stuff and the aftermath of Raleigh’s own tempest about teapots, legislators swore off special projects last year. It was sort of a crash diet, no pork allowed, which was more painful for some than others.

In response to the question, Hackney said it was “too soon” to talk about the rules for the budget.

Well, apparently it’s not too soon to start filing those appropriations bills. Along with the substantive changes to state law and asking the governor to come chat next week, the honorables have been filing the small scale appropriations bills that serve as markers for those special projects.

Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat, dropped a half dozen tonight, including one to give the International Civil Rights Museum $3 million.

Here are few things to keep in mind about these little marker bills:

• First off, the amounts aren’t final. Even if a project gets included (the civil rights museum wasn’t in 2005, the last year for these sorts of grants) the amount is not locked in until the final budget is done.
• These bills don’t run the usual committee gauntlet. They’ll get heard by appropriations subcommittees, usually in abbreviated fashion, but don’t have to be vetted to the same degree that, say, a change to the ABC laws goes through.
• Legislators like these things because they’re concrete examples that show the folks at home work is getting done in Raleigh.
• Depending on the state of the budget, they may be kind of hard to justify. That might be especially true if core programs like Medicaid or teacher salaries are getting squeezed toward budget time.

Now, as Alma would say, there’s a reason I’m “picking on her.” Last night, she was named one of the eight House Appropriation Chairs. Presumably she has some influence over how the appropriations process is going to run this session and some influence over whether or not special projects are included.

Adams is is fond of saying “all projects are special to somebody,” and defends their inclusion in the budget. So while it may be too early to say for sure, the tea leaves tell me that the moratorium on these direct grants might - might - be lifting.

What has been rumored for months has finally come.

Click here for the Charlotte Observer story. (reg req.) From the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Former State House Speaker Jim Black will resign from office and plead guilty to a federal corruption charge, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday night.

The newspaper said on its Web site that Black's attorney, Ken Bell, confirmed that Black will plead guilty on Thursday to one count of accepting illegal gratuities. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

((SNIP))

Because state law bans felons from holding office, Black will have to resign his seat in the House representing a suburban Charlotte district.

Update:Black did an interview on WUNC televisions Legislative Week in Review program last week. It sort of had the feel of a valedictory interview and the subject of Black’s legal problems was off limits. Click here for Leg Week’s video page.

I've spoken with some of Greensboro's legislative delegation this evening. Here's what they had to say:

Update: Rep. Earl Jones, Greensboro Democrat
Rep. Earl Jones was one of Black's most steadfast supporters, backing Black until the former Speaker said he would not seek another term as the House's top leader. (From an April, 2006 story: "It's just simply character assassination that's politically motivated," Jones said, calling Coates' call for Black's resignation "inappropriate. A person is innocent until proven guilty." )

Jones said that Black's track record was a good one, and that he should not be remembered for his legal troubles.

"Other than that blemish, his track record is impeccable," Jones said. "I'll be praying for him and his family."

Of his support for Black, Jones said: "What I was standing for was the principle of allowing the legal system to work rather than vigilante institutional justice. Now the system has worked and that's the way it should be."

He continued: "No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. I think he'll be known as one of the best speakers that have ever held office in North Carolina. The track record speaks for itself."

And more: “I’ve only known him for four or five years, and he became a friend. He’s a good man with a good heart and I’m saddened by this turn of events and I’m praying for him and his family.”

Alma Adams, Greensboro Democrat

"I hadn't heard that but I'm not surprised," said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat, when reached after 9 p.m. last night. "I had heard early on in the session something may be coming down."

Adams said that she was "sad when anybody meets with that kind of hardship," but said it wouldn't affect the General Assembly's work.

"We've got new leadership and we've got work to do and we're going to focus on doing it."

Pricey Harrison, Greensboro Democrat

Greensboro Rep. Pricey Harrison was one of the first Democrats to say Black should at least temporarily step aside as Speaker last session as stories about his legal and ethical problems mounted. It was just this sort of announcement she feared coming in the midst of that session.

"There have been rumors flying around the building since October a year ago that there was something like this coming," Harrison said. "I'm sorry it had to end like this because he did a lot of great work and had a great legacy in the General Assembly."

Harrison said Black should be remembered as a champion of education funding and for helping steer the state through tough economic times.

John Blust, Greensboro Republican

"I figured something like this was in the works for a long time," said Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican who has been a vocal critic of how Black ran the House.

He said his colleagues should take Black's plea as a reminder to finish ethics reforms left undone and to check the power of the Speaker in the House rules now being drafted. Blust said that the unfettered power of the Speaker made him susceptible to corruption.

"It could happen again," Blust said. "I think it's a pretty big black mark on the institution when the leader who had most of the power is pleading guilty to a federal felony and doing active time."

Update 2: Notes from the Blogsphere:

• JLF’s Meck Deck.
  
• Blue NC.
  
• Dr. Mary.
  
• Cone.
  
• Hunter's Tavern
  
• Free Republic

“More than ever, the eyes of the people are upon us.”

