News-Record.com

For those following H 88: Health Youth Act - aka the sex ed bill - it was heard in the Senate Mental Health & Youth Services Committee today.

However, there was no vote. The bill will, in theory, get another hearing in the coming weeks.

For those who haven't been following the legislation, the bill would create two tracks of sex education for kids in public school. One would be the existing "abstinence only" curriculum, which actually talks about sex a bit but does so in the context of waiting until marriage.

The new "comprehensive" curriculum would be a bit more aggressive in imparting information about how one avoids unwanted pregnancies and diseases. (My understanding is that the biggest difference is in the tone of how the information is presented, although kids in the comprehensive course would get an extra day or two of learning on the topic.)

Click here for the staff summary of the bill.

{{Because the committee hearing was in a room that isn't streamed on the internet and there's a great deal of interest in this bill, I dropped a mike in the room today. The sound is a bit all over the place because the mike was at the podium and people spokes from a variety of positions. You'll hear the committee chairmen real clearly. You may need to crank up the sound to hear other people asking and answering questions.

Click here to listen to my tape.}}

Co-chairmen Malcom Graham and Ellie Kinnaird said they wanted to give time for members of the committee to have questions answered.

"We feel we owe it to our members to get those questions answered," Kinnaird said. "It's a bill that's going to be a major change to some people in this state."

I'm a little bit skeptical of that explanation. It seemed as if the decision to delay the vote was made on the fly after a couple members left and came back into the room to confer with someone in the hall outside the committee room. One definitely got the sense that word had come down from elsewhere to delay the committee vote.

At any rate - most of the questions that were asked came from Sens. Jim Jacumin and Jim Forrester, Republicans who questioned the need for the bill.

Forrester argued the state's teen pregnancy rates had dropped over the past decades with the abstinence only curriculum in place.

"Apparently they're doing a good job," he said.

That's true said Rep. Susan Fisher, one of the bill's sponsors. However, North Carolina is still ninth in the nation in teen pregnancy rates and rates of STDs are on the rise, she said.

"Evidently, it is not working," Fisher said.

(Worth noting: this is one of two bills Republican leaders have taken aim at.)

Again, click here to listen to all the doings from today's hearing yourself.

Back in April I wrote about coal ash ponds, which contain some of the waste produced by coal-fired power plants. There's a small one (only eight acres) up in Eden, and about dozen more throughout the state. These are smaller versions of the thing that the TVA lost control of in December, causing an environmental catastrophe in Tennessee.

Background here.

At the time, part of the story involved legislative efforts to regulate these things, which got a great deal of push-back from the utilities companies such as Duke Power and Progress Energy. Smarter men than I have opined that maybe, just maybe, the state needs to get a better handle on these things.

Well, step one toward that regulation may come in the state budget the House puts out this month.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources is considering a special provision - a piece of law attached to the budget - that would remove coal ash damns exemptions from the state's dam safety act.

Currently, utility companies are responsible for inspecting their own dams that hold back coal ash from spilling into local water ways. While they file a report with the Public Utilities Commission, the dams don't get a state inspection.

The measure would also move $200,000 per year from the Public Utilities Commission to the Department of Environmental Resources to pay for dam inspections.

The measure would not hit all the points in a bill championed by Greensboro Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison, but its first step, she said.

"It seemed like the immediate need was to remove the exemption," Harrison said.

The House budget is a long way from its final form. And even after it has passed, the House, Senate and governor have to craft a final compromise version. So there's no guarantee that this provision will stay in there.

From House Speaker Joe Hackney's office:

Rep. Hugh Holliman is recovering Tuesday after surgery to remove a portion of one of his lungs.

Rep. Holliman is a two-time survivor of lung cancer and the primary sponsor of a new law to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. The surgery Tuesday to remove a lower lobe of Rep. Holliman’s right lung was conducted as a precautionary measure and the portion of the lung that was removed was not immediately believed to be cancerous.

The surgery was conducted at Forsyth Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem. Rep. Holliman is recovering in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and is expected to return to his legislative duties in about a week.

Rep. Holliman is in his fifth term representing Davidson County in the House of Representatives. He is the House Majority Leader, chairman of the Financial Institutions committee and vice chairman of the Finance committee.

It's worth point out that Holliman, (eds note: I've edited this line) who at one time smoked a pipe, was the lead author of the statewide smoking ban for bars and restaurants that goes into effect Jan. 2.

The House Health Committee passed S 1030, which I wrote about this weekend:

There are 748 after-school programs operating on public school campuses throughout the state. Of those, 280 have restrictions placed on their playgrounds by the Division of Child Development.

Problems found in other areas around the state include 8-to-10-foot drops with little or no surfacing to absorb falls, broken swings, rusty nails and “entrapments.”

In each of those cases, if the school deems the gear safe, children can play on it during the day.

Click here for the whole story.

The question arises because public schools and the folks who license after school programs have different standards for what constitutes "safe" playground equipment. One solution would be to require schools to get their equipment up to the division's standards. Instead, the measure says that whatever the faults with the playground equipment, it won't keep an after school programs from getting licensed.

The bill was amended by the House Health Committee to say that the fact the playgrounds might not be up to snuff can be noted on the Division of Child Development rating - a sort of caveat to alert parents.

It next goes to the Education Committee.

As noted earlier, Republicans are trying to knock down S 526, an anti-bullying bill.

The controversy in the bill resides in this paragraph:

Bullying or harassing behavior includes, but is not limited to, acts reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, academic status, gender identity, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics.

