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A column in Slate by Jack Shafer on the cutbacks in state governments made me spend a large portion of my lunch hour with a calculator and I'm not sure I'm any the wiser.

Shafer, a press critic, spent his time ripping a Washington Post story on how the current economic downturn is forcing states to cut back.

First off, it bears saying that in North Carolina reports from the Fiscal Research Division have been that revenues are running slightly ahead of projections. That's a fancy way of saying that we're getting in a little bit more money than the last budget anticipated so things are hunky and/or dory for the moment. See here if you want the numbers.

Secondly, Shafer points to BEA data that gives me different percentage increases that he has in his chart. I get the trend, but in much smaller bites.

Shafer's central point is that it makes sense for states to live within their means. From his column:

Now, as the stumbling economy forces individuals and families to rein in their spending, it's only sensible that the state and local governments should have to tighten their belts. It's called living within your means. But news stories rarely reflect this sentiment.

In essence, he's making the argument that legislative Republicans have made in North Carolina for years. Essentially, they have argued that the state should increase spending year-over-year no more than a formula that would take into account inflation plus population growth.

All that makes sense in a simple sort of way.

As for Shafer's criticism of the Post story, I'll grant you that the cancellation of 4th of July fireworks isn't a dire outcome and campground closing won't plunge civilize society into chaos.

However, the limitations on health benefits for AIDS patients and poor women seem to be a bit more serious. And the Los Angeles school system facing a seven percent budget cut is nothing to sneeze at, especially since I'm sure there are folks who would argue the school there aren't doing enough.

There is a larger argument to be made that would generally fall into the Democratic or at least politically liberal camp most of the time. It goes something like this: economic downturns increase the stresses in society that make people rely on government services. Everything from courts (more people suing over economic matters, getting in trouble when they violate the law to try and make ends meet, foreclosure hearings) to social services (food stamps, health care, etc...) will see demand for their services go up even as their revenues go down.

I'll leave it to you whether to vest much in either side of the political argument and whether Shafer is right in his assessment of the "Chicken Little" nature of the Post article.

The bigger question for us is whether this is relevant in North Carolina? Well, remember those budget projections? Included in the slides was this warning:

A sluggish national economy teetering on the brink of a recession will lower economic output for the rest of 2008. The aftereffects from the U.S. housing recession and the growing credit crisis could be a drag on the economy well into 2009. The effects of the national slowdown are starting to show up in North Carolina's housing data and the economy-based taxes (see pages 3 to 5).

[snip]

Clearly, a protracted and significant slowdown or recession will dampen expectations for revenue growth in FY 2008-09 and may mean that the tentative 4.6% growth rate will need to be lowered. Continued monitoring of both the credit crisis and the impact of rising food and gasoline prices on consumer spending and job growth is crucial.

So we're not going to be in the position of cutting the current year budget, like they are in New York, California and Virginia. But when the honorables come back in May to tinker with the two-year budget plan, adjusting the piece that runs July 1, 2008 through July 1, 2009, you may be hearing a lot more talk about living within our means. And then we'll very much be having the discussion that Shafer outlines of living within ones means versus cutting what some view as critical government services.

Largely lost in Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson's plan to remake financial industry regulations was and effort to create a federal super-regulator for insurers. More here.

If you think this might trouble North Carolina's state insurance regulator, you'd be right.

"It could be a real mess," said N.C. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, who said that the federal government would have to hire thousands of workers to do the same job that state agencies do now.

"If you keep it on the state level, when I mess up, you're right next door to me. You can come over and say, 'Jim Long, what did you do?'"

Long acknowledges there were problems for companies getting certified by 50 different regulators and points to a relatively new Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission that helps streamline the process for 31 states, including North Carolina.

Also, Long argues that North Carolina's special mechanisms to take care of things like beachfront property aren't relevant to those who live in Kansas, and Kansas' concern about tornadoes probably doesn't translate to California property owners.

"The good news is it (the Paulson proposal) is not going anywhere right now," Long said. That's because it's an election year and, well, stirring that much soup while the cooks want to go home and win votes isn't feasible.

Long said that he'll be turning his attention to the legislature before too soon. In particular, he is watching an effort that would restrict his ability to control the state's auto-insurance rates.

