Remains of the day, snowy afternoon edition
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.
- Gov. Easley released the annual teacher working conditions survey today. Shocking revelation from the news release: “The report also found there was a strong connection to schools with good teacher working conditions, high student achievement and teacher retention and recruitment.” Click here for the whole thing.
- The House plans to honor Rep. Bernard Allen, who died in October. For the resolution they will debate, click here.
- From a release: “U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced today that President Bush’s 2008 budget will raise the Pell Grant maximum for students to $4,600 next year, the largest increase in over 30 years, and $5,400 over five years, the largest five-year increase ever.” Link.
- The folks at N.C. Spin sent out an e-mail this afternoon that read in part:
“Black resignation imminent? The rumors started swirling faster than the morning snow. It began with the news that former House Speaker Jim Black had requested not to have a legislative assistant assigned to him. We then were told by reliable sources that Black had listed his Bishops Park condo for sale on the internal General Assembly web site. The signs all pointed to his departure from the legislature, and soon.”
It took all of 20 minutes for a few people to write asking me about this, so I’ll say here what I said to them. Be cautious in evaluating this e-mail. N.C. Spin has been saying something like this for months. I did a little checking and a couple of folks who know Black pretty well said it ain’t so, and one said he doesn’t own a condo so he can’t sell one. Could something be going down? Absolutely, yes. Is it a slam dunk something’s going down? Nope.
- What, do the honorables think they actually run the joint?
- State Treasurer Richard Moore is raising the legislature’s credit limit. From a release, “According to the report, the State can issue $384 million in new debt for each of the next ten years and maintain manageable debt levels. This recommendation marks an increase from last year’s figure of $214.4 million, attributable to strong revenue growth and low interest rates. However, the report cautions that as more debt is issued, the State has less budget flexibility to address any declines in revenue that might occur.”
That’s good news for the various folks lining up for bond issues for things like open space preservation, roads and whatnot.