That has drawn opposition from groups such as the N.C. Christian Action League.

The House Education Committee heard the bill today. There was so much pending discussion that the chairman delayed a vote on the bill until at least Thursday. But I did find a couple bits of the meeting useful.

An exchange between Rep. Hugh Blackwell, a Burke County Republican, and Rep. Rick Glazier, a Cumberland County Democrat, helped clarify what would constitute bullying versus free speech.

Click here to listen to that.

Also, Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam laid out his objections to the bill.

Click here to listen to those, with a short rebuttal from Sen. Julia Boseman, the bill's sponsor, at the end.

At the beginning of that second take, Stam was asking to pass out a PCS - a proposed committee substitute. In legislative land, a PCS is a rewrite of a bill that contains more extensive body work than is appropriate for a mere amendment. The chairman didn't let him make that motion.

Republicans members of the state legislature are trying to knock down two bills related to sex.

S 526: School Violence Prevention Act, is also known as the bullying bill. The measure says that all bullying is bad but goes on to enumerate a number of categories of students who should not be bullied. That's the offending language for the GOP:

Bullying or harassing behavior includes, but is not limited to, acts reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, academic status, gender identity, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics

The measure has passed the Senate and is in the House Health Committee today.

H 88: Healthy Youth Act, would require all schools systems to offer comprehensive sex education, a track separate from the current abstinence-focus curriculum used by schools.

The measure has passed the House and could be cleared by a Senate committee this week.

Again, Republican leaders say they have a number of problems with the bill, but complain that the term "comprehensive sexuality" education would include teaching about different sexual orientations.

"Sexual orientation and gender identity are so much larger than what people thing they are - it includes pedophilia for example," said Republican Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, the House minority leader.

Although, he said, the GOP has problems with how both these bills will function, he said the larger issues were the ripple effects the bills could have in North Carolina law.

"The bullying bill is not really about bullying," Stam said, describing it as a "Trojan horse."

Pointing to a recent Iowa Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage in that state and North Carolina Republican's inability to push through a constitutional amendment on gay marriage, Stam said these bills were eroding "the normal understanding of the traditional family." (Not discussed, but worth talking about, California's Supreme Court is expected to rule on this topic today.)

From this weekend's paper, in no particular order:

• * Inside Scoop covers a local bill to change how the Greensboro City Attorney is appointed. (Second item.) Short version: it ain't moving for the foreseeable future.

• * North Carolina Republicans are getting ready to chose a new chairman. My story talks more about what the next chairman will have to do in terms of rebuilding the party. For more on the latest mud slinging in the race (which I only mention briefly) check out this story from the Legion of Dome.

• * I wrote for Sunday's paper about efforts to change North Carolina's negligence laws. The push comes in large measure from a Greensboro family and lawmakers.

• * So it turns out that some playground equipment is safe from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. but unsafe after school. Click here to find out how.

• * Not from me, but check out this good read from the AP's Gary Robertson on former Gov. Mike Easley's tenuous grasp on his legacy.

The House Sergeant at Arms staff just issued its report on Rep. Cary Allred's really bad day, during which he was pulled for speeding and accused of acting inappropriately on the House floor.

Click here for a PDF of the report. (This link is updated if you had trouble with an earlier version of the file.)

The document contains both a report from Robert Samuels, the Sergeant at Arms himself, as well as written reports from members.

Not a-typical, although more colorfully written than many of the accounts, is this from Rep. Mitch Setzer:

"However, the most disturbing thing I witnessed on the evening of April 27, 2009 involved an inappropriate interaction between Representative Cary Allred and a House Page. Very close to the end of the Session, I turned in my chair to conduct a conversation with Representative Mark Hilton and directly in my line of sight, at a point on the East wall near the Brass Doors, Representative Allred had a female House Page in what seemed to be a never-ending embrace that resembled a gruesome bear hug. I personally found the scene distasteful and highly disturbing."

Allred is a Republican and interestingly enough, most of the written reports in this document come from Republicans.

From this Sunday's paper:

RALEIGH — Regulatory changes that phone companies say they need to compete with wireless providers and cable companies could hurt consumers, particularly those who buy only the most basic land-line services, say consumer advocates.

The measure, which passed the state House last week, amounts to a partial deregulation of telephone services provided by companies such as AT&T and North State. Under the bill, utility regulators would no longer keep close tabs on services and prices related to local phone service.

“You’ve got some legacy rules and regulation that were created to manage an industry that frankly no longer exists,” said Clifton Metcalf , a spokesman for AT&T, which pushed for the bill. “Consumers have a tremendous amount of choice now.”

But consumer advocates say that those choices — mainly mobile phones and phones provided by cable companies — aren’t available equally across the state. And they argue less-wealthy customers could suffer if rates are allowed to rise.

“(Phone companies) would now have carte blanche to raise prices as they want to with the one exception of stand-alone consumer lines,” said Bill Wilson , a lobbyist for AARP, who said the rise in rates would hurt more than just those over 50.

Click here for the full story.

Click here for information on the bill, including the latest draft.

I have one bit of business to tidy up here. North Carolina has not only a Public Utilities Commission, which serves as a regulator, but a Public Staff, which serves as an advocate on behalf of the public to that regulator.

The staff is a group of public employees but they're not under the commission and are fairly well regarded by advocates in the nonprofit community.

I was unsuccessful in catching up with them last week and particularly wanted to do so because someone working for a phone company suggested to me that the Public Staff might actually favor H 1180.