"They pushed for that like crazy," Long said of the auto insurers. "And they're going to be pushing again, no doubt about that."

Background on that here (from political connections) and here (from the AP).

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who represents parts of Rockingham and Guilford counties has a spiffy new website.

The N.C. Voters for Clean Elections group did a presser by the old state capitol today to talk up North Carolina's Council of State pilot.

For the uninitiated: the Council of State is made up of 10 officials elected statewide, including the governor and lt. governor, treasurer, agriculture commissioner and others. This year, candidates in three of those offices - Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Auditor - can opt into a public financing system.

Those who participate need to collect 750 small dollar donations, defined as contributions between $10 and $200. In exchange, they get a minimum of $300,000 in taxpayer funding to wage their campaign.

"I want to say I'm sorry to anyone out there that I'm using their tax dollars and they don't want me to really win this race," said State Auditor Les Merritt, the Republican incumbent in the office.

He points out one of the big objections to publicly financed elections, which is that public money - your money - can go to finance a candidate who you find objectionable or who says objectionable things.

The JWP Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank, argued against the act when it was coming through the legislature last year and you can find their objections here. More here.

A major upside is that candidates who otherwise couldn't run are getting in the race. Both Fred Aikens and Beth Wood, the two Democrats running for Auditor, said they would not be in the race if it weren't for the public financing program.

The most interesting moments from today's newser revolved around the Superintendent of Public Instruction race. Democrats June Atkinson, the incumbent, and Eddie Davis have opted into the program, as has Republican Eric Smith, of Reidsville. Republicans Richard Morgan, former co-speaker of the House, and Joe Johnson have not opted in yet and aren't expected to.

"Voter owned elections means it will be harder for special interests to impact this election," Smith said. "In the past, the special interest group in my race was the North Carolina Association of Educators. I'm glad that these labor bosses now support voter owned elections and I call on them not to defeat the spirit of the law by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent expenditures."

Scott Mooneyham of The Insider asked all three superintendent candidates to talk about the potential for independent expenditures.

"I would encourage anyone who is looking at that to recognize the importance of this program and decide not to do that," Davis said.

Atkins also said the independent 527s would undermine the public financing.

Why does this come up in this particular context.

Well, one reason could be that Davis heads the N.C. Association of Educators, an affiliate of the NEA. The NEA is running independent ads that stop a half-step short of being campaign ads but sure do talk up Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, who they have endorsed.

Morgan, another Republican in the race, also used a 527 during his time as co-speaker.

So if a 527 or like organization were to engage in this race, it might be contrary to the spirit of public financing, but no one would count it as a surprise.

The U.S. House voted on a bill that would spend $50 billion over five years to expand AIDS prevention programs around the world particularly in Africa. Click here for the early AP story.

The White House backs the bill and a similar measure is on track toward passage in the Senate.

The North Carolina vote: All seven Democrats Yes, All six Republicans No.

Nationally, 230 Democrats voted for the bill along with 78 Republicans; 116 Republicans voted against.

Okay, so I do a fair bit of my work at night after the kids go to bed, plunked down on my sofa with the television box blathering in the background. That means I half hear a lot of commercials, promos and snipits that don't quite penetrate my thick noggin.

One of those half-heard snipits came up a couple nights ago, and seemed to have something to do with tobacco regulation. I missed the punch line and couldn't figure it out until this story showed up in my e-mail box courtesy of a Google alert:

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would give the Food and Drug Administration sweeping regulatory authority over the tobacco industry, clearing the way for a House floor vote on the legislation, which has long been sought by anti-tobacco activists.

The reason it pinged my Google alert comes further down in the story:

Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, has reportedly threatened to filibuster against the legislation. In a statement Wednesday, shortly after the committee vote, Mr. Burr said he remained opposed to the legislation. A spokesman for Mr. McConnell said that the senator has said he would review the legislation.

Here's the ad in question:

Note that it is paid for by Reynolds American and would send people to this site.

The pro-regulation argument is here.

The Barkeep over at Isaac Hunter's Tavern has been keeping up with the weirdness over at Thomas Wright's criminal trial. Thursday's edition is well worth the listen because, as Laura said: "If I told you what all was said today, you probably wouldn’t believe me. Seriously."

