News-Record.com

Governor-elect Bev Perdue appointed five officials to public-safety-related posts today. They are:

• * Reuben F. Young – Secretary, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. Young is currently Gov. Mike Easley's chief legal council and did five years as an assistant attorney general.

• * Major General Gerald A. Rudisill, Jr. – Chief Deputy Secretary, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. The job should be familiar since he was named the Chief Deputy for Crime Control and Public Safety on Sept. 1, 2007. He is the former Adjutant General of the North Carolina National Guard.

• * Colonel Alvin Keller, Jr. – Secretary, Department of Correction. Is a former military lawyer and judge and is currently an assistant AG.

• * Jennie Lou Lancaster – Chief Operating Officer, Department of Correction. Is a 32-year veteran of the N.C. Department of Corrections.

• * Linda Wheeler Hayes – Secretary, Department of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention. She is currently chair of the Governor's Crime Commission.

For those looking for "shake-ups," most of these names are maybe minor tremors but very familiar to those around state government. Col. Keller is the sort-of exception to that, having spent most of his career outside of government. Still, he's in the current chain of command.

Perdue also said that everyone in state government who is an "exempt" worker - policy folks like department secretaries and deputy secretaries - have been asked to turn in their resignations. That's fairly standard practice when a new governor is coming in.

Update: A commenter on Facebook suggests that there are a lot of "exempt" workers and that replacing all of them might be quite the chore. While that's the exact word that Perdue used, that may not be exactly what she meant. I've asked for clarification but have not gotten it yet.

What seems clear is that most of Gov. Mike Easley's policy folks should be ready to head to the exits. (end update.)

Update: A clarification was forthcoming from the campaign:

For all of you who were at today’s press conference – I wanted to make a quick clarification about the letters going out to exempt positions: these letters are for policy-making exempt positions only. This is different from managerial positions and is a much smaller number.

I've asked for a total number on this, but if I were to guess, I'd say you're probably looking at 20 to 30 folks, rather than 200 to 300 folks.(end update.)

This was the first presser of Perdue's tenure and she repeated a lot of phrases we heard on the campaign trail in terms of wanting to be "hands on" and accountable.

During a question and answer period with reporters, she said that all her new department heads would be given 60 days to go into their agencies and give her a list of five things that needed to be corrected.

In her prepared remarks, Perdue said that she would demand four things from her cabinet secretaries: high standards, hands on leadership, early disclosure of problems and accountability to the public.

Perdue said she "hated surprises, " and wanted to know about "anything that would give you pause" before it showed up in the papers or on television.

Audio is coming as soon as it loads onto the server.

Update: For those who are interested, audio is now loaded:

• * Click here to listen to the prepared remarks from the news conference. (17 minutes 13 secs) It includes comments from those getting appointment, all pledging to work hard and saying they're in sync with the governor-elect.

• * Click here to listen to the Q+A with reporters. (8 minutes 45 secs.) It’s probably the more interesting of the two.

Two things caught my attention as Gov.-elect Perdue delivered prepared remarks during her news conference this afternoon.

(Update: AP has more on the appointees here.)

Perdue said she had given all her new appointees marching orders to seek out problems:

"I want a listing from them of the five most pressing challenges or problems that they see facing their agency. And let me say very seriously that all five of those can't have to do with money or the budget because we all know clearly that's a major challenge for all of us," Perdue said.

Now, this might seem like a reasonable thing for any new governor (or any new executive of anything, for that matter) to do when she comes onboard.

But the language, to me, presumes there are things that are broken or at least things that will present problems in almost every agency of state government.

Perdue is taking over from fellow Democrat Mike Easley. Despite being from the same party, there doesn't seem to be the assumption on Perdue's part that all the bilge pumps on the ship of state are operating as they should.

Given problems in the mental health and probation systems, that's probably not a bad attitude to have, although it does seem a bit undiplomatic toward the outgoing governor.

The second quote that caught my ear was this one:

As I picked the secretaries, my goal has been pretty simple: to find the folk with the best experience, the most complete experience to run the agencies, because the state government agencies actually for most part are - it's like running a huge corporation. And I wanted somebody who had the courage not to just accept the status quo but to shake things up if that was needed. I wanted leaders who could get the bottom line results that I expect from everybody who works for the state of North Carolina. And I also wanted a bit of track record.

Perdue added to that notion later on: "You can see I looked at the pedigree of these leaders - I wanted people who could make it happen."

From all that, it seemed like Perdue wanted cabinet secretaries who were both fish and fowl. She wanted people to come in and shake things up – but – those same folks needed a proven track record and needed to know their agencies.

In some respects, this echoes the dilemma of her campaign. She was someone who had long service in the state senate and eight years as lieutenant governor. But she frequently campaigned as if she was the person furthest removed from state government on a day-to-day basis.

The result during the campaign was at times a mixed message that didn't always appeal to voters. It seemed to me voters got confused when Perdue would say that she had been a strong leader who had been in a position to (help) save the state's military bases but was so far distant from any of the state's current budget or operational problems that she bore no responsibility or knowledge.

The results of her first few appointments seem to be a stirring of the deck. No doubt the folks she's chosen are qualified in their own ways. But all five of today's appointees have some sort of job in the current administration, and none are really properly called outsiders - at least to my mind. (For those who disagree, the comments link is active.)

Perdue said she's been "really aggressive" in seeking out applicants, taking applications online and interviewing "lots of people." It bears watching to see if any of her appointments will show the results of that wider net being cast.

Before getting to the serious business I have with Congressman Howard Coble, you may want to give him, or at least his picture, the business on eBay.

That's right, you can buy your very own signed postcard of the Congressman for $9.99. Coble is heading into his 25th year in Congress and the picture appears to date from the beginning of that run.

Now on with our show.

Visiting with Coble in his Capitol Hill office tonight, I asked him what he wanted to tackle this session.

"Well my first order of business, old friend, is going to be maybe this week on this proposed pay increase," Coble said.

Rank-and-file members of Congress make $169,300 a year and are due for a $4,700 raise this year. That raise happens automatically unless Congress heads it off.

The automated raises were put in place more than a decade ago. In large part, they were supposed to avoid partisan wrangling over pay raise decisions. (No one would have to risk his neck or seat by sponsoring or debating in favor of a pay raise bill.)

Coble said that this year, with the economy tanking and people losing jobs, Congress should act to block its pay raise.

"When you have bills like this, it invites demagoguery," Coble said. "I'm not going to be a demagogue about it, but I think this is ill timed. You have thousands - strike that. You have tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs ... and then they're picking up the paper and seeing we're getting a $4,700 a year raise. I think it serves no good purpose."

Coble is not the first to this idea.

Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Arizona, will be the lead sponsor of a bill to do what Coble is talking about. (More here.)

Coble did not mention the Mitchell bill -- which cannot officially be filed until Tuesday at noon -- but said he was looking for a measure to sign on to.

My colleague Jeri Rowe writes an open letter to Sen. Kay Hagan today as she prepares to be sworn in. As I write, that's a little more than three hours away.

The drill is this: At noon the Senate will convene and swear in the new members en masse. Then they'll run across the hall to the Old Senate Chamber and pose for a swearing-in shot complete with a bible and family and what not.

Other than on C-Span, you're not going to see the actual swearing in because they don't let news cameras on the floor. The bit in the Old Senate Chamber is a commemorative moment, but entirely fake.

Later in the day, Hagan will host an open house at her senate office and then head off to a reception.

Speaking of her office ...

When I wandered into town Monday, one of my first orders of business was to get credentialed so I could roam the buildings up here a little more freely. I saw Hagan on her way into the office, toting a very colorful flower arrangement.

I didn't think a lot of it at the time, other than to think that most sitting senators probably had staffers bring in their flowers.

But when I visited her temporary offices later in the day, the flowers made more sense.

Hagan is based in the basement of the Senate's Dirksen office building, across the hall from the stationary shop and within sight of a service corridor. Inside, the walls are plain white and the carpet is a brown that might charitably be described as coming from a desert palette.

Very blah.

The flower arrangement sitting near her desk was the only punch of color in the suite of offices.

Hagan is going to have to wait for her permanent digs until all the foolishness with the Minnesota and Illinois senate races/replacements is over with. The Senate is a creature of traditions, and seniority is taken very seriously there. Even small clicks in seniority given by the size of one's state or prior service in government can move you up or down in the pecking order for everything from office space to committee chairmanships.

I'll have more later today on Hagan's first day officially on the job.

So while I've been wandering about D.C., there have been happenings at home.

Governor-elect Bev Perdue completed her cabinet Tuesday.

(By the way: thanks to my colleague Gerald Witt for picking up my slack on Perdue's Commerce and cultural resources appointments.)

The head-scratching pick of the day might be Lanier Cansler as HHS secretary. There's two ways to view this appointment:

The guy is a consultant knowledgeable about the health care, has served in the agency so knows the lay of the land and is a Republican to boot - giving Perdue some bipartisan cred. (Lanier is a former legislator and gave advice to state Sen. Fred Smith during the campaign, according to a March 17 story in the Asheville Citizen Times.)

Then again ...

The guy was a consultant in the knowledgeable about the health care field: Specifically, Dome reports he is a registered lobbyist for a company that has sold the state a Medicaid bill-paying system. (Perdue told reporters in the state that Cansler is detached from his private industry dealings.)

He has served in the agency so knows the lay of the land: Specifically, he was deputy secretary from 2001 to 2005, right about when the mental health system started its rock-sled ride to perdition. And fixing mental health will be one of the DHHS secretary's most high profile tasks.

He is a Republican - okay, that's not a potential failing, is it?

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Both the North Carolina Democratic Party and North Carolina Republican Party will be looking for new leadership in the new year.