That's not the case.

John Garrison, who oversees the communications division of the Public Staff, and I finally got a chance to speak this morning. He said that the Public Staff wasn't actively opposing the bill but favored the existing law.

"That's what we think would be best," he said.

Garrison said that the latest version of the H 1180 offered "some protections to consumers," but the public staff thought the existing regulatory scheme did more to ensure quality and price protections.

"Not opposing" something and "favoring" it are two different things on Jones Street. If you favor something, you want to see the change and may be actively working on its behalf. "Not opposing" means you may not like something, but you're keeping your political powder dry - either because you have other issues to work on or because there's little you can do to stop a particular political train from rolling down the tracks.

Now that the fun and games of crossover week are over, we can all go back to agonizing over the budget.

You remember: it was $21 billion give or take last year, it will probably wind up in the neighborhood of $17 billion at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, lots of gnashing of teeth and rending of cloth anticipated as everyone's favorite programs are hacked?

Right.

So a calendar given to various appropriations folks on the House side shows the House Subcommittees working through this week, taking Memorial Day off, and then having subcommittee chairs report to their progress to the big chairs (Rep. Mickey Michaux and company) on May 28, June 1, June 2 and June 3.

If they were to stay on that track, you could see the House budget rush (votes in the full finance and appropriations committees followed by votes on the floor) the week of June 8.

However, on the calendar appropriators are working off of, that June 8 week is left blank in case they need some "buffer" and floor votes aren't anticipated until the week of June 15.

If the process follows that later time line, conferees wouldn't be appointed until June 19 and the House and Senate would have only a week and a half to get a compromise measure worked out.

Raise your hand if you think the House and Senate (and the governor) can agree on how to cut $4 billion (or more) from the state budget in only 12 days or so.

Click here to see how your member of the House voted on the smoking ban.

A new law that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants is on its way to Gov. Bev Perdue’s desk.

The House voted 62-56 for the Senate version of the bill Wednesday afternoon. That was the final legislative approval needed.

Although the bill falls short of the more sweeping “workplace” ban favored by supporters, it does allow local governments to impose some stricter regulations.

“It’s not the bill we would have liked to have,” said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington County Democrat and the lead author of the measure. Despite what he saw as shortcoming, Holliman called the bill a “major step” toward protecting public health.

Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat, urged colleagues to reject the measure, arguing that infringed on the rights of business owners.

“I think in this case we need to take this back, we need to discuss these issues,” Cole said.

Among all the fun of crossover - in which dozens, nay, hundreds of bills are given various level of approval in a short amount of time – the bill in the first position on the House calendar today will grab some attention.

H2, which would ban smoking in restaurants and bars, has come back from the Senate and Rep. Hugh Holliman says he'll urge his colleagues to accept the Senate version of the bill. Even though the measure falls short of the more sweeping "workplace ban" that Holliman had originally pushed, the Lexington Democrat said that the Senate version of the bill is a "major step" and about as much as he can hope for politically this year.

"We'll take the gains we got and come back another day," Holliman said.

My read is that passage is not a slam dunk. But if the measure fails, it would go to a conference committee where the bill could be re-worked some and brought back to the floor.

It is "cross over" week at the General Assembly. May 14 is the self-imposed deadline for legislation that does not raise or spend money to pass either the House or Senate. The deadline is a way for the honorables to impose some discipline on their processes, while leaving plenty of ways to work around when needed or desired.

The upshot: there are tons of bills moving through committee and on the two floors this week. The House calendar was 30-plus bills long tonight. The Senate had 42 bills on the agenda, although pushed off consideration of a few.

At any rate, here are some of things that went down Monday:

• More coming on this in Tuesday’s paper, but the House Commerce Committee voted for a measure that would do away with some of the state's more stringent clear air regulations:

  The measure, approved by the House Environment Committee on a show of hands, would exempt from state reviews businesses building a new factory that emits toxic substances into the air subject to certain federal air-quality regulations.

  “Let’s not make them do the same test twice,” said Rep. Pryor Gibson, a Wadesboro Democrat.

  But environmental regulators and advocates say the measure would gut the state’s ability to head off air-quality problems before they arise.

  “We strongly support the air toxics program as it currently exists, largely because it does give us the opportunity to assess the public health impacts of a new air emissions source before we issue the permit as opposed to having that analysis done later, after the source has already been permitted and constructed and is in operation,” Robin Smith, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources assistant secretary, told the committee.

• * Judges would have to say WHY they were recusing themselves - in writing - under S 797, which passed the Senate. Currently, appellate judges can beg off a case and not give a reason.

• * Schools could start earlier under a bill that passed the House Commerce Committee Monday.

• * The Senate passed a bill to set a floor on the gas tax.

• * The Senate approved a tax cut for an unnamed large company widely rumored to be Apple.

• * And finally, the Senate gave a second blessing to H2, a bill that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants. The measure falls short of the sweeping smoking ban for all businesses originally passed by the House.

  Senators rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, that would have exempted for-profit private clubs that are essentially bars with lose membership requirements.

  “People’s choice is what we ought to be about,” Berger said. “It is a legal product.”

  At one point during the debate, Sen. Stan Bingham, a Denton Republican, asked if truck stops could be exempted along with private clubs. Bingham said that several truck stop owners had called him opposed to the bill.

  “Sen. Bingham, I’ve just never seen a truck stop that was a private club. Have you?” asked Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat who was picking apart the amendment.