Closing arguments are today.

Less than a month after Rep. Thomas Wright was booted from the General Assembly by his peers, the Associate Press reports:

A jury found former Rep. Thomas Wright guilty of fraud Monday after deciding he mishandled thousands of dollars in charitable contributions and fraudulently obtained a $150,000 loan.

The Wake County jury convicted Wright on three felony fraud charges. He had been charged with four counts, but jurors decided he did not mishandle a $1,500 donation from AT&T Corp. Jurors found that Wright misused or mishandled donations from two other companies, totaling $7,400.

With cities like Greensboro and Raleigh standing down from the most severe water restrictions, residents might be feeling pretty cocky.

"The drought is over," I've heard more than one person say. Well, no, really it isn't. Local reservoirs are replenished thanks to a freakish amount of spring rain. But the U.S. Drought Monitory still puts most of Guilford County and all of Wake County in the category of "Extreme Drought."

More importantly, there are still all the long term issues that people identified when we were all contemplating whether we'd have to skip the daily showers: development, a growing population, finite water resources, increasing demands of irrigation and industry, etc... Those haven't gone away.

Gov. Mike Easley makes this point after a fashion in a news release / letter he sent out today:

"As of this morning, all 100 counties are still in some form of drought, with 45 in extreme and 36 in severe. However, even though reservoir levels have risen, our groundwater resources, which help keep our streams flowing, are still extremely low. This makes North Carolina very vulnerable as summer approaches.

"In short, there is the potential for exceptional and extreme drought conditions to return this summer and fall, especially with a long-range weather forecast for drier-than-normal conditions through the end of May. Communities that have previously identified alternative water sources or are working on interconnections to backup systems need to move forward with those efforts.

"The drought of 2007-08 has taught all of us that we need to do a better job of managing our water resources year round. We are currently putting together a package of legislative proposals which I announced in March to help us modernize North Carolina's public water systems, mandate water conservation and efficiency, and upgrade the response to water emergencies. My goal is to make our state drought proof."

Click here to read the whole thing.

When reporting on local beats over the past 10 years here and in Pennsylvania, I've seen water management issues get a lot of attention during the heat of a crisis and then when things get back to normal, folks kind of let them slip from the agenda. It'll be interesting to see whether our new found religion when it comes to water conservation sticks, or whether we'll be back to our heathen ways by the time we're reseeding all those suburban lawns this fall.

Congressman Howard Coble sent word that a bill he's supported for a while was signed by President Bush today.

The Second Chance Act basically focuses on ways to ensure that once folks leave prison, they stay out. This current version funds $165 million in "prisoner reentry" programs. Coble has been talking this up since I've been talking to him on a regular basis. (White House Press Release.)

Here's a picture of Coble at the bill signing:

Credit: The Associated Press

The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research has its annual legislative effectiveness rankings out. The rankings are based on surveys of legislators, lobbyists and we scruffy media types.

Here's the thing to keep in mind about the rankings. A few of them are blazingly obvious and beyond dispute. Of course Sen. Marc Basnight is #1 in the Senate, he runs the joint. Is anyone going argue with Rep. Thomas Wright of Wilmington being ranked dead last in effectiveness? Probably not, considering the Speaker took away all his power during the session and the House ended up booting him this spring.

The bulk of the rankings I look at and think to myself, "Yeah, that makes sense." I would have put Rep. Hugh Holliman of Davidson County in the Top 10 somewhere, so his rank at #3 makes sense to me. And I first balked at Rep. Nelson Cole of Rockingham ranking as high as #15, but checking back on his bill list and status, I'm willing to go along.

There are a few rankings that I would quibble with, and a couple are in the Guilford Delegation. So here's are the Center's rankings and my comments for the folks who represent the paper's circulation area:

Senate: ranked out of 50

Phil Berger, #14. Berger is the Republican minority leader in the Senate. He's the second-highest ranking Republican on the survey. (The highest ranking is Fletcher Hartsell at #9, who has a judiciary chairmanship to his name.) I might have ranked Berger a few notches higher, but he probably lost some points for being forced to be the spokesman for some of his party's ideological (and ultimately loosing) stands on the floor.