In a statement, GOP Chairman Linda Daves:

"Serving as the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party has been a great honor. The ability to serve the interests of the people of North Carolina has been one of the great privileges of my life. The best part of this job has been the ability to meet the many diverse people who make up the fabric of our state. I have spent many years working alongside dedicated, hardworking Republicans in North Carolina as a grassroots activist. It is these good people who make up the heart and soul of our party. Having the ability to see their commitment to making our state the best that it can be has given me renewed hope for our future each day.

There was also the small matter of the state GOP getting a butt-whoopin' last fall. A gain of one seat in the state senate is far outweighed by losing the state auditor's office, losing the state's presidential electors for the first time since 1976 and losing a senate seat held by a well-known incumbent.

One prominent North Carolina Republican told me this week "the party is in shambles," referring both to its national standing and its operations in state. Rebuilding it will fall to the next chairman.

There doesn't seem to be a line out the door for the job. State Sen. Fred Smith doesn't seem to be going hard at it.

Former Guilford County GOP Chairman Marcus Kindley has been stumping for the job. Four years ago, he drew a lot of support from rural areas of the state.

-=-=-=-=-=-=

On the Democratic side, many folks have seemingly expressed interest in the job - if not said they were running outright. The most widely known name being floated might be Jim Neal, who ran against Sen. Kay Hagan in the Democratic primaries. He wrote this in an e-mail Tuesday:

Many members of the State Executive Committee (NCDP SEC) have been urging me to run for Chair of the NCDP which Jerry is vacating. Some I got to know during the primary campaign; others I'm talking to for the first time. They've got my ear and I am considering in earnest.

Initially, I was approached over the summer about seeking the office at which time I passed. Six months later.....I'm willing to listen as my life has settled since the aftermath of the elections. I'm intrigued and have no doubt that I would be an effective representative and leader. The sheer cross-section of folks across the SEC who've been calling is telling and exciting. Whomever is elected as the next Chair will have to continue to build upon the impressive coalition of traditional and newer party activists whom Jerry did such an effective job of uniting during this past election cycle.

I have not declared my candidacy as such but I am seriously considering doing so. I simply have not made a decision as yet. I have not been in contact with legislative leaders; it is premature to do so and they've all got a lot on their plates at this time. I certainly will do so should I decide to run.

According to news reports: Luke Hyde, the 11th district Democratic chairman, is actively running for the job. There are at least three other names in the mix according to Dome.

Whoever inherits the State Party Chairman Jerry Meek's job will have the opposite problem of their Republican counterpart. Rather than rebuilding, they'll be at the reins of an organization that just won big - so the bar will be pretty high.

My colleague Jerry Wolford and I were on Capitol Hill today watching Greensboro's Kay Hagan take her oath of office. (More coming in Wednesday's paper and Sunday.)

Click here for Jerry's excellent photo slide show and audio presentation, which really captures the day.

More later.

A friend who walks in Democratic fundraising circles passed on this copy of an invite to a Jan. 22 Bev Perdue birthday party-cum-fundraiser.

A $10,000 donation will get you "host" privileges, although a "friend" can get some cake for $500.

Still, better be good cake, no? I'm thinking extra-thick frosting or something.

The invitation is putatively from the Democratic Party and according to this ABC 11 story, a spokeswoman for the party says funds will go to the state party's general fund.

But since neither a spokesman for Perdue nor the Democratic Party bothered to return calls my way - hey, my cell phone works north of Kerr Lake, even up here on the shores of the Potomac - I feel no guilt in sharing an alternate theory:

The same person who passed on the invite said there is a great deal of speculation among fundraisers that the money might go to help retire some campaign debt.

He points to Perdue's latest campaign finance filing from 3Q of 2008, which shows over $1 million in loans and other outstanding debts -- lines 21 and 22 of the form.

According to this first quarter form, at least $500,000 of that appears to be from Perdue herself.

So my source's theory goes like this: Perdue needs/wants to raise money to repay those loans but can't do it under her own banner (looks bad, $10,000 is outside of guidelines, etc...) so she'll do it under the party banner and the party will help retire her debt.

I'll throw that in the "maybe" column. Sounds plausible but doesn't sound in keeping with Perdue's "I'm going to clean up government" mantra from the election.

Of course, even if the money IS going to the Democratic Party itself, there's this question: does having a governor headline a high-dollar fundraiser thrown in honor of her birthday at a time when $500 (much less $10,000) looks like a lot of dough to people struggling to make rent giver her political opponents an opportunity to be, um, critical?

Even admirals were cancelling Christmas parties last year due to the recession.

Happy NC Inauguration Day everyone.

I am reliably informed by one of the lawyers involved that Gov. Mike Easley granted two commutations on his way out of office. I'll try to get more on those today.

Otherwise, Gov. Bev Perdue should officially take office sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Update: After talking with Gov. Easley, I can say for sure he commuted sentences for three (not two as listed above) people during his last hours in office. He said he issued no pardons.

One of those whose sentence was commuted is from Guilford County. I'll have more once I confirm her name.

Update: I've been able to confirm the names of two of the three people to whom Easley granted clemency.

Vernishia Nicole Kilpatrick, now 36, a 1994 UNCG graduate, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1994 stabbing death of her boyfriend, Bruce Barron.

The defendant in one of the other cases was Christopher Matthew Brown, a Bucombe County teenager who was convicted in connection with a fatal accident involving aggressive driving. His attorney is Greensboro lawyer Don Vaughan, who will soon take office as a state senator.

These commutations by Easley does not expunge the crime from someone’s record or cause their immediate release from jail as a pardon could. Rather, according to Easley and one of his chief advisers, he lowered Kilpatrick’s sentence so that the North Carolina Parole Commission can consider her release sometime in the next one-to-three years.

I'll have more in the paper tomorrow.

If you were hoping to find out about last minute actions by the Easley administrations (like, say, pardons or commutations) and logged onto the official website after noon today, you were out of luck.

Shortly after she took the oath of office today, Gov. Bev Perdue was rocking a brand new official website. The vestiges of the Easley website had been swept away, along with archives of news releases and other items that might have been useful.

Sigh.

At any rate, click here for the new all-Perdue all the time site. It's pretty spiffy, complete with a blog and links to web 2.0 stuff like Flickr and YouTube.

When I was in D.C. last week reporting on Sen. Kay Hagan's first days in office, I also spent some time with some of our other Congress-critters.

Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, is North Carolina's senior senator. He plans to run for a second term in office in 2012.

We talked a little bit about Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. Burr was a big supporter of McCain, particularly in North Carolina. He is convinced that it's the economy more than anything else that did in McCain's campaign, particularly in North Carolina.

I asked if he thought North Carolina had changed in some fundamental way. After all, Democrats won a fifth consecutive term in the governor's mansion, won the state's presidential electors for the first time since 1976 and expanded their hold on the Council of State.

Burr said, no, that all things being equal, the state has always had voters willing to look across party lines. This year was odd, he said, because of the economy but did not represent a redrawing the political fundamentals.

So, I asked, does 2008 have any bearing on 2010, when he'll be running again?

Again, no.

"I still have to prove to the voters that I've done the best that I can, that I've worked hard on their behalf," Burr said.

However, Burr does seem to have taken note that Sen. Elizabeth Dole, the Republican incumbent who lost to Hagan, was beaten in no small part because she was perceived as an absentee senator.

"I spent 11 weekends in Washington in 14 years, and I've seen some news accounts that say I'm going to be home more often than I have been. My wife says, 'I don't think that's possible,'" Burr said.

In the end, Burr said, he doesn't plan on changing how he operates.

Click here to listen to more of the conversation.

From today's paper:

If North Carolina's newest senator is ever tempted to rise above her raisin', swept away by the privileges and perks of office, the black duffel bag lurking near her desk might bring her back to reality.

Tucked inside is a hood designed to protect Sen. Kay Hagan from a chemical or biological attack on the Capitol.

"I had no idea. I thought it was somebody's package, something of a staff member," Hagan said, bemused by the strangest trapping of her new role as North Carolina's junior senator.

If nothing else, it's a reminder that even the thick stone, marble and brick buildings on The Hill cannot keep out the world's rougher realities.

Hagan, a Democrat, was sworn in Tuesday, taking over from Sen. Elizabeth Dole after defeating the Republican incumbent in November's election. And for the first time, the Senate clerk called for "Mrs. Hagan" as part of a quorum call - an accounting of which senators are present - and she participated in several ceremonial happenings.

Click here for the whole thing.

From today's paper:

• Gov. Perdue takes the oath of office.

• Gov. Easley grants some clemency before leaving office.

Gov. Bev Perdue issued the first five executive orders of her administration today during a news conference at the Capitol.

You can click here to listen to the audio of the occasion, complete with the new governor fussing about malfunctioning pens.

And click here for a PDF file containing all five of Perdue's first executive orders.

As they were summarized in a news release, the orders were:

Governor’s Task Force for the Development of an Endowment for Positive Gubernatorial Campaigns * With the purpose of restoring voter confidence in the way North Carolina funds gubernatorial campaigns and eliminating the negative campaigns that distort policy proposals and a candidate’s vision, Governor Perdue today established a Governor’s task force for the development of an endowment for Positive Gubernatorial Campaigns.

Reforming the Department of Transportation
* To improve the efficiency and effectiveness the DOT and to ensure that plans are developed and projects are awarded based on professional standards Governor Perdue signed an executive order immediately prohibiting DOT Board members from voting on individual projects. If a board member’s participation is required by law, the Secretary will require the board member to sign a sworn statement affirming they have no financial interest related to the project.

Open Book Government for North Carolina
* To increase accountability and transparency Governor Perdue today directed the Office of State Budget and Management to develop and maintain a searchable and public website that shows state management and spending on grants and contracts.