  “Well,” Bingham said, “I’ve been there at night. It seemed like a pretty good club to me.”

  That reply drew chuckles from his colleagues and onlookers.

  “Were you a member?” asked Rand. “And how did they select you if you were?”

  Bingham replied, “The way you were selected is if you had any money,” drawing further giggles.

  Although the House could vote to accept the Senate version of the bill, the measure is much different from when the House approved it. Sponsors have said they anticipate the two chambers will appoint a conference committee to work out differences between the two.

The Senate gave tentative approval to H2, which is now a smoking ban for bars and restaurants, earlier today. Click here to catch up on the news.

For those who weren't able to listen to the debate, I have some audio clips.

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Sen. William Purcell, the chief proponent on the Senate side, started off the debate with the understatement of the day.

"This bill has gone through a lot of compromise and changes from where it started," Purcell said. Ya think?

What started as a "workplace smoking ban" aimed at protecting all workers is now something much different.

"The purpose of the bill is to prevent exposure to second hand smoke for patrons and workers at bars and restaurants at bars and workers in North Carolina," Purcell said.

Purcell, a Democrat and chair of the Health Committee, had tried to move a very strict smoking ban to the floor but quickly found that the broad measure didn't have enough support to pass. And, say supporters, it's more of a ban than we have now.

Click here to hear Purcell make the argument for the bill in its current form.

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Sen. Jim Jacumin, a Connelly Springs Republican, offered an amendment to gut the bill further. It would have restored a provision, passed by the House, that would let bars exempt themselves if they didn't hire or serve anyone under the age of 18.

I have it on good authority from two different sources that at least one or two senators who voted against the final bill, and who probably would have liked the amendment, voted against it because the Jacumin's argument was so, well...bad.

Not only did he provide as reprise of his solution to pollution is dilution line, arguing that second hand smoke wasn't all THAT bad, he provided this gem:

"In studies just recently by Vanderbilt University...a smoker costs the taxpayers. A non-smoking costs the taxpayers $417,000. Smokers give the taxpayers a $91,000 bargain - not the right way, of course, but they do."

Right. Because if you smoke and get a disease and it kills you, you're not a strain in the entitlement system. (Coming next week, a bill to require all those with chronic diseases to take up bear wrestling, sky diving and live porcupine swallowing.)

Click here to listen to Jacumin's remarks.

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Sen. Phil Berger, a Republican of Eden, tried to jump in and save Jacumin's amendment.

"What this amendment does is says that the bar owner, the restaurant owner, the owner of the property can make a decision as to whether or not they want to allow smoking on their premises. It gives the individual patron the right to choose to go to that establishment or not go to that establishment. It says that the people of the state of North Carolina are intelligent enough to make decisions for themselves about these kinds of things."

Berger gets props for fighting through what sounded like a nasty cold. But the amendment still failed.

Click here to listen to Berger's remarks.

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Sen. David Weinstein may have earned a spot as the Senate's resident feminist scholar today (end sarcasm) with this exchange:

Weinstein: And Mr. President, if I may, I would like to see if Sen. Tillman would yield to a question.

Lt. Gov. Dalton: Sen. Tillman do you yield for a question?

Tillman: I will.

Dalton: He yields.

Weinstein: Sen. Tillman, is it true, that a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke?

Dalton: You don't have to answer that Sen. Tillman. We're going to let Kipling answer that in appropriate time.

Tillman: I'd give you a Tony Rand answer, but that wouldn't work either.

Weinstein: Well, it is true to me and I'll tell you this. I rest my case with that statement and I'm going to have to vote no on this bill.

All due respect to Sen. Weinstein and Rudyard Kipling, I’m pretty sure that if you don’t enjoy the company of a fine lady (yes, dear wife, I mean you) more than fine cigar, you’re going about it all wrong.

Click here to listen to that exchange.

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Sen. Doug Berger (no relation to Phil, that I know of) said he would vote against the bill because of his father.

"My daddy worked hard, but he also played hard. He wasn't a member of the country club. In the country club, folks are going to be able to smoke. He went down, Sen. Rucho, to the 'Little Brown Jug' after he did a hard days work. When this bill passes, he wouldn't be able to smoke there, while the folks who were over there in the bank, and they go to the country club up there in Johnston County, they'll be able to able to smoke and I just don't think that's right."

Click here to listen to Berger's thoughts.

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After all the arguments against, supporters of the bill piped up. Among those, was Sen. Tony Foriest of Graham:

"This is absolutely amazing to me that we're having this kind of conversation because to me, it seems, that we have an opportunity to absolutely make a difference ... We have the opportunity to send a message certainly to the people that we're around and to the next generation coming up...I'm a little bit disappointed that we're debating this for so long, because this is something we need to do."

Click here to listen to Foriest.

It's your turn to sound off by way of the comments link below.

I just shipped this story re: the smoking ban to our news site:

The North Carolina Senate voted 26-18 to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, passing a weakened version of a workplace smoking ban.

“It was much less restrictive than the original bill,” said Sen. Don Vaughan, a Greensboro Democrat who voted for the compromise legislation.

Vaughan was among numerous Democrats and a majority of Republicans who sided against a more sweeping bill that would have banned smoking in virtually all workplaces. When Senate leaders determined they didn’t have the votes to pass that measure, they reworked the bill into the weaker form.

The House has already passed a version of the smoking ban. It is more broad but has major loopholes for bars.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat and the bill’s author, said it was unlikely the House would accept the Senate version of the bill. Rather, he said, the bill would go to a conference committee. Such committees rework legislation into a single version that is then sent to both chambers for a final vote.