Stan Bingham, #26. Bingham has gotten along with Democratic majority, shown up on a budget conference committee and gotten some mid-level pieces of legislation done. No quibbles here.

Katie Dorsett, #24. Dorsett is the minority whip in the Senate but has not pursued the most aggressive personal legislative agenda.

Kay Hagan, #7. Hagan is an appropriations co-chairman and is ranked right along side of her two colleagues who lead the panel. Once you get past the top two rankings in the Senate (Basnight and Rules Chairman Tony Rand) spots three through 8 are pretty interchangeable.

House: ranked out of 119

Alma Adams, #44. Really? A Co-chairman of the appropriations committee and leader of the Legislative Black Caucus ranks lower than the chairman of committees that handle lower profile legislation? She is up 17 spots from last year. And you probably could make an argument that she was bogged down with having to answer questions about her caucus' activities and some of her members' legal problems (paging Thomas Wright.) But for her to be 18 spots behind Maggie Jeffus, who has the same kind of committee profile, seems to be a bit off.

John Blust, #111. Blust should not be in the bottom 10. Not only has he gotten some of his legislative moving this year, but he frequently make contributions in committee meeting to make important, but unheralded, tweaks in legislation. Blust probably gets docked points because he's given to passionately defending his ideological positing, even if that position is a looser on a particular vote. But he is ranked below some folks (Republicans and Democrats) who make far less by way of tangible contributions to the legislative process.

Pricey Harrison, #38. She's up 34 points from last year. Harrison's gotten a reputation as a leading environmental spokesperson in the legislature and as a committee chairman had a pretty high profile during the fight over S3, the renewable energy bill. Like other progressives, she's done better under the Speakership of Joe Hackney than they did under former Speaker Jim Black.

Maggie Jeffus, #26. She's up 20 spots. She now has rank as an appropriations cochair and a fair bit of seniority. 'Nuff said.

Earl Jones, #60. He's up 26 spots. Okay, he's got two chairmanships: Local Government II and Science and Technology. Also, he's got a few bills enrolled into state law this year. However, he probably got moved up on the strength of his mouth: Jones talks a lot of the floor and does not shy away from controversial positions so he's pretty well known.

Laura Wiley, #86. She's up 10 points but I would have made the case she should be in the top two-thirds - #80 or above. Wiley has worked well with the Democratic majority and even as a Republican has helped shepherd some bills through the General Assembly. But she's not a big talker on the floor and a lot of her issues aren't high on the news radar.

North Carolina's Pro-Life Democrats sent word that North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. is holding its 35th annual anniversary banquet in Greensboro. The event, on April 26, will honor U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, which makes it a bit weird for a Democratic group to be promoting, but that has more to do with the issue than the personality.

More interesting was a two-page letter (page one / page two) the group sent to Speaker Joe Hackney. It makes the case for two things: a right-to-life state license plate and a fetal homicide law.

The fetal homicide law is particularly interesting because I know that several legislators are making a big push on it this year. In fact, I ran into (Rep. Dale Folwell on my way home yesterday and he allowed as how he has been talking it up.

Now, no one is going to argue that the killing of a pregnant woman and/or her unborn child isn't reprehensible. But - you knew there was a but right - folks see this kind of law as a gateway to outlawing abortion. Background here and here.

Generally, the General Assembly under Democratic control has stayed away from these hot button topics. You may remember it was Hackney who unabashedly killed a bill aimed at a constitution ban on gay marriage, one of the few times he has stepped in like that. A bill that's a gateway to the abortion debate may be in that same category.

I don't see Hackney or President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight letting this kind of issue take over the short session. If this debate was truly engaged, it would dominate legislative business for a time. But I can see proponents of the legislation pushing it hard as a run-on bill, as in something to run-on this fall. With the economy in the tank, the War in Iraq dragging on, a budget that will be no fun to put together and the presidential circus in town, I'm not sure how effective of a tactic that might be. Still, it might mobilize some segment of voters.

Sen. John McCain has proposed giving motorists a holiday from federal gas taxes as a way to stimulate the economy.