On-Site and State-Stat Performance Management and Accountability
* To improve the accountability of state agencies Governor Perdue pledges to make regular, unannounced inspections of state facilities throughout North Carolina. She also will conduct statistical performance reviews of each agency. Governor Perdue’s first inspections will include state mental hospitals and probation offices.

Establishing the North Carolina Budget Reform and Accountability Commission (BRAC)
* Governor Perdue signed an executive order establishing a citizen oversight panel to ensure government programs are using tax dollars in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Gubernatorial Town Halls
* Governor Perdue affirmed her commitment to participating in at least four live town halls televised across the state. She also officially launched an electric-town hall (E-Town Hall) to be maintained on her website in an effort to remain engaged with, and receive constructive feedback from, the public.

That last one wasn't an executive order, just Perdue saying she was going to do something.

Perdue also gave us a look at an executive order that Gov. Mike Easley left as he walked out of office concern the archiving and public availability of e-mails.

Update: Click here to see a copy of Easley's last executive order.

There's a lot in there. But there are a couple things worth noting right off the bat regarding the Department of Transportation order:

The DOT board is given the ability to approve projects by statute. They'll have to voluntarily give up that power for Perdue's idea to work. And, as Perdue points out, they're all gubernatorial appointees, so they'll either agree to do what she wants or she'll replace them.

And the order only applies to highway projects. It won't affect things like buildings the DOT may do or rail lines and the like: those still get vetted by the board. Unclear, according to officials working for Perdue, are whether things like land and rights-of-way acquisition would be turned over to the secretary. That's something to be studied in the coming 60 days.

Gov. Bev Perdue swore in her cabinet this afternoon. Among them was Linda Carlisle, a Greensboro businesswoman and former lottery commissioner who now serves as Secretary of Cultural Resources.

I talked to her during a reception for the new cabinet today and you can click here to hear the full audio of that conversation.

The summary:

• * I asked her if she would live in Greensboro or Raleigh. She's buying a second home in Raleigh.

• * I asked how she could sell the General Assembly on maintaining arts funding at a time when the budget is squeezed and the economy is struggling.

  "What we have to do is continue to tell our story well," she said. "I think so often people understand what cultural resources are but they forget to really put a price tag on what the value is to our citizens, what the value is toward building a good place where businesses can grow."

  Carlisle said she would be looking for ways to expand arts in North Carolina without spending a lot more dollars. The word "volunteer" came up a lot.

  "Frankly, I'm not really satisfied to maintain status quo," She said. "I think even in today's environment, there are creative ways that we can look to expand on the offerings we have."

• * Libraries fall under the purview of Carlisle's department. And every year, libraries come begging to the General Assembly to defend their funding.

  "Everything you read and hear tells you libraries become a greater resource during economic downturn times," Carlisle said. She added that she would do her best to defend funding for libraries.

  "Our funding for our libraries is abysmal at times," she added.

• * So, how did she get the job?

  "It wasn't a plan," Carlisle said. "In fact, I feel like back in Greensboro there's a lot of egg on my face because I've told people for a very long time that I was not aspiring to take a job in Raleigh."

  But Perdue called her and asked her to take the job. Carlisle is a known quantity to folks in Raleigh from her service on the UNCG Board and as one of the commissioners who started the state's lottery.

  "I had to think about it, not because I wasn't flattered ... but simply because it wasn't on my game sheet. But Bev (Perdue) said to me that, 'Sometimes, the good Lord has better plans for you than you have for yourself.' So she trumped all of my arguments. There was nothing else I could say to that."

• * I asked about the Charlotte Hawkins Brown site in Sedalia, the state's only African American historic site and one that frequently comes up during budget discussions.

  "I am aware of the desperate need for funding and for R and R (repair and renovation) kind of funds to help support that. What I need to do is look at it in the total context of what the needs are."

Gov. Bev Perdue talked to reporters for the second time in one day (we're stilling getting used to this) during her first day in office. This time, it was after her cabinet secretaries were sworn in.

She was asked about her upcoming trip to Washington.

"The purpose the trip is very simple. They are in the process of putting together what appears to be a very significant stimulus package for states," Perdue said. She wants to bring a list of projects North Carolina is ready to get going on to officials in the incoming Obama administration.

And, she said, she wants to impress upon officials that money should be distributed in such a way that is equitable to states like North Carolina with large and growing populations. There has been some talk, she said, of distributing funds based on the greatest budget deficits.

North Carolina, Perdue said, should not be punished for managing its budget relatively well.

When asked about a state tax hike for next year, Perdue didn't say "absolutely not" but she didn't sound real warm on the prospect.

You can click here for that part of the presser.

Several of us noticed that the new governor had a baseball bat propped up beside her desk in her office at the Capitol.

"It's to hit to reporters with who are unkind to me," Perdue joked.

In reality, she said, "That was something presented to me in Wilmington when they were named some kind of all American baseball city."

And, she added, "It's a derivative of the Lieutenant Governor's office, not a weapon of intent or malice."

When asked if she has moved into her government-funded housing, Perdue said it will take about 30 days to make the transition. Among the things that have to be done are checks to make sure a mold problem that cropped up during the Easley administration did not start creeping back.

Click here for that part of the presser.

More to come.

Update: Perdue also talked about her idea to hand control of state road construction contracts to the DOT Secretary rather than have those be approved by board members.

She said that she hoped the General Assembly would play nice.

"I really look forward to my first sit-down with the Speaker and Pro Temp," she said.

Click here for that part of the conversation.

From Gov. Bev Perdue's office:

Governor Bev Perdue today announced that she is appointing Charles Perusse as the state budget director.

"Mr. Perusse has a firm understanding of the entire North Carolina State Budget," said Governor Perdue. "During this time of revenue shortfalls and impending budget cuts, Mr. Perusse’s expertise will be a tremendous asset to my office, to our state agencies and to the people of North Carolina."

Mr. Perusse has 15 years of statewide budget and financial management experience. He served as deputy state budget officer from January, 2002 to September, 2008. In September of 2008 Mr. Perusse was appointed acting state budget director.

Prior to his work as deputy state budget officer, Mr. Perusse spent eight years as a fiscal analyst for the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division. He served three years as budget coordinator for the North Carolina House of Representatives.

During his career, Mr. Perusse helped North Carolina regain its AAA bond rating with Moody’s, led the development of the state’s results-based budgeting initiative that emphasizes program performance and accountability, and assisted with the transition to a market and competency-based compensation program for state employees.

Mr. Perusse holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from North Carolina State University, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"North Carolina is currently faced with challenging financial times," said Mr. Perusse. "I look forward to working with Governor Perdue to meet this challenge and prepare the best possible budget for the people of this state."

I wrote for today's paper about Gov. Bev Perdue's first five executive orders, particularly one meant to remake how DOT does road construction contracts.

For a PDF of the orders click here.

I missed seeing Board of Transportation Chairman Doug Galyon at the swearing-in ceremony yesterday and we missed each other on the phone. He called this morning and I asked him whether he foresaw any problems with DOT board members assigning their authority to approve road contracts to the transportation secretary.

"I see no problems at all," Galyon said. He has been chatting up board members over the past day and says, "Everyone is comfortable."

In case you missed my colleague Taft Wireback's profile of Galyon, click here to read that.

Galyon's term is expiring but he won't rotate off just yet.

"I have a feeling its going to be a couple more months," he said. Galyon will serve until Perdue names his replacement and, he said, that process is likely to be deliberative.

When President George Bush requested that Congress release the second half of the financial bailout money, known as TARP, he gave Forsyth County Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx some leverage.

Foxx opposes the bailout and is the sponsor of a measure that would, essentially, turn the president down. Among the few safeguards included in the original TARP bill was a requirement that Congress consider that measure.

There's a lot of anxiety about doling out another $350 billion, but it appears Congressional leaders are going to try to push their troops in that direction.

Still, Foxx gets to play a leading role in the opposition.

Foxx argues that the TARP approach is similar to the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which she characterized as a failure.

"So here we have a documentation of how not to do it and it appears as though people are ignoring it," Foxx said.

Click here to listen to her explain her opposition. It is from an interview conducted last week, but still relevant.

And Click here to read her resolution.

It is unclear when her bill might be heard. If it has not gotten a vote by the middle of next week, she can go to the floor of the House and force matters.

Two news releases came in late today. First up, U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan received her committee assignments today. From a news release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) was named to the Senate Armed Services and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committees today. Legislative work in Congress is divided among committees based on jurisdiction, and “A”- level committees are considered the most important.

Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who Hagan defeated this fall, sat on armed services. Hagan will join Richard Burr, a Republican and North Carolina's senior senator, on the HELP committee.

Hagan and new North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue are scheduled to talk about priorities Wednesday. And as it happens, our second release comes from the governor, who says the state's current year budget deficit will hit $2 billion.

Governor Bev Perdue today signed an executive order to address the increasing fiscal year 2008-09 budget shortfall now predicted by the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) to reach $2 billion or more.

The order outlines options to address the shortfall. Perdue will provide a more detailed management plan by the end of this week to ensure the state’s budget is balanced on June 30, 2009 as required by the state Constitution.

“Like most states, North Carolina is being deeply impacted by the global recession,” said Governor Perdue. “As Governor, I have a constitutional requirement to balance North Carolina’s budget, and I intend to do so responsibly. North Carolina has a track record of responsible fiscal management as demonstrated by our AAA bond rating. That’s the same approach we take today.”

Click here to read the executive order.

The order seems to make good on something Perdue said yesterday, when she said the state may have to freeze spending. While this doesn't cut any programs off, it does seem to put a hold on spending for things the state might not have to buy right away.