Click here to listen to the whole prayer offered by the House Chaplin today.

From his letter:

“It was important for me to help ensure a smooth transition during the last several months, which has occurred. Now it is time for me to move forward with my life and attend to the health and welfare of my family. With both sadness and anticipation, I hereby resign from the House of Representatives on February 14, 2007.”

Listen to the House Clerk read the whole thing.

It was a room full of pretty cynical reporters that was watching at the federal courthouse in Raleigh. Most of us had followed this story in some way shape or form over the past couple years. But anyone of us who says we weren't surprised by what we heard today would be lying to you.

Yeah, we knew about the campaign donations. Sure, I had written about chiropractic provisions in the 2005 budget and the seemingly-related campaign donations.

But cash in a bathroom?

For the new release and criminal information from today’s proceedings click here

They don’t let you bring recorders into this particular federal courthouse, but I do have some audio from Black's lawyer, Ken Bell.

They don’t let you bring recorders into this particular federal courthouse, but I do have some raw, windswept sound from Black’s lawyer, Ken Bell, talking to reporters outside. Click here for Bell’s prepared statement.

Then click here for Q+A part I.

And click here for Q+A part II.

I have to tend to the print product now. Talk amongst yourselves.

Gov. Mike Easley is scheduled to come down to the legislative building on Monday and give his fourth state of the state address. Usually, this is a prelude to his budget presentation, emphasizing the things which he hopes the honorables will include in the state tax and spending plan.

But I wonder, given the events of this week revolving around former Speaker Jim Black, if he might take a stab at calling for reforms or rallying the troops or something.

Or will he just ignore the whole thing entirely?

Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, has some ideas for Easley’s big speech. A copy of his e-mail to the governor’s staff is after the jump.

Good morning to those of you finding your way here after reading this story, on a controversial scholarship provision. This year’s bill would repeal a tuition break given to sports booster clubs and others that provide scholarships to kids from out of state coming to the UNC system.

The bill in question is House 205.

Coming later: a roundup of coverage from around the state (Gee, I wonder what people are talking about?) and Raleigh Dispatch looks ahead to Easley’s State of the State address on Monday.

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with other capital writers around the state. You think they have anything to say about Jim Black? Yep:

• It's always about the money, says Jack Betts. Words to live by.
• Betts also gives credit where it is due.
• Charlotte quotes experts saying that Black will probably do some time.
• Chiropractors have their law adjusted, says the N+O.
• "He did a lot of good for a lot of people in this state," Rep. Thomas Wright tells Wilmington’s Mark Schreiner.
• Laura Leslie reports an interesting vignette from “the day after.” Or listen to her day after piece.
• Fitzsimon: “It is also clear the investigation is far from over and the effects of Black’s plea will be felt for years, including in the 2008 legislative elections.”
• Dr. G has his doubts about lessons learned.

If Gov. Mike Easley ever needed to give a good speech, tonight is the night.

Sometime after 7 p.m., he will step to the podium in the House chamber and begin giving his fourth State of the State address. It will be his last, unless he should return to office after a constitutionally mandated break.

He will be speaking to an institution that has been worn and battered by the scandals surrounding former House Speaker Jim Black. Broadcast over the Internet and public television, Easley will be talking to more than 8 million citizens who wonder if government business is really typified by cash in a bathroom.

And he will be talking to a wider world that will listen very carefully what the chief executive has to say about how the ship of state should be steered for the next two years.

Like Ronald Reagan’s pompadour, Nixon’s sweat, Dan Quayle’s spelling or Bush I’s lips, there are things cartoonists miss about any politician.

The N+R’s editorial cartoonist looks back at the Jim Black era.

Gov. Mike Easley is giving his final State of the State address right about … now.

• Click here for the news release.
  
• Click here for the text of the speech. A note on these: Easley frequently goes off book, so what’s written down might not be exactly what he says.

After a quick read-through, here are my highlights from his speech:

• Easley urged the lawmakers to take more steps on ethics reform, but did not call on them to pass a specific proposal. And, at least in the written text, does not mention former House Speaker Jim Black by name.

  “Lastly, you took needed steps toward ethics and campaign reform last session. But, this year and every year to come, there will always be more work to be done and more improvements to be made.”

• Easley called for the expansion of his Learn and Earn high school initiative, a program that allows students to earn college credit while still in High School.

  “My budget will include support to take Learn and Earn early college high school statewide. It is only fair to give every student in every corner of every county in North Carolina the opportunity to take college-level courses and earn an associate's degree at their high school, and they can do it for free.”

• Easley said his budget would create a grant program to help poor students go to college.

  “But students, I want you to hear me clearly. This plan is not a free lunch. You have to earn it. With every opportunity comes accountability. We will supply a grant, but you have to keep your grades up and be willing to work 10 hours a week. If you do, you can graduate from college in North Carolina debt free. “

• Easley called on the state to provide health care for children in the foster care system until they were 21-years-old. Currently, they leave the state health insurance rolls at 18.