Locally, Sens. Don Vaughan, a Greensboro Democrat, and Stan Bingham, a Denton Republican, voted for the bill.

Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, voted against.

Sen. Katie Dorsett, a Greensboro Democrat, was absent but "paired" her vote, which means she was able to support the bill by canceling out the vote of a colleague on the other side of the issue. In this case, Dorsett paired with Sen. Andrew Brock of Mocksville, who would have been a no vote.

Yesterday, a House committee sent h 1252, which concerns whether or not cities can get into the broadband internet business off to the Rules Committee, where it will be folded into the annual study bill.

The study bill typically directs legislators and staff to look at dozens of topics between the time the legislature adjourns – maybe in August – and the time it returns in May. Topics included in the study are considered eligible for consideration in the short session that begins in 2010.

Click here for yesterday's story.

That action pretty much ended debate on the House side for the session. Once a measure is shuffled off to be included in a study, members are done fooling with something until after adjournment.

”But wait!” say the folks over at StopTheCap.com. S 1004 was on the Senate Commerce Committee calendar this morning. It is the Senate companion to H 1252 and had the same language that would have prevented local governments from getting into the broadband business.

Don't get too riled.

The Commerce Committee also turned it into a study. It's not exactly the same bill. The House created a Legislative Research Commission study while the Senate bill would just send it to the Revenue Laws Study Committee. They’re two different critters that both serve the same purpose.

Either way, both chambers are saying the topic needs to be looked at - "chewed on" to use Rep. Faison's phrase from yesterday - before they go tinkering with the law.

You can expect to see 1004 on the Senate floor and sent over to the House soon, said Sen. David Hoyle, its sponsor. Hoyle says he doesn’t much care how it gets studied, as long as it gets there.

"It's an issue that needs to be looked at," Hoyle said. "All the parties need to get in the same room and defend their position."

Opponents of the original bill say that local governments should be able to get into the broadband business, particularly where a private company isn't providing service or service at the level that residents want.

Supporters of limits - Hoyle is among those - say local governments shouldn't be able to compete with private enterprise.

The result for the time being is that there is unlikely to be any more action on this front this year. Look for the issue to return either in May or in the next General Assembly.

House Appropriations this morning:

H 1172: The furlough bill. As descried by Rep. Ownes: "We've talking and going back and forth between voluntary furloughs and mandatory furloughs ... We've gone back to just voluntary furloughs."

The bill lays out the rules for how furloughs might be done.

"No one HAS to take any days under this," Owens said.

The bill passed out of committee on a voice vote.

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H 917: Holds state employees harmless on longevity, retirement and other matters if they take a furlough.

And it extends the furlough provisions to the judicial and legislative branches.

It passed on a voice vote.

-=-=-=-

Rep. Mickey Michaux, the senior appropriations chairman, noted that both bills sailed through committee with very little opposition.

"I need to put a few more (bills) on there 'cause y'all are sure amenable this morning. Sheesh," Michaux said.

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The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will meet at 9:15 a.m. to hear about revenue forecasts for the coming year.

Rep. Mickey Michaux just announced that the full appropriations committee will hear a bill Wednesday morning to make sure that the flexible furloughs - or at least the pay cut - Gov. Perdue ordered for all state employees will apply to members of the legislature and judicial branches as well.

For those following H2, the smoking ban bill, it is headed back to committee.

"I hope to have it back in the Health Care Committee tomorrow," said Sen. William Purcell, the committee's chairman. He said that some changes for a new, less strict version were being worked on by staff Tuesday afternoon in advance of the Tuesday meeting.

The measure had been due for floor debate on Wednesday.

So why is it heading back? Simple: supporters of the strict measure, which would ban smoking in almost all public areas, don't have the votes to pass it.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH — Railroad company representatives say a bill pending in the state House is “forward-looking,” ensuring that high-speed trains and new local transit lines can be built throughout the state.

Robert McIntosh, who owns Universal Scientific Supply Co. on Pine Street in Greensboro, scoffs at that notion.

“They’re not looking forward for me,” McIntosh said as he stood outside a legislative committee room last week. “They’re going to tell me what I can and can’t do with my property going forward.”

The legislation is the latest attempt by lawmakers to help railroads ensure that their trains can safely operate and that there is room to expand in the future.

“We need to work with these landowners to preserve the corridors,” said Scott Saylor, president of the N.C. Railroad Company, whose lines pass through Guilford County and Greensboro.

Click here for the whole story.

And click here for a bill explanation from the bill drafting office.

The bill is H 116. Here's a link to more information.

Rep. Cary Allred has been charged with speeding in connection with his drive to the legislature Monday night.

I am by no means an expert concerning the ongoing problems with the state health plan. But judging from the latest audit report, there are few who can claim to be. And really, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that losing $79.7 million when you projected earning $57.9 million indicates something is out of whack.

The state auditor posted this audit report today (click here) detailing some of that out of whackness.

Among the findings:

"The BCBSNC contract limits the Plan actuary's ability to forecast administrative expense accurately because:

• * The contract requires the State to reimburse BCBSNC its costs, but does not specify which costs are allowable or how BCBSNC will measure those costs;

• * The contract allows BCBSNC to control any audit of BCBSNC costs initiated by the State Health Plan and prohibits an independent auditor from providing the cost data to the Plan;

• * The BCBSNC contract is a cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost contract that provides no incentive to control costs and results in increased revenue to BCBSNC as the State's costs increase.