I would translate it as the governor saying, "Don't spend money we don't have." AP's Gary Robertson is, as usual, a little more precise in his delivery. From the Associated Press story:

Perdue's executive order told budget officials to keep holding back on monthly allocations to state agencies at her direction. They also may be called to retain cash set aside for capital projects that haven't yet been placed under contract and to take money from other pots within state government to keep the general operating fund flush.

The news release said Perdue's budget officials set the $2 billion figure because taxes withheld from paychecks - a key indicator of employment - slowed to 1.2 percent growth during the three months ending Dec. 31. Sales tax collections also fell 10 percent in the second quarter.

The declining stock market and the state's highest unemployment rate in 25 years also will lead to revenue problems, according to her office.

If the economy continues to sour, Perdue and legislators could face having to draw up a budget for next year that must fill a $3 billion gap between projected revenues and expenditures. Filling the gap would likely include making a cash infusion to the health insurance plan for state employees and giving small raises to employees and teachers.

A dozen years ago, when I was a little baby reporter, a politician would be considered technologically hip if they had their own static web page, changed out the photos every once in a while and posted news releases.

Five years ago, the hipness standard was whether the pol in question had a blog. They got extra points for answering comments and appearing to write it themselves.

These days, the new gold standard for technological hipness among the political set seems to be whether or not they use Twitter and how well.

For those in need of Twitter background, my boss has some good links, as does my hipper colleague Joe Killian.

In short: It is a micro-blogging service that lets you post updates of 140 characters or less. When it's used most effectively, it becomes a tool of interaction. The best users don't just point to content elsewhere, but engage others in conversation.

There's a Web page dedicated to encouraging members of Congress to tweet, but its N.C. section is a bit out of date. And some might remember the stir last year over Rep. John Culberson of Texas wanting to Tweet and temporarily getting shut down by House rules.

Enter Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Winston-Salem representing North Carolina's 5th Congressional District. She has had a Twitter account for a while now but has picked up the pace a bit in recent weeks. She seems to be beginning to get the hang of it, but I've had people ask me whether it's really her or a staff member. When I saw her last week, I asked.

In short: Yes, Foxx does her own twittering.

"My staff got after me about being up to date," she said. The Republican conference in the House has also pushed the idea of being more technologically current, she said.

You can catch Foxx's tweets here.

Her latest one (from this morning) reads:

Did 2 call in radio shows at 6 30 am got day started right. Become member of powerful Rules Comm today and am pleased. More on that later

The Rules Committee thing is news (she piped that out in a press release last night). And Foxx will really climb the savvy scale when she sends out notice of her radio appearance in advance or discusses the content afterward.

And, of course, she probably needs to build her group of followers a bit. Having an audience of 12 isn't going to get you far in a district where you're representing roughly 690,000 folks.

Sen. Kay Hagan had a campaign Twitter account, but it seems to be largely dormant. I don't see signs of other North Carolina Congress-critters on Twitter, but if you know of any, send them my way.

This morning's paper had a story on Rep. Virginia Foxx's effort to kill the second installment of TARP funds. She has a resolution that must be heard before the money can be forked over to the Obama administration.

Full disclosure: I wrote about it not so much because I think it will pass but because it's unusual for a Republican to be able to force a vote on any issue in a Democratically controlled Congress. That fact that one of our local GOP members of Congress might be in such a perch interested me.

Somewhat up in the air was the timing of when that bill might be heard. After hearing back from the Democratic majority leader's office, here's what the plan seems to be:

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts is pushing a bill that would put more restrictions on the TARP funds. From this AP story:

The House could act this week on a bill by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who heads the House Financial Services Committee that would set tougher conditions on recipients of the second $350 billion, including limits on executive pay, and require the government to use at least $40 billion to modify mortgages of struggling borrowers to avert foreclosures.

"I hope the House will pass a bill this week that sets forth the conditions we believe are necessary to assure that the public gets the full benefit of these funds," Frank said in a statement Monday. "It seems clear the Obama administration agrees with what we are setting forward, and I believe this creates a framework so that the release of these funds can go forward."

I was told that House leaders want to vote that bill first before taking up the Foxx measure.

The inference, I think, is that Democrats want to take at least a couple bullets out of the gun of folks trying to shoot down the second half of the TARP funding. The Frank measure may buy them some cushion on the vote, winning over those who wouldn't vote for a further release of funds without some better accounting of where the taxpayer's initial $350 billion has gone and where the next $350 billion might go.

From Politico:

Sen. Richard Burr is set for a promotion and winning the position of chief Republican deputy whip under Sen. Jon Kyl, according to a GOP aide.

Burr, a conservative from North Carolina, has long harbored leadership ambitions, losing a bid for conference chairman in the last Congress to Lamar Alexander.

The position gives Burr a chance to help keep Republican members in line during key votes and is a stepping stone to a higher-ranking leadership spot.

Lanier Cansler, the the new DHHS Secretary, (more here) introduced himself to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee for MH-DD-SAS today.

Click here to listen to his seven and a half minutes.

Cansler said he regretted not being able to stay for the whole meeting.

"There's budget cuts that we're trying to decide upon and get over to the state budget office," he said.

In general, Cansler offered a promise to work hard, focus on mental health, issues, etc...

"The mental health thing is important and we are working to make sure we have a new focus, maybe I should say an enhanced focus ... on making sure we develop the community capacity that we need across the state to try to serve folks as appropriately in their communities," he said.

He said state hospitals needed to hone their focus on longer-term and more dangerous patients, which is an old idea but one that hasn't come off in recent years.

"I'm in my third day in this position ... but the one thing that I know that I know the governor wants to do is make sure our hospitals ... make sure that when people come to those facilities for help that they get the quality care they deserve and we meet their needs and that they're safe and they can depend upon having the right kind of care. So one thing I want to make sure we do is we develop a very clear policy of zero tolerance for any kind of abuse or neglect of patients."

He emphasized training and ramping up accountability for those who work in mental hospitals.

"There will be some things we need your help with," Cansler told the legislators.

It is time to update your bookmarks. The folks at the N.C. Republican Roundtable wrote to say they have moved on over to Conservative NC. Aside from getting their own domain, the site is slicker and they're re-branded under the "conservative" label, which may get them a few more eyeballs from Democrats and unaffiliated voters.

Among their first posts, Conservative NC notes that Sen. Richard Burr is doing a blog on his official Senate site. Nice short posts and the voice seems to be his own, or at least a pretty adept staffer.

Gov. Bev Perdue is in Washington today pressing her case for North Carolina to get its share of federal stimulus dollars. (Background here.) She was meeting with North Carolina's Congressional delegation and members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

Emily Stephenson, who served ably as a newsroom intern last summer, is doing a tour in D.C. with Scripps Howard Foundation Wire and provided me with a report from Perdue's travels today.

Perdue said Tuesday that she expected to see a $2 billion (give or take a few hundred thousand) shortfall in the current year budget earlier this week. That's higher than the $1.2 billion Gov. Mike Easley had been predicting before the transition.

She told reporters in D.C. that she's asking for two pots of money from the federal government: one for infrastructure items and one to help bolster the state's budget.

"I learned a long time ago … that you take a time like this of tremendous challenge and you use it to retrofit or change the system," she said.

Perdue told reporters that she had identified a list of projects that are "shovel ready." I spoke with some of Perdue's aids this afternoon, who said that it's not so much a list as a collection of e-mails that are being compiled into something resembling a coherent list. It should be done by this weekend.

Perdue did have a one-page handout she gave to lawmakers (Click here for a PDF) that contained gross totals for the kind of money she could put to work. That sheet says, for example, there are $2.8 billion in projects cities could do right away, but it doesn't list those individual projects.

At any rate, those projects are things that could be under way by March 14 if North Carolina were to get the money Thursday.

"This is a tremendously realistic list," Perdue said, adding, "My criteria was, don't give me people's wish lists. I want projects that are shovel-ready...I think the president-elect's team and the president-elect himself understand this is critical money."

The handout contains and interesting reference to Medicaid funding and says that a federal infusion into the Medicaid program would be welcome.

"Additional FMAP funds would ameliorate the need to make draconian reductions that ultimately impact our ability to provide quality services to our citizens."

Perdue took a dig at the North Carolina Congressional delegation members who have been skeptical about the stimulus and (in her opinion) were letting reelections determine their votes.

Emily ran into Rep. Mike McIntyre (ran into him in the hallway) who originally opposed stimulus stuff because he thought it ignored rural areas, and 85 counties in NC can be considered rural. He thinks Perdue's proposal does account for rural areas since transportation, airports, clean water are everywhere.

"It's not targeted just to one sector or one industry," he said.

Emily Stephenson, helping out from her D.C. base at the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, provided the video below. It's a bit shaky and I haven't cleaned it up, but it'll give you a sense of what Perdue was talking about up on Capitol Hill today. (Previously: Perdue in Washington.)

During the last Congress, the House voted to let the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco. This measure died in the Senate, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of Sen. Richard Burr.

Faith United Against Tobacco, which is associated with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, is doing an event today to stir up public sentiment and pressure Burr to switch his stance. (It's 11 a.m. at 809 Spring Forest Road, Suite 1000 here in Raleigh if you're interested.)

Given what he said during an interview I did with him in Washington last week, I don't expect Burr to change his mind.

You can click here to listen to audio of that conversation. You will hear the rustling of my notebook from time to time because I didn't rig a mike - sorry.

Before I get back to Burr, a Republican, it's worth noting that Sen. Kay Hagan, a newly installed Democrat, also opposes regulation.

"I just think the FDA has their hands full with so many other things having to do with regulation affecting the American public, and I've already had occasion to talk about that on the Hill," Hagan said recently.

Now back to Burr: By way of summary, I asked him if he still planned to oppose FDA regulation of tobacco. Burr said he did.

Burr said he would introduce legislation to put "a new regulatory map in place," but he does not want the FDA to be part of that map.