• Easley proposed eliminating income tax for the state’s poorest families.

  “Tonight, I propose that we eliminate the income tax entirely for almost 600,000 North Carolina taxpayers and cut it in half for over 600,000 more. This will send a message in a loud and mighty voice that we place a premium on work and we mean for it to pay off for hard-working people.”

For those of you who were listening in to the governor's speech and wondering, there were just about 20 applause lines.

Update: Click here for AP's story on Easley' SOTS speech.

Update2: More SOTS reacts:

• From Fitzsimon. (Okay, that’s a pre-act, but interesting none-the-less.)
  
• From Locke.

From Gov. Easley’s State of the State address Monday night:

• Click here for the less than 1 minute he spend talking about lobbyin and ethics reform.

  There were a lot of Republicans who said that Easley should have spoken to House Speaker Jim Black, who pleaded guilty in federal court last week to a corruption charge and is expected to be in court tomorrow regarding a state charge, according to the AP.

  From my story for Tuesday's paper:

  “I do not understand why the governor did not say a word about the biggest issue facing state government at this time,” said Republican Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Democrat who represents parts of Guilford County. “I would have hoped the governor would have provided some leadership.”

  Easley’s speech also drew criticism from Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, who said that Easley should have proposed specific reforms.

  “He could have been an enormous help,” Blust said. “I just thought he would have made a much stronger call for reforms.”

• Click here for the end of his speech, which from a rhetorical standpoint may have been the best part of the whole SOTS. (Less than 3 minutes.)

The AP and Charlotte paper say former Speaker Jim Black will be back in Court Tuesday. This will be a state proceeding this time around.

Black pleaded guilty in federal court last week.

Jack Betts has a vocabulary lesson to help you with tomorrow’s proceedings. Pulse has more.

Two bills regarding breathing stuff other than oxygen were filed in the House Monday:

• Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Davidson County Democrat, filed his ban on smoking in “public places” or “places of employment” which would include bars, restaurants and pretty much anywhere else that’s public.
• Rep. Pryor Gibson, an Anson County Democrat, filed a bill to outlaw “any instrument or implement to atomize or in any other way prepare a substance for inhalation for the purpose of inducing a condition of intoxication.” That probably won’t go over will with to the Greensboro company that markets gizmos that do just that. As similar bill was filed in South Carolina.

Former Speaker Jim Black entered a guilty plea in state court today to bribery and obstruction of justice charges.

There’s more to come on this, but for now click here to read the charges as laid out by prosecutors in court documents.

I’ll have a story on former Speaker Black’s plea deal in tomorrow’s paper. But as always, there were tons of people lining up to talk about this story who won’t get squeezed into print. A sampling:

• Chiropractors were shocked – SHOCKED – by the revelations of the past few weeks:

  "While the NCCA has not engaged in any illegal activity nor been accused of any illegal or unethical conduct, we believe that the alleged misconduct of a few chiropractors is raising questions about our profession and association," said Tom Schoenvogel, executive director of NCCA. "For the record, the NCCA was shocked to learn of these allegations and was in no way involved in and certainly did not endorse or encourage any alleged fund-raising misconduct among our members in an effort to sway legislation."

Today was one of those days that you look at the calendar and you’re double-booked every hour of the day. Here are some of the good, bad and ugly that would otherwise have gone unnoticed:

• Insomniacs, fans of two-day-old speeches and those who just can’t get enough wonkery are in luck. . . as long as they have cable. C-SPAN 2 is scheduled to re-run Gov. Easley’s State of the State speech on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m.

Legislation of note filed by local (Guilford County) legislators Tuesday:

• HB 291 by Reps. Pricey Harrison, Earl Jones and co. It would require the state to get rid of any financial holdings of companies that do business in Sudan. This would a be a protest against the violence in that country’s Darfur region, which international observers say has gone largely unchecked by the government. Click here for background from the BBC.

• HB 294 by Reps. John Blust and Earl Jones. This would limit the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate to serving in two consecutive terms. There’s some thought that limiting the tenure of these legislative leaders will cut down on the problems we saw with former Speaker and now convicted felon Jim Black.

  Look for the push-back to come from the Senate, where Pro Tempore Marc Basnight is serving his eighth term as the chamber’s top leader.

• HB 296 by Reps. Earl Jones, Alma Adams and others. There’s no text up as of 8:47 p.m., but there have been “Sterilization Compensation” bills in prior General Assembly sessions and Jones mentioned he was going to try again this year. For background, click here. For the push-back, click here.

Click here for the story from Wednesday's paper that talks about the bills to outlaw the alcohol inhalation machines, or AWOL devices.

Linkage:

• They are distributed by a Greensboro Company called Spirit Partners under the AWOL brand name. Click here for their page.
  
• Click here for the House version of the bill. Click here for the Senate version.
  
• A similar bill is on the move in South Carolina and in Kentucky.
  
• The N.C. bill is being pushed by the Christian Action League.
  
• Some liquor sellers don’t like these machines much either.
  
• Slate