Does that sound like a really bad contract to anyone else? "We'll pay you some money to do a thing and y'all let us know how much we should pay because, you know, we trust you."

Click here for a thorough and dispassionate rundown from the AP, including this response from BCBSNC:

While current health plan administrator Jack Walker's office agreed that his predecessors failed to share crucial information about the Blue Cross contract, Walker said they were required to keep the otherwise-confidential information from their actuary.

Blue Cross spokesman Lew Borman said "the previous administrators of the State Health Plan, indeed, had the authority and obligation to share the contract and administrative cost information with their actuary." Failing to do that led to the plan's problems, he said. Blue Cross' profit on the contract was less than 1 percent, or $480,000 in 2008, Borman said.

The Blue Cross contract has been a sore point for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, whose union members saw their health insurance costs increase and benefits decrease as a result of the bailout Gov. Beverly Perdue signed last week.

Speaking of the state employees, the leadership of their association sounded none-to-pleased:

RALEIGH— The State Employees Association of North Carolina stands by its position that legislators are at fault for inadequate oversight and failed projections that resulted in the State Health Plan’s financial troubles. As chairmen of the legislative committee that oversees the plan, Sen. Tony Rand (D-Cumberland) and Rep. Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson)--the only two individuals with full access to the administrative contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina--bear full responsibility for the health plan shortfall.

“It’s easy to blame a former plan administrator, but Senator Rand and Representative Holliman dropped the ball,” said SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope. “They shouldn’t have been surprised by a major shortfall if they were truly watching over the health plan on behalf of its 667,000 members and state taxpayers.”

Click here for more of their release.

In that release, they point out that a 2003 audit found many similar deficiencies, saying that the state didn't track expenses closely enough. Click here for the copy of that that SEANC attached to their release.

I just posted an early version of this story online:

House Speaker Joe Hackney has ordered an investigation of Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican, who numerous witnesses say may have behaved inappropriately on the floor.

“I heard various reports of alcohol use by him, of speeding on the way to session and his embrace of a page,” said Hackney, a Democrat.

House pages are typically high school students who help distribute papers and otherwise keep committee meetings and meetings of the House running.

Allred acknowledged in an interview that an investigation was ongoing, calling it a “witch hunt” by the Speaker, with whom he frequently spars with on the floor.

“I am simply responding to what I would characterize as numerous reports from people of both parties,” Hackney said.

Update: Click here to listen to my interview with Allred before the House session started today.

Update: Click here to listen to one of the more contentious moments from the House session Monday night.

Update: These two bills will NOT be considered Thursday. Also, H2, the smoking ban bill, will not be heard as calendared today - it is now on for this coming Wednesday.

-=-=-=-=-

Much buzz surrounding these two bills today. From the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A Senate panel has quietly approved separate bills telling North Carolina public schools to change how they teach sex education and to adopt detailed anti-bullying policies.

The Senate Mental Health and Youth Services Committee recommended the legislation Wednesday to the full Senate.

The sex education bill passed the House just two weeks ago. It would require schools to offer children in grades seven though nine one curriculum focused on abstinence until marriage and another with more about contraception. Parents would choose either one for their child or none at all.

The anti-bullying bill is opposed by conservative Christians who argue it would advance special protections for gay people.

So someone passed on a copy of H 1560: Attacks on America earlier this week.

The resolution, filed by Greensboro Republican John Blust, says in part:

Whereas, the United States of America has been unfairly attacked and pilloried at recent international forums as a cause of many of the world's problems; and

Whereas, such attacks have come primarily from leaders who have abysmal records on human rights and oppression who head nations where elections are not free and fair; and

Whereas, the President of the United States, while attending these forums, sat silently while America was under attack and has made apologies for the United States; and

Whereas, the United States of America was founded and continues to exist on the greatest set of principles and ideals ever known and articulated by man and adherence to such principles and ideals is what makes the United States of America strong, prosperous, and free; and

Whereas, the United States of America has throughout its history been what Abraham Lincoln called "the last best hope for mankind" and has been a strong, positive source of progress and good in the world; and

You can click here to listen to Blust and I talk about his resolution on Tuesday.

"That's just a reaction to what happened on some of the presidential tours where some of these thugs like Chavez bad mouthed, and nobody else said anything in the defense of this country," Blust said.

Blust, who said he still believes in American Exceptionalism, said he was genuinely angry that Obama apparently tolerated leaders who bad-mouthed the United States. For example, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Obama has the same "stench" as his predecessor but Obama still shook hands with him at a recent summit. (Not to mention a contender for the worse presidential gift ever.)

So did he mean to call out President Obama as part of this?

"I would think the president would be somebody that (said) whoa, wait a second," Blust said. "This is the head of our country I would have liked to have seen something said."

With news breaking out all over Raleigh (and interesting doings in D.C.) it is time to catch up on the news of today and get a jump on tomorrow:

-=-=-=-=-=-

The smoking ban bill is on the Senate calendar for Thursday. Although political handicappers like me have been saying the Senate is an easier win for the bill than the House, I'm hearing tomorrow's vote - if it happens - could be close. I'm hearing it will need at least a few Republican votes to pass.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Also on the Senate calendar for Thursday: Katie Dorsett's S68 which would keep ABC Stores 1,000 feet from local schools. The measure now applies only to Guilford County.

-=-=-=-=-=-

On the House Calendar tomorrow: H 1010 would let the City Council appoint the Greensboro City Attorney. Currently, the manager hires that person.