"The FDA mission statement is to prove the safety and efficacy of drugs, devices and biologics," Burr said.

None of that can be determined on a product like tobacco, Burr said. And since there's a great deal of evidence surrounding cancer and heart disease related to tobacco use, it's not a huge leap of logic to think the FDA might deem tobacco products unsafe.

Burr said that making FDA regulate tobacco would "hamstring" the agency, taking its resources away from things like making sure food and drugs are safe.

So is there not a certain element of protecting the hometown industry as well? With Lorillard in Greensboro and RJ Reynolds in Winston-Salem and a shrinking but still critical mass of tobacco farmers throughout the state, Tar Heels have a significant interest in the health of the industry.

Burr's answer: "If you listen to the proponents of FDA legislation for tobacco, you would believe there is no regulation today. Yet, it is the most regulated product sold in America," Burr said. "I don't hide the fact that I'm from a tobacco state, but I also don't hide the fact that I believe the credibility and integrity of FDA should be maintained."

Burr said that tobacco should continue to be regulated but done by other agencies that, in his mind, make more sense, such as EPA.

The legislature's Environmental Review Commission heard from Steven Smith, chairman of the EMC, today.

In particular, he gave a summary of the Jordan Lake Rules, which have caused a great deal of consternation in Greensboro and throughout the Triad.

You can click here to listen to his summary of the rules, which basically told the honorables why it is they'll probably be dealing with them during the coming legislative session.

More interesting to me was question from Sen. Stan Bingham, who asked about the impact of agriculture on the nutrients flowing into the lake.

This has been one of the major sore points with city officials, like those in Greensboro, who say they're being required to clean up their act, but that farms are getting off with very little by way of regulation.

"On the Jordan Lake, do you have a feel for these nutrients what portion of that would be agriculture versus residential run-off?" Bingham asked.

Smith's reply: "Not off the top of my head. ... I'm pretty sure that breakdown was done early on in the process."

Bingham replied, "I was just curious if the agriculture side of this contributed quite a bit - I just wondered what steps were being taken to maybe mitigate some of this ..."

Smith said, "One of the things we found was that in this water basin, there is existing agriculture, there's no doubt about it. (But) there is a fairly substantial amount of property that is classified as agriculture but what it really is, is land awaiting development that has been taken out of active agriculture, but I don't mean to say there is not active agriculture in this watershed."

The discussion continued on for a little while after than. You can click here to listen to the full conversation.

If anyone was wondering what exactly the budget "freeze" ordered by Gov. Bev Perdue might look like (I wasn't real clear to tell you the truth) her staff laid it out in news release this afternoon:

Gov. Bev Perdue today instructed state agencies to take several steps to balance North Carolina’s budget. The budget management plan is in response to the executive order she signed on Tuesday after new estimates showed the shortfall increasing to $2 billion.

"The global recession has forced our state to make tough financial decisions," said Gov. Perdue. "North Carolina has earned a reputation for managing our money wisely, and I will continue our state’s practice of sound fiscal management. I will meet my constitutional obligation to balance the budget, and I will meet it responsibly."

The executive’s orders budget balancing steps include:

1.) Require agencies to cut spending by 7 percent. This is an additional 2 percent cut, added to former Gov. Easley’s previously ordered 5 percent cut.

2.) Stop the purchase of all goods or services, unless specifically approved by a department head. This does not apply to the purchase of supplies, equipment and materials schools require for classroom instruction.

3.) All travel and training is suspended unless it involves public safety, public health, job requirements, economic development opportunities or emergency situations. Any exceptions to the directive must be approved by department heads.

4.) All pay-as-you-go appropriations for capital improvement and repair and renovation projects are to be placed on hold.

5.) A hold on hiring for vacant positions, unless a prior commitment has been made. Vacancies may only be filled if they are approved by a department head as an extraordinary exception to the directive.

I dropped in on the N.C. Ethics Commission for their meeting today.

One item of note was up for discussion: the commission is getting ready to send a package of requests to the legislature, either for increases in resources or tweaks to their law.

Some make good sense, no matter who you are. For example, they're talking about storing and distributing financial disclosure forms signed by legislators, board members and the like in electronic form. As anyone who has ever made the pilgrimage to the basement of the administration building on Jones Street can tell you, electronic distribution makes a whole lot more sense than having banks and banks of file cabinets.

Some are a little iffy. One example: Currently, "covered persons" - anyone required by law to submit a disclosure form - must report if they own $10,000 or more worth of an individual stock. They don't have to report the amount or number of shares, just that they own it.

William Pope, a board member from Iredell County, said that threshold ought to be raised to $100,000.

Jane Pinsky, director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, was in the audience and suggested that $100,000 might be a tad high.

"For many people in North Carolina, having $10,000 in stock is a lot of money," Pinsky said.

Pope later backed off his thought.

"I don't think there's anything magic about raising it to $100,000," he said. "My personal view is that people are basically honest ... I just think the threshold is too low."

The ethics commission staff said they would look at what other state ethics boards use as a threshold and report back. It seemed like there was general consensus for raising the bar, though. That would mean the public would know of fewer cases where there is a conflict of interest.

Will someone sell their good name for the impact an action may have on $10,000 worth of stock? Who knows? Where's the threshold? Michael Decker sought a $50,000 bribe to keep Jim Black in power, so maybe $50,000 should be the threshold?

Being a reporter, I'm always in the more sunshine is better camp, but could be wrong.

Sen. Kay Hagan gave her first floor speech in the U.S. Senate today.

Click here to link to the video or click on the jump to read her prepared remarks.

Hagan was speaking in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill she co-sponsored as a U.S. Senator.

Update: Back in 2003, we wrote this in our "Inside Scoop" political column:

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's self-imposed low profile may be coming to an end. The well- known Dole has been studiously avoiding the spotlight while she settles into the office she assumed in January.

But this week, North Carolina's freshman senator gave her first speech on the Senate floor . By tradition going back two centuries, new senators remain silent during floor debates for a period of at least a few months.

Dole broke her silence Thursday morning in a speech carried live by the C-SPAN network. She focused her remarks on the need to fight hunger in North Carolina and throughout the world.

By that measure, Hagan seems to be precocious.

But it seems that the Senate's own historians have a decidedly more modern view:

From the Senate’s earliest days, new members have observed a ritual of remaining silent during floor debates for a period of time—depending on the era and the senator—that ranged from several months to several years. Some believed that by waiting a respectful amount of time before giving their so-called maiden speech, their more senior colleagues would respect them for their humility.

[snip]

Today, all that survives of this ancient Senate tradition is the special attention given to a member’s first major address. When university libraries organize a collection of a former senator’s papers, the chronology of that member’s career almost always includes the date of his or her maiden speech.

What has not survived of this tradition, of course, is the yearlong waiting period. As one longtime floor observer notes, "the electorate wouldn’t stand for it."

Now for the jump.

In his last story for the paper, my colleague Lex Alexander takes a look at the medical marijuana debate. From the story:

In November, Michigan became the 13th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

That popular-vote referendum was just the most recent decision in a long-running debate: whether it should be legal for people to use, grow and sell marijuana for medicinal purposes.

On one side: sick, suffering patients, many of whom are dying. For at least some of them, cannabis eases symptoms of illness or side effects of treatment.

On the other: a federal government that believes marijuana's benefits are too few and its side effects too risky for the drug to be legalized, even to the highly restricted level of cocaine.

[snip]

State Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford, introduced a bill in the 2008 legislative session to create a study commission to look at legalizing marijuana for medical purposes in North Carolina. Jones plans to reintroduce his bill this year .

"I think the legislature will do the right thing once they see it will benefit the public and they have been educated," Jones said.

But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration remains adamantly opposed to legalizing cannabis even for medical purposes. It continues to prosecute under federal law in some other states for growing and distributing the plants.

Click here to read the whole thing.

I talked to Jones back when he first introduced the bill in 2008. Here's a video of that conversation:

The bosses had me launch a new regular feature this week. Click here to check out Washington Watch, albeit without the right formatting.

It turns out both of North Carolina's senators will be whips in the new Congress.

Richard Burr bumped up to chief deputy whip for Senate Republicans this year.

Now Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, confirms reports quoting anonymous sources that she is a deputy whip for the Democrats. I asked her how she got the job.

"I got a call from Dick Durbin's office asking me to come and meet with him," Hagan said. Durbin is the majority whip.

She said her first assignment as whip was to count votes on the TARP legislation.

Whips have a couple jobs. One, they figure out where people stand on a particular piece of legislation so something that's going to fail badly doesn't come to the floor. Second, they twist arms when a vote is on the line and folks are breaking from the party orthodoxy.

A whip position is also important because it's an early sign of confidence in the new senator and an indication that she may be on the leadership track sooner than later.

Now that all the fun and games of inauguration are over, it's time for Barack Obama and his administration to get to work.

Nearly as soon as he was sworn in, the White House website got a remaking. It's structure looks a lot more navigable than the President Bush's website. The biggest question I have right at the moment is how quickly things will be put online, but the Obama online crew seems to move with a fair bit of alacrity.

For those who want to keep up with the campaign promises Obama keeps or breaks (yes, I expect both) the Politifact website has a new feature for you. During the campaign, it tested the truthfulness of campaign ads and claims.

Now, the post-election version (click here) is tracking progress on Obama's campaign promises. Some of you might prefer this version.

For those too lazy to click over, as of this post they have him pegged at two promises kept, one stalled, 12 in the works and 495 with no action.

The business-friendly think tank N.C. Free shut down last fall. Dome reported that here.

So I guess an e-mail that came in earlier this week shouldn't have surprised me:

ROCKINGHAM, N.C., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- It was announced by Iron Horse Auction Company, Inc. that the assets of NC FREE (NC Forum for Research and Economic Education) are being offered via an online only, internet auction. The auction is being broadcast on Proxibid.com for the convenience of buyer's world wide.