Shortly after, during a debate on WRAL this week, Republican candidates for governor embraced the idea on the state level.

During and interview earlier this week, I asked Gov. Mike Easley what he thought of the idea. Let's just say I don't think he'll be putting it in his budget proposal.

"We've capped ours ... and as a result of that, there's no money for roads. The people need to be told the truth, and that is the price of gas is going to go up and up and up, and there's nothing that the state government can do to stop that."

Easley did have some ideas as to what the state ought to be doing on energy policy.

Click here to listen to his full answer.

More to come, including a Q+A this weekend.

A story in the Politico came over the Google feed this morning because it involves Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina. The story is about Historically Black Graduate Institutions. While I knew about HBCUs - Historically Black Colleges and Universities - the HBGIs designation was a new one for me. From the story:

Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with lobbyists for historically black universities, are blocking a bipartisan Senate effort to expand the number of schools eligible to be a Historically Black Graduate Institution.

The HBGI designation comes with both prestige and federal funding, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and other members of Congress are pressing to use the Higher Education Act reauthorization to assign it to several schools, mostly in their home states.

The co-chairmen of the CBC's education task force, Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), are actively opposing the effort, arguing that the addition of more grad schools to the HBGI program would diminish the amount of money eligible for those currently receiving funding.

The three organizations that represent the Historically Black Colleges and Universities community are also opposing the effort. The battle between congressional chambers and among competing black schools has led to some serious bad blood, aides and lobbyists said.

"The inclusion of one or two others would open up a new category, and you'd have dozens that become eligible tomorrow afternoon, and we'd have no rational basis to keep them out," said Scott, who cited the opposition of the United Negro College Fund and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. "There seems to be a pretty good consensus around not expanding the list."

Also from the story:

Burr's spokesman said that "Burr supports strengthening and expanding HBCU graduate programs so that a greater number of students have the opportunity to attend and further their education. Sen. Burr believes giving more students better opportunities can be done without reducing funding for current HBCUs."

Read the whole thing here.

Welcome to those of you following a link from Sunday's Q+A with Gov. Mike Easley. (Link here.) We posted some audio from the interview earlier this week. You can hear him opine on this year's elections here and his thoughts on gas taxes here.

One of the first things I asked him about was the failure of Skybus, the discount airline that North Carolina offered a gob of money to locate a hub here less than a year before the carrier went belly-up. We also discussed RF Micro, a company that has gotten state incentives but has also sent jobs over-seas.
Click here to listen to his answers.

If you're not digging the Easley interview, you might want to catch up on some other non-presidential political news:

• * Republican candidates for governor debated in Greensboro Friday night.
• * Afterward, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole offered a few thoughts.
• * Democrats running to replace Dole talked to our editorial board last week.

Little noticed during the 2007 General Assembly session was a bill (S 954) that would have North Carolina join the National Popular Vote effort.

No, we wouldn't be dropping out of the Electoral College. Rather, the state would join up with others in agreeing how to apportion its votes. Namely, all those in the compact would agree to give their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote nationally.

The compact would go into effect only when enough states had signed up to swing the election one way or another.

(Need a more in-depth explainer? Here is the one-page explanation or, if you have more time, the eight-page explainer.)

Barry Fadem, who is heading the effort, was in the state last week and hopped on the phone to chat. He was joined by Jack Cozart, who is lobbying on behalf of the bill this session.

"It's a damned good time for me to be here in North Carolina," Fadem said, noting the enthusiasm over the presidential election. He pitched the popular vote effort as a way to keep the excitement up, rather than relegate North Carolina to the list of non-battleground states this fall.

(Of course, there are some who think N.C. can be in play regardless, but let's leave that for another day.)

"Nobody has been able to explain to me yet why a voter in North Carolina shouldn't be as important as a voter in Ohio," Fadem said.

So why not focus all this effort on amending the Constitution of the United States and the Electoral College provisions, which most folks view as kind of arcane anyway?

"You need a 2/3 vote of Congress and a 3/4 vote of the states," Fadem said. With the last major amendment push (the ERA) sputtering out in the 1970s and Congress in a state where they can barely agree on what to order for lunch, a constitutional amendment seems unlikely, he said.