-=-=-=-=-=-

For those who missed last night's House public hearing on the budget, the video is online here.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Jordan Schrader, a colleague with the Asheville paper, reports that the sex ed bill (Health Youth Act) cleared a Senate committee Wednesday afternoon. But according to its bill status, it won't hit the floor. Rather, it has been re-referred to the Committee on Mental Health & Youth Services. So, no floor action on that Thursday. Update: So apparently this bill passed out of the Youth Services committee and there is growing speculation we could see this thing on the Senate floor Thursday...because there's just not enough going on. Sheesh.

The smoking ban bill, H2, cleared the Senate Health Committee this morning. (Background.)

Now that film industry concerns are addressed, the bill is rolling to a vote in the Senate. It has been to a state close to its original form, eliminating most of the loopholes the House put in during its consideration.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat and the bill's primary sponsor, got the committee hearing started by explaining his bill to the senators.

“This bill is not about personal property or business rights,” said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Davidson County Democrat. “It’s about the right of all North Carolinians to breathe clean air.”

Click here to listen. Much of Holliman's talk will sound familiar to those of you have been following the bill.

Later in the hearing, Lorillard lobbyist and lawyer Michael Shannon was at the hearing to try to convince the honorables to reject the ban.

“The bill before us right now is one of the most restrictive in the country,” said Michael Shannon, a lawyer and lobbyist for Lorillard, a cigarette maker based in Greensboro. “It’s on par with New York City and California.”

Click here to listen. Shannon did have an interesting point. Senators delayed work on the bill so that a concern of the film industry could be addressed:

"Last week in the paper I was shocked by a comment that says we need to postpone hearing this bill because the film industry had an issue and the film industry is very important to the North Carolina economy. I found that as an interesting comment. I think all industry is important to our state, but I do believe North Carolina still has a strong, vibrant tobacco industry. I guess it reminded me of the Mark Twain vote that the reports of our death are greatly exaggerated. Tobacco manufacture alone is a $23.9 billion dollar value-added to the state of North Carolina.

There were a couple of attempts to add back in loopholes that the committee substitute bill took out. Sen. Jim Jacumin made one of those attempts. He would have added back the Cole amendment, which let businesses opt out of the ban if they didn't employ anyone under 18-years-old and didn't serve anyone under 18.

Click here to listen to Jacumin state his objections to the bill - including the immortal phrase "the solution to pollution is dilution" - offer his amendment and hear that amendment rejected.

The bill next goes to the Senate. Should it pass there, H2 would return to the House for a concurrence vote.

I've been writing for a while now about the Jordan Lake Rules, designed to clean up the water supply and recreation for the Triangle.

This affects the Triad and Greensboro because Jordan Lake is fed by the Haw River, which winds through Guilford County.

Environmentalists and state regulators say the rules are needed to clean up the lake. Local officials say they would be very costly for cities to put into action and not achieve very much.

The latest version of those rules rolled out to the House Environment Committee today:

RALEIGH — The latest draft of rules designed to clean up pollution running from Greensboro and other Triad cities into Jordan Lake pleases neither environmental advocates nor those representing builders and municipal officials.

The product of closed-door work sessions, the latest plan was handed to members of the House Environment Committee on Tuesday.

“It’s never what anybody wants,” said Rep. Pryor Gibson, a Wadesboro Democrat, said of legislative compromises on environmental bills.

Jordan Lake is principally a water supply and recreation area for the Triangle. But it is fed by the Haw River, which winds its way through Guilford and Alamance counties.

For a decade, environmental regulators have tried to establish rules that would curb the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus running into the lake. Although those nutrients are helpful as fertilizers for lawns and crops, in an over-abundance they can lead to harmful algae growth in waterways.

The final draft of those rules as written by regulators was approved late last year, but opponents have appealed the plan to the General Assembly. Legislators have undertaken what amounts to a rewrite of the plan.

Click here for the whole story.

Click here for the text of the bill and other legislative information.

Click here for a bill explanation that was handed out to the committee. This handout gets down into the nitty-gritty of the changes.

Click here for a chart showing Chlorophyll-a levels in different parts of Jordan Lake. Chlorophyll-a is a key indicator of something going amiss. (This chart came from Environment North Carolina.)

Parents or guardians would have to give written permission before a child could be spanked as part of a corporal punishment regime under a bill the House passed 91-24 Monday night.

Click here to read and for more info on H442.

The measure now goes to the Senate.

Many North Carolina school districts, including Guilford County, have policies that forbid corporal punishment. But state law still allows the practices and in some counties a child can be spanked without notifying parents.

“This is not about whether you believe in corporal punishment or not,” said Rep. Laura Wiley, a High Point Republican. “This bill is about giving parents the choice to opt out of corporal punishment as a form of discipline. We owe that to these parents.”

Click here to listen to Wiley's full comments.

But some members, including Greensboro Rep. John Blust, said that the state moved away from more stringent forms of punishment at it peril.

“I do think the practical application of the bill will be to diminish and ultimately end the use of corporal punishment,” Blust said, adding that he was a “beneficiary” of the practice. “I think over time I had it taught to me, and reinforced, a certain respect for authority that I think is missing” in some students.

Click here to listen to Blust's full comments.

From a story posted online this afternoon:

RALEIGH — Rep. Hugh Holliman’s role in rewriting the state’s health plan makes him “part of the problem,” according to an employee group running radio ads criticizing the Lexington Democrat.