For more than 25 years, the NC Forum for Research and Economic Education provided political analysis for North Carolina politicians. At one point, NC FREE was the leading provider for unbiased political education to America's leading industries. The organization was dissolved by its board of directors because its funding was ceased. Now, more than 250 lots of TV production and webcasting equipment and office furniture will be sold.

The assets are located at Iron Horse Auction Company Inc.'s Sales Facility at 174 Airport Road in Rockingham, NC. Buyer's can view these items January 19th and January 20th from 9:00 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m. The online auction will end Wednesday, January 21st at 3:00 p.m. EST.

I kept hearing that there was some hope to revive the thing, but this strikes me as rather final. Outside of the ideological questions the group encountered late in its run, seeing them go by the wayside is kind of a shame if only because their Almanac of North Carolina Politics (a compendium of stats and analysis written for state elections) tended to be useful.

For those looking for a good last minute deal on office furniture and LCD projectors, click here. The auction has been extended two days due to the snowy weather this week.

The N+O is reporting that one-time Greensboro Congressman and long-time tobacco lobbyist Horace Kornegay has died.

Did anyone out there know the man? He is a little bit before my time, ending his lobbying career before I was in high school.

Update: Congressman Howard Coble's office just confirmed the death.

Update: Click here for our early online news item.

Update: Kornegay apparently participated in an oral history project.

Update: Here's a picture from our archives:

Former state Sen. (and current U.S. Sen.) Kay Hagan has donated the papers from her state office to UNCG. From a news release:

GREENSBORO – U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has donated the papers from the decade she spent in the North Carolina Senate to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

The Greensboro Democrat was elected to the state Senate in 1998 and served as co-chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee for four years starting in 2003. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in November and took the oath of office in Washington Jan. 6.

University Libraries received the papers in more than a dozen boxes on Jan. 12. A single stack of the correspondence, schedules and other documents would be about 15 feet tall.

“Senator Hagan’s generous gift further enhances the university’s impressive collections related to women’s history and the history of the Piedmont Triad,” said Dean of University Libraries Rosann Bazirjian. “We’re extremely grateful she chose to keep these important papers in her hometown by giving them to UNCG.”

Click here for the news obit of former Congressman Horace Kornegay. The obit submitted by the funeral home is here (MS Word).

Yesterday's post on him is here.

Charlotte's Jack Betts remembers him here. The N+O obit is here.

Thanks for those who called or e-mailed to suggest folks to talk to and share memories that didn't make the story, including Judge Robby Hassell and Sen. Don Vaughan.

I'm scheduled for an interview with North Carolina's new commerce secretary, Keith Crisco, tomorrow. Does anyone out there in cyber-land have a question for the businessman-turned-job-recruiter? If so, leave it in the comment link or e-mail it to mbinker@news-record.com.

Among the local issues Greensboro residents will bring to the General Assembly this year is the restoration of protest petition rights. Citizens in every other city in North Carolina has them; Greensboro does not.

For a more thorough explanation of how the issue relates to Greensboro, you can read Amanda Lehmert's story from today's paper.

The short, generic explanation of a protest petition is this: A protest petition signed by five percent of a property's neighbors forces a city council to pass zoning changes with a super majority. It is a tool used by neighbors to sometimes get concessions from developers, or at least a more thorough consideration of a development project.

You can find additional posts on the topic from the Inside Scoop blog as well as editorial writer Allen Johnson's blog.

This line set off an alarm in the back of my head when I read it in Allen's post:

In a fuzzy motion following a lively debate, the council endorsed restoring the tool -- provided representatives of the real estate and building industry and the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress can come to terms on the particulars.

That's not really a clean request from the council. Legislators are simple critters, and the first thing they're going to ask is, "Did the city council endorse this idea?" A straightforward yes goes a long way to winning the argument.

So when I ran into Sen. Phil Berger today, he asked, "What did the council do?" And I had to take a minute to explain they endorsed the idea but wanted the builders and neighborhood advocates to hold hands on a proposal. He just chuckled.

Berger, remember, blocked the protest petition bill last year.

In the legislative long session, which starts next week, unanimity among the delegation isn't required to get a local bill done. That said, if Berger were to kick up a fuss, the bill's path gets harder. Berger will be the senate minority leader, and pro-business arguments are well received in the chamber.

I asked how he might vote on the issue, and Berger said that he hasn't made up his mind. He acknowledged that it does seem odd Greensboro is the only city in the state without protest petitions.

"On the other side you have the developers and the real estate folks saying that it will further harm the economic activity - the slight economic activity that's currently going on. I don't know how much merit to put into that part of the argument, and I'm interested in hearing more about that," Berger said.

And he noted that plenty of counties make zoning decisions and none of them have protest petitions as a recourse for residents. Update: Neither Berger or I knew this at the time of our conversation, but I'm reliably informed by a commenter that Durham County has protest petitions.

"If it’s so critical to (have) citizen input ... why don't we have it in the counties, and why has that not been a problem for the counties?" Berger asked.

If the General Assembly were to go down the path of creating protest petitions for every county that has zoning (not all counties regulate development in that way), there would be quite the stir down here. My guess is the county commissioners group, home builders and about a dozen other groups would come out of the woodwork to do battle over that. And really, I think Berger was posing that as a rhetorical counterpoint than a serious proposal.

Click here to listen to more of my conversation with Berger.

There's the stuff journalists like (link) and then there's stuff we hate. Among the stuff in that latter category: unnecessary secrecy, reports labeled as confidential that have been paid for with taxpayer money, etc...

Which is why this provision in the General Assembly's Program Evaluation statute drives me absolutely bonkers:

Any document prepared by a legislative employee pursuant to the annual work plan becomes available to the public only as provided in G.S. 120 131. Any document prepared by an agency employee pursuant to a request under G.S. 120 131.1(a1) becomes available to the public only as provided in G.S. 120 131.

For those who don't know the statute by heart (okay, I had to look too) 120-131 says documents made by legislative employees aren't public records until they're presented in some official setting.

So let me get this straight: the taxpayers shell out for reports and investigations, which are completed and printed, but we have to wait to read them until the fancy people elected leaders have a chance to look them over?

Nuts.

So I had to chuckle when an e-mail with the following transmittal memo attached showed up today:

The enclosed reports will be presented to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee by the Program Evaluation Division. As a member of the committee, you are being furnished these advanced copies for your study prior to the 1:00 pm January 27th meeting.

The reports are confidential legislative documents and should not be copied or distributed until formal public release January 27th.

Jan. 27 isn't for five days and indeed the reports were attached to the e-mail.

So provided here, to spite a dumb law if nothing else, are the two reports:

Click here for North Carolina’s Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Funding Lacks Strategic Focus and Coordination. From the summary:

Funding for water and wastewater infrastructure in North Carolina is provided by six state funding entities; each operates independently with its own mission, goals, and objectives. The General Assembly created the State Water Infrastructure Commission in 2005 to identify the state’s water infrastructure needs, develop a plan to meet those needs, and monitor the implementation of the plan, but the commission has fallen short of achieving its mission because it does not have the necessary authority or resources.

Click here for: A Study of Structure and Organization of the State Board of Education, State Superintendent of Instruction, and Department of Public Instruction. From the summary:

North Carolina is at a crossroads regarding the pathway to take to address its current governance structure for public education. The timing of this report coincides with the recent re-election of the State Superintendent of Education and the election of a Governor who has been the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and who has served as a State Board member.

The Office of Governor is perceived as the real power behind shaping education policy in North Carolina, mainly due to the power of appointment of State Board of Education members, and indirectly influencing the election of the Chairman of the State Board. In addition, the Governor chairs and sets the agenda of the Education Cabinet and Education Commission, requires that the Department of Public Instruction’s proposed budget and budget enhancements are channeled through the Office of the Governor to the General Assembly instead of being directly submitted to the General Assembly by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), and has veto power over a biennial budget. This formal influential role in education by the Governor may be statutorily and constitutionally more pronounced that in most other states. The fact that the Office of the Governor has significant power and authority for education is a recurring theme throughout this report.

There's a little bed table reading for everyone. Someone let me know if the fabric of the universe rips apart because taxpayers have access to information at roughly the same time as lawmakers.

Rep. Virginia Foxx's anti-bailout measure passed the House today. The Senate killed the twin measure earlier, so Foxx's bill is unlikely to have any practical effect. The second half of the financial industry bailout approved last fall, $350 billion for this installment, is probably going to be in the hands of the Obama administration sooner rather than later.

Bill info is here.

Former N.C. Gov. Bob Scott died this morning.

From our department of political trivia and artifacts:

Emily's list, a PAC that supports female Democratic candidates, has issued a poster as a fundraiser. Featured on the poster, which you can find at this link, are North Carolina Sen. Hagan and Gov. Bev Perdue.

There's a free version (8.5 by 11) or for $15 you can get a 12 x 18.

Hat tip: LWG

Click here for my 10-Plus interview with Keith Crisco, North Carolina's new commerce secretary. And here are few bits of audio that expand on what could fit in print.

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Until recently, Crisco was a city council member in Asheboro, recently named by Forbes as one of "America's Fastest-Dying Towns." (More here.)

"It was depressing," Crisco said. In this audio clip he talks about why he thinks the Forbes study was unfair, the challenges that Asheboro faces and what part of that experience will inform him as Commerce Secretary.

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Recently, UNC researchers told legislators that the state should eliminate some tax incentives for job recruitment, according to their research.

Crisco says in this audio clip that the approach makes sense, and in particular liked that the approach was based on research rather than philosophy.