New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois are on board. Hawaii is due to join of the legislature over-rides a gubernatorial veto, as expected.

Fadem said he was on his third visit to North Carolina in six weeks and was attempting to meet with every legislator. Since the bill has already passed the Senate, it is in the House's court.

The majority of the opposition came from Republicans in the Senate, where Democrats stuck together for the most part.

Fadem said that Republicans in other states had come on board but that he had seen the debate get shoved into partisan bunkers before.

"When it goes partisan, there's really not much we can do about that," he said.

Backers of a similar bill in the House include Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro and Rep. Nelson Cole of Rockingham County.

From the Gov. Easley's press office:

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today nominated current State Budget Director David McCoy to become the next State Controller to replace Robert Powell who is planning to retire before the end of this year. McCoy's appointment, which was submitted to legislative leaders, must be confirmed by the General Assembly.

"David is an outstanding public servant," Easley said. "His vast experience in so many aspects of North Carolina government and the exemplary job he has done overseeing the state budget in both tough and good times, makes him especially qualified to be our next State Controller."

Easley also thanked Powell for his work for North Carolina. "Robert's career in state government is both long and distinguished, as state controller and before that, as deputy state budget director. State government operates better because of his good work."

McCoy is the first American Indian to be state budget director. He has directed the state budget throughout Easley's two terms as governor. Prior to that he served in the administration of Gov. Jim Hunt as transportation secretary, the governor’s deputy chief of staff and chief deputy secretary of the Department of Administration. During the administration of Gov. Jim Martin, McCoy served as chief counsel in the Department of Administration and as assistant director of the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs.

McCoy is a graduate of the University of Georgia and holds a Master's degree in education from the University of Georgia, a Master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina and a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Cross-posted from D-2008, where I've been spending way too much time:

From today's paper: a look at the Democratic primary for governor. Previously: the Republicans.

Here's more on the the tv ad by the GOP. You know the one. It'll begin airing Monday.

The bad news, you're behind in the polls and fundraising in the U.S. Senate race. The good news: you have the money for a heck of a party. Our editorial page has made an endorsement in the race.

Coming this week: Presidential candidates are back in town. Hillary Clinton will be at a fundraiser in Greensboro Monday. and Barack Obama will be in Winston-Salem Tuesday.

Let's see, the Democratic presidential campaign is romping through the state, the candidates for governor on both sides are beating the snot out of each other and anything voted on after U.S. Senator is suddenly a "down-ballot" race. Oh, yeah, there's some excitement 'round here.

Meanwhile, the honorables are getting ready to come back to town on May 13 and the attention of us scruffy media types is focused elsewhere. That makes me a little nervous.

At any rate, just to clear out some of stuff crossing my desk not directly related to the May 6 primary:

• * News release: "Rep. Pricey Harrison is one of four members of the N.C. General Assembly recognized with an award of appreciation for Sustainable Energy Leadership by the State Energy Office. North Carolina energy and environmental professionals, and others who have supported energy sustainability, were presented with awards on April 8 at the fifth annual N.C. Sustainable Energy Conference."

• * AP: "A House committee wants to temporarily ban North Carolina cities and towns from forcing annexations until the Legislature can recommend changes to the law. A special House panel voted Wednesday to ask the entire chamber to back a moratorium on annexations through June 2009. That would give the committee time to make more details suggestions to improve annexation rules. Current rules allow cities and towns to force outside communities into their jurisdiction. Some citizens have complained during public hearings that they had little say when being incorporated into cities such as Goldsboro, Salisbury and Lexington."

• * Fayetteville Observer: A legislator urged repeal Tuesday of a state law that restricts sex education to teaching only abstinence in most North Carolina public schools. “This is, in the most literal sense, a matter of life and death,” state Rep. Rick Glazier told a forum on sex education in Cumberland County schools. Glazier said children are needlessly exposed to cervical cancer and other diseases because some abstinence-only programs dispense inaccurate data.

• * Jordan Lake rules are due to be heard by the ERC on May 9. They will almost be heading to the General Assembly in 2009.

So, what are you watching for this coming legislative session? (Yes, we know about mental health reform reform.)