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Crisco once testified to Congress in favor of CAFTA, a free trade treaty. I put to him that many workers blame free trade on losing their jobs.

This was his response.

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And because it was a good story, but too long to include in its entirety, click here to hear how Crisco got into Harvard's graduate business school. Not only did he admit to not having the best grades in the world as an undergraduate, the punch line tells you something about the guy's philosophy. It was a chance to sell myself, which is an important part of life," he said.

From today's paper: the grim news about the state budget.

One of the questions that's pretty common for legislative leaders this time of year is whether they think a tax increase is likely, and if so, what kind.

Senate leader Marc Basnight says he think taxes are a non-starter, with the exception of alcohol and tobacco taxes.(Audio link.) In that same clip, he defends the recent rise in government spending, saying the new construction on university campuses particularly was worth it.

That's one man's opinion, and it is not shared by all.

House Speaker Joe Hackney said, in effect, "maybe" to the idea of new sin taxes but didn't sound real enthusiastic about the idea. (Audio link.) But he did agree that the growth in spending over the past decade was worth the investments made in education. Click here for that clip.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, the Democratic leader in the House, took exception as well. (Audio link.)

Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican leader in the Senate, also has his doubts. From my story:

"North Carolina has one of the highest beer taxes in the nation," said Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican and his party's leader in the Senate.

"In my district, raising the beer tax could cost jobs," Berger said, alluding to the Miller brewery in Eden.

Berger also had more to say about the budget. In essence, he said, that the state has been able to cut its budget to cope with the recent shortfalls and keep going is proof we're not running as lean as could be.

Following on the N+O's probation work, my N+R colleague Ryan Seals writes:

GREENSBORO - Overwhelmingly big case loads and low pay are overburdening Guilford County's probation system, leaving many offenders without direction or supervision and putting the public at risk.

Of the county's 6,185 probationers, 1,219 of them could not be found as of Wednesday, probation officials said.

Just do the math: Each of the 90 probation officers assigned to Guilford County must keep tabs on nearly 70 probationers.

Good probation officers are leaving, tired of juggling heavy case loads and long hours for little pay. Offenders keep committing crimes in a system meant to help them become productive citizens.

And it costs taxpayers when criminals return to an expensive and crowded prison system. And when innocent people are put in danger.

Also from the story:

"The ultimate question will be with the worsening economy and the deficit we find ourselves in: How are we going to find the resources to tackle the (probation) problem?" said newly elected state Sen. Don Vaughan. "We need to find a way to stretch our resources to make probation effective."

Vaughan, a local attorney with 25 years of experience, plans to make the probation system one of his priorities in the General Assembly. The state also needs to look at how probation cases are handled in the courts, he said.

"On Monday morning, you can wait an hour to an hour and a half just to get inside the courtroom door because of the volume of (probation) cases in Guilford County," Vaughan said.

"It's overwhelming right now, and I think the Eve Carson case in Chapel Hill was the awakening of the state legislature that the system needs attention."

Click here for the whole thing.

Gov. Bev Perdue sends word this morning that she will make "a major policy announcement" at 4:15 p.m. today. This being a new administration, I have no gauge on exactly how major "major" is.

Worth noting: We're a couple weeks in to the new administration and the new governor does seem to be keeping her pledge to be out in the open more than her predecessor.

Update: This was the announcement, from the governor's office:

RALEIGH – Gov. Perdue today announced a major restructuring in education leadership that will change the way we do business in North Carolina. In keeping with Gov. Perdue’s commitment to a 21st century education system that affords every child the opportunity to learn, today’s announced changes establish a clearly defined leadership role for seeing through the policies and requirements to ready North Carolina public schools for the global economy.

"I have heard from educational leaders across the state, and their frustrations echo my own experiences serving on the Board," said Gov. Perdue. "We need to have a clear line of accountability and better structural support to implement new policies."

"At the same time, the buck stops with me when it comes to North Carolina's education system. These are changes that are coming at just the right time to kick off a new era of educational innovation and progress."

Gov. Perdue is asking the State Board of Education to redefine the duties of its chair to include the responsibilities of the newly created Chief Executive Officer, who will manage operations of the public school system. Gov. Perdue is appointing Dr. Bill Harrison to the Board and is asking the Board members to select him as their chair.

Dr. Harrison is currently the Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools — the fourth largest school system in North Carolina. He has also served as Superintendent of Orange County and Hoke County Schools. He began his teaching career in 1975 in Fayetteville.

In addition, Gov. Perdue is appointing Howard Lee to serve as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Education Cabinet, a group she has pledged to reinvigorate. Lee is currently the chair of the State Board of Education.

"Dr. Harrison and Chairman Lee are strongly committed to improving our public schools," said Gov. Perdue. "Their leadership and experience will be invaluable as we continue to strive to make our schools world-class in a global economy."

"I'm excited about the opportunity to work with Gov. Perdue in making our public schools they best that they can be," said Dr. Harrison. "Strong schools mean a stronger economy."

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to help Gov. Perdue implement her vision for great schools and to work with the state’s top education leaders to build a seamless system that works for all of our students," said Chairman Lee.

Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson will continue to be the state’s education ambassador, working with superintendents, education leaders, schools, business leaders and others to strengthen our public schools. In addition, Gov. Perdue asked Atkinson to lead a new Blue Ribbon Task Force on Career Development and Workforce Issues.

Also today, Gov. Perdue named Myra Best as special advisor to the Governor on education and education innovation. Best is currently director of the Business Education Technology Alliance and of the E-Learning Commission. She has 14 years of teaching and counseling experience in public schools.

"Myra has been instrumental in helping me put more technology in our schools," said Gov. Perdue. "She will help us continue to reach our goals of providing 21st century learning options in every corner of our state."

"Gov. Perdue is a long-time leader in improving our public schools, and I look forward to continuing our work in building strong, 21st century classrooms," said Best.

The governor continues the process of selecting an education advisor and a teacher advisor

I'm still working through exactly what Gov. Bev Perdue's drive to appoint the same person as public schools CEO and School Board Chairman means.

Click here for a PDF of the bio Perdue's folks handed out on William Harrison, who is currently chief of the Cumberland County schools.

AP's Gary Robertson takes an early swipe here, and I'll have a story for the paper tomorrow.

In the meantime:

• * Click here to listen for yourself as Perdue explains the major changes.
• * Click here to listen to Perdue answer questions from reporters.

Click here for my newspaper story on Gov. Bev Perdue's school leadership shuffle.

Related posts here (w/audio) and here.

Click here for my newspaper story on Gov. Bev Perdue's school leadership shuffle.

Related posts here (w/audio) and here.

From this week's Washington Watch colum:

Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who represents parts of Greensboro and Rockingham County, is taking another swing at his mortgage modification legislation. The bill, he says, may do more than the much-ballyhooed financial industry bailout to keep people in their homes.

While it passed the House Judiciary Committee during the last session of Congress, the measure never got a vote on the House floor, in part because of resistance on the Senate's part.

[snip]

Under current law, bankruptcy judges can reset the terms of your borrowing on a second house like a beach house or investment property in the mountains.

But that same judge can't touch your first mortgage on the place where you live. And if you're like most folks who find themselves in bankruptcy proceedings, that's probably both the only piece of real property you own and your largest obligation.

Click here for info in Miller's bill.

And Click here for a conversation I had with Miller about the bill before he reintroduced it this year.

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From the cutting room floor: We reported that North Carolina Sens. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican, split on the confirmation of Tim Geithner to be Treasury Secretary – Burr was a no vote, Hagan voted yes. The vote was 60-34-4.

Burr's rationale:

"I think the President should be given the benefit of the doubt in selecting the executive leadership of his Administration, and I’ve been pleased with many of his nominations. In weighing a nominee, the most important questions I ask is if he or she is qualified to effectively lead an executive department and whether the nominee possesses the judgment necessary to manage and spend taxpayer money wisely and in an open and transparent manner.

"As I asked these questions, I came to the conclusion that Mr. Geithner does not measure up. With the entire banking system collapsing, Mr. Geithner served as the head of the most important and powerful Reserve Bank in the nation. During his tenure at the New York Federal Reserve, Mr. Geithner was a leading participant in many late-night, closed-door deals made between major financial institutions and the federal government. I have particular concern with the ill-conceived proposed merger between Citigroup and Wachovia. It is now clear, as Citigroup is on the verge of break up, that it was in major financial trouble.

"Many questions remain about the decision-making process and the judgment of government participants, including Mr. Geithner and the New York Federal Reserve. So far, Mr. Geithner’s response to the Finance Committee on this particular issue raises more questions than it answers. Additionally, I have concerns about the unanswered questions concerning Mr. Geithner’s taxes and his now being asked to head the Treasury Department and oversee the IRS. For these reasons, I cannot support Mr. Geithner’s nomination as Secretary of the Treasury."

Hagan's statement:

"I have said that it is too important in these tenuous economic times to hold up this critical appointment for a serious, but honest, mistake. I am disappointed that Mr. Geithner made this mistake, but he has taken responsibility for it, paid his back taxes, and with overwhelming support from the Finance Committee, and the U.S. Senate, I am pleased that this evening, he became our country’s new Treasury Secretary.

"Particularly with regards to North Carolina manufacturers, I was pleased with Mr. Geithner’s hard line on Chinese currency, saying he believes, as does President Obama, that China is manipulating its currency, adding to the massive trade deficit we already have with them. We need someone directing the Treasury Department who comes to the position with a good deal of on-the-job experience and expertise. He has the benefit of seeing, first-hand, what worked and what did not, during the past year. Mr. Geithner, in his testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, pledged this: “Our test is to act with the strength, speed and care necessary to get our economy back on track and to restore America's faith in our economic future." That's exactly what I believe is necessary, as well, and I look forward to working with him in the future."

Of interest to lawmakers in Raleigh is the Congressional debate over extending the SCHIP - State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

In North Carolina, federal SCHIP funds help pay for North Carolina Health Choice for Children

The debate in recent days has circulated around its expansion. Specifically, there are objections that the newest version of the Senate bill would open up benefits to one class of immigrants and unintentionally open benefits to another.

"This is another attempt to grow the size of a government program ... without taking on the tough task of debating how in the hell do we fix health care in this country, what are the reforms that have to take place so that every American has the opportunity to be insured," Sen. Richard Burr said during floor debate late this morning.

The Winston-Salem Republican outlined the two major immigration-related objections:

• * First, the bill would remove a five-year waiting period for new immigrants to tap federal government programs. Under current law, for the first five years they are in the country, legal immigrants are supposed to provide for their own health coverage or have it provided by their sponsors.

  The current Senate bill eliminates that requirement for SCHIP.

• * The current senate version of the bill eliminates a photo identification requirement for those seeking coverage under SCHIP, Burr said.

  "We actually threw away the verification that they're legal. ... All we say is you have to have a name and you have to have a Social Security number," Burr said. That type of check can be too easily skirted, he said.

Video here:

(Yes, you have to wait through the end of Sen. Casey's remarks.)

The House passed a similar bill earlier this month.

The Senate is expected to continue the debate through the rest of this week.

According to a spokeswoman in Sen. Kay Hagan's office, the Greensboro Democrat expects to speak on the debate.

A news release from the Democrats who control the Senate Finance Committee pushes back on the immigration arguments this way:

Before 1996, legal immigrants were eligible for Medicaid on the same basis as U.S. citizens. But the 1996 welfare reform law prohibited Federal funding for Medicaid coverage, nutrition assistance (food stamps), and Supplemental Security Income payments to most legal immigrants who had lived in the U.S. for less than five years. The Children’s Health Insurance Program was created in 1997 with the same restrictions.

Congress has already lifted the 1996 restrictions on low-income legal immigrants receiving nutrition assistance Supplemental Security Income. To allow legal immigrant children to receive the doctor’s visits, medicines, and care they need to stay healthy, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 gives states the option to enroll legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women who have been in the U.S. fewer than five years

More here.

It's a foggy, rainy morning here in Raleigh as the General Assembly prepares to fire up the session.

For the uninitiated: Elections were held in November. The General Assembly that convenes today is a brand-spanking new one. The honorables will have to elect officers, rearrange the deck chairs, swap offices and chairmanships, etc.

As for meeting the bosses, they're pretty much the same as the old bosses. House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tempore are widely expected to be re-elected. Of course, Gov. Bev Perdue is less than a month into her first term, and her relationship with the legislature will be closely watched.

From Guilford County: There's only one new player. Sen. Don Vaughan has taken U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's place. Otherwise, your scorecard is the same as last year.

Issues? Yeah, the honorables have got some issues to deal with - complicated policy problems to solve, as well. There's:

• * the budget
• * environmental issues
• * the budget
• * or say ...the budget
• * and did we mention the budget?

The honorables swear to protect, defend and obey at noon today. You can find an audio stream of the pomp and circumstance here.

For those marking their calendars: The session is expected to run through sometime this summer, probably adjourning in late July or August. Then they should go home and return in May 2010. That doesn't account for special session or veto sessions. It's what would happen if everything goes as expected, which may be a bit much to ask this year. Budget problems have a history of making things drag out in unexpected ways.

Everyone buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

State agencies have sent Gov. Bev Perdue a list of things they could cut in order to close North Carolina's $1.1 billion $1.8 billion $2 billion $3 billion really big budget deficit.

Click here to peruse the list.

A spokeswoman for the governor stresses "these are only options, not recommendations, promises or anything like that."

There's not enough detail to tell much about what might specifically impact Greensboro or the surrounding area.

Update: After speaking with Chrissy Pearson in Perdue's press office, she says the governor is unhappy with the cuts suggested.

"She wants to get a little bit deeper. ... We're talking about making government work more efficiently," Pearson said.

Most of the cuts, she added, were compiled by folks working for Gov. Mike Easley's administration. Perdue has asked her own cabinet secretaries to go back and take a look at what might be cut.

"Some of these options look like they might be reasonable; there are some other things that may not be so reasonable," Pearson said.

I would think some of the public safety or HHS items on the list might go in the unreasonable, or at least likely to cause a ruckus, pile, including:

• * Closing: McCain Correctional Hospital
• * Cutting the DOT funding of the Highway Patrol by $5.8 million
• * Freezing health choice (the state's CHIP program) enrollment to save $4.8 million

So it's the first day of session, and newly minted state Sen. Don Vaughan was making his way to the floor to take the oath of office.

That's when an elevator in the General Assembly building sticks ... for 20 minutes ... with Vaughan and five other folks onboard.

"We were very scared. It fell about a foot or so at first before it caught," he said.

Vaughan's cell phone couldn't get a voice signal, but he did manage to send a text message to his wife, who was waiting for him on the Senate floor.

"I wondered if they do this to all freshman legislators," Vaughan said after taking the oath of office and casting his first votes.

For the record, Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight said he didn't even know that Vaughan had gotten stuck.

House Speaker Joe Hackney will take a second tour as the House's top leader. There was a total lack of drama around the selection, since the Democratic caucus had made its pick weeks ago.

But that doesn't mean there wasn't speechifying to be done.

"We have weathered the economic downturns of the past and we have, with carefully planning, nurtured deficits into surpluses over time. I believe that this crisis will be no different, but for the numbers," Hackney told his colleagues on opening day.

Click here to listen to the whole thing. (16 minutes)

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan spoke in favor of the SCHIP bill, despite the fact it includes a hike in the tobacco tax to pay for the program. A final vote in the Senate is expected Thursday.

Burr spoke against the same measure Tuesday.

"Not passing this bill is simply not an option," Hagan said Wednesday. It's worth remembering that when Hagan got into the race against Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Hagan cited Dole's rejection of the SCHIP bill as a big reason she decided to run.

However, that's not to say Hagan loves everything about the bill.

"I vehemently believe that the increase in the tax on cigarettes that this bill includes is regressive and patently unfair to states like North Carolina which employs more than 65,000 people in jobs directly to the tobacco industry," she said.

Hagan alluded to proposals to tax junk foods that lead to childhood obesity as a way to pay for the bill.

For some reason, CSPAN split Hagan's segment into two bits.

Here's part one:

Here's part two:

The first day of session Wednesday brought the first few bill filings of the year. Among them:

• * SB 12- Ban Mobile Phone Use While Driving. This is an oldie but goodie that has been tried the past couple of sessions. It usually gets talked to death in some committee before it whimpers away.

  Objections center around two arguments. First, opponents say there are far more distracting things people do in their automobiles (eating, applying make-up, shaving, etc. ...) and singling out one behavior doesn’t make sense. Two, there’s an exception for hands-free devices, which allows you to continue talking while driving. Studies show that it’s the fact someone has their brain engaged in conversation rather than focused on the road - not the mere fact they’re handling a phone - that is the problem.

• * HB 2 - Prohibit Smoking in Public & Work Places. This is the Big Kahuna smoking ban bill and would basically ban smoking in restaurants, bus stations, office buildings or pretty much anywhere you can think of that isn't a private residence. There are a few exceptions for things like tobacco shops.

  The smoking bill died on a House vote last year, but Rep. Hugh Holliman is more confident of passing it this go-round.

  There's a news conference Thursday at which Holliman will pitch his bill again.

• * HB 3 - Disapprove Jordan Lake Rules. This has to do with the ongoing saga on cleaning up Jordan Lake by imposing runoff rules and other regulations on communities in the Triad.

  This is the brief I wrote for Thursday's paper on it:

  RALEIGH — Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican, filed a bill that would derail environmental rules meant to protect Jordan Lake by curbing the runoff of certain chemicals.

  Local governments in the Piedmont Triad, including Greensboro and towns in Rockingham County, say the rules would force them to spend hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading sewer plants and other public utilities, while at the same time making development more difficult and costly.
  Under some scenarios, cities could be forced to condemn land in older communities in order to build rainwater runoff control features.

  “If we allow those Jordan Lake rules to go into effect, it will cause the loss of jobs in Alamance, Rockingham and Guilford counties,” Allred said.

  Rule opponents also questioned whether they would have the desired effect.

  Although the Department of Environment and Natural Resources wrote the new regulations in response to state and federal laws, opponents have appealed to the General Assembly to stop them from going into effect.

  “I do think I’ll be the only legislator in the watershed who won’t be a co-sponsor of the bill,” said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat.

  Backers of the rules such as Harrison say they are needed to prevent the lake from being overrun by chemicals that cause certain types of undesirable plant life to flourish. Those outbreaks make it hard to use the lake for recreation or draw from it for drinking water.

  More background here.

Update: Click here for Friday's newspaper story.

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Rep. Hugh Holliman has introduced HR 2 - Prohibit Smoking in Public & Work Places.

As the bill says, it would ban smoking in virtually all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. It also would repeal a prohibition on cities and counties passing their own smoking bans.

This is his third go-round with the measure, and he threw a news conference this morning to announce the bill's presence.

Here's a short video clip of Holliman introducing the bill:

Click here for audio of the whole news conference. It included several lawmakers as well as state health director Leah Devlin. Here's a short video of her making the case for a ban:

A similar bill by Holliman failed on a 55-61 vote last session. I'm off to talk to the opponents. Some of them are sure to be from Greensboro and Winston-Salem, the home of cigarette makers.

I asked Holliman about the impact on those companies.

"The health concerns far outweigh the impact on any economics," he said. He and others also argued that whatever the state lost in industry and taxes, North Carolina would more than make up in savings from lower health care costs.