The two-year, $675 -million bailout raises deductibles and copays as well as increases the cost for dependent coverage. It also cuts benefits for those who are overweight or smoke. And while it costs taxpayers, it is not as expensive as other potential fixes to the plan.

The ad attacking Holliman is sponsored by SEANC, the State Employees Association of North Carolina, a 55,000-member, union-affiliated group that frequently gets involved in political campaigns and lobbies the legislature.

“Hugh Holliman has his priorities wrong,” says the SEANC ad, airing on WZTK-FM and WSJS-AM in the High Point and Greensboro markets. “He’s part of the problem when he needs to be part of the solution. Maybe it’s time for new leadership in the North Carolina legislature.”

Click here for the full story, including this from Holliman:

“I think it’s fair to say I really don’t appreciate that (the ad) but they’re certainly welcome to do what they think they need to do,” Holliman said. “I think SEANC needs to discover they’re in the real world... and we don’t have money to just throw around.”

Click here to listen to the ad.

Worth noting: SEANC also targeted Rep. Margaret Dickson with a radio ad, as you can read in this release.(PDF)

As I point out in the story, Holliman is really part of a two-headed beast that oversees the state health plan. The other is Sen. Tony Rand, the majority leader in the Senate.

I asked SEANCE why they were going after Holliman and not Rand. The reply came back from SEANC political director Kevin LeCount that Rand's time may come. From the story:

“Everything we say in the ad about Rep. Holliman, we would be happy to make the same assertions about Rand,” LeCount said. “It’s not because we’re not going to talk about Rand.”

However, I think it's worth nothing that Holliman had a relatively close General Election in 2008, winning by 5 percentage points in what could be a swing district. Meanwhile Rand was unopposed and in a district carried handily by Democrats at all levels of the ballot.

It would not be unreasonable to speculate that SEANC is spending its ammunition where it thinks the impact is more likely to be noticed.

From a story in Monday's paper:

RALEIGH — An effort to more tightly regulate material left over from burning coal to create power faces stiff opposition in the General Assembly, despite a massive December coal ash spill in Tennessee.

Coal ash can either be wet and stored in ponds or as a powder. Both forms can contain arsenic, lead, selenium and other toxic substances, researchers say.

“If the public understood the situation, they would scream for some regulations on this stuff,” said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat who has introduced legislation that would more tightly control how coal ash is stored, disposed of or used in commercial applications.

In December, a Tennessee Valley Authority dam broke, releasing more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge into nearby communities and waterways.

Although none are as big as the TVA pond, Duke and Progress Energy have 14 coal ash ponds next to power plants throughout the state. They include Duke’s Dan River Steam Station in Eden and Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County.

Click here for the whole story.

Here's a map of where you can find coal ash ponds throughout the state (click for slightly bigger version):

So what does one of these things look like? Well, the WV Gazette "Coal Tattoo" blog has some good pictures of what happens when things get loose.

For a view of an in-tact ash pond, let's turn to the Google Earth image of Duke's Energy's Dan River Steam Station in Rockingham County:

View Larger Map

The baseball-diamond-shaped area that is dark black is the coal ash pond, with an estimated surface area of 8 acres. That, by the way, is one of the smaller ponds in the state.

Update: I'm told that the baseball diamond-shaped thing may be a stockpile and the coal ash pond is the thing to the right of the photograph that's kind of a dark, milky gray. And now that I look at it, that feature jibes better with the written description of the ponds as well as the size.

Basically, anywhere in the state where Duke or Progress Energy has a coal-fired plant, you have an ash pond.

Something that I wasn't able to map right off was all the places where coal ash has been used as fill. I found references to it being used in NC to help level road projects and parks. There has been some evidence this use can lead to icky things leaking into groundwater. More here.

Click here for info on H 1354, Rep. Harrison's bill that would regulate coal ash.

So I heard from a source or two last week that the North Carolina Education Lottery was looking at online games like Keno or video poker.

It's a pretty fair guess that at least part this rumor was inspired by the recent spate of news over video poker - including two court cases that could lead to legalizing some or all of the industry. (The statute that created the lottery gives it pretty broad authority to create whatever games it wants leaves, so legally the door seems pretty wide open.)

The rumor also fit with something I heard from video poker operators back before the General Assembly took a crack at outlawing them. They argued that their industry could adjust to work with the lottery, and that they could become a servicing arm for the machines while the lottery ran the servers and what.

But the lottery's boss, Director Tom Shaheen, says that video poker is not in the cards - at least not right now.

"This is not something I've brought up to anybody - never taken it to our commissioners, never taken it downtown," Shaheen said.

Part of why the video poker idea hasn't come up, Shaheen said, has to do with the age of the lottery.

"We're still building a basic lottery here, and that can't happen over night," Shaheen said. He noted that the lottery has just added a Pick-4 game.

As for what should happen with video poker - outside of the lottery context - Shaheen wasn't saying. He acknowledged, rightly, that if he were to say "Yes, it's bad, get rid of it," the statement would be seen as self-serving for the lottery.

"These are political things, and we're not a political machine over here," Shaheen said.

So, does video poker cut into lottery sales?

"Certainly, that (banning video poker) would benefit the lottery and benefit our sales - but these are North Carolina issues, not lottery issues," Shaheen said. "My concern, my focus is on what affects this lottery directly." And, he pointed out, the lottery began operating before the video poker ban fully went into effect and continues to thrive even though the industry lingers.

So is video poker not in the lottery's future?

"If the climate were right," Shaheen said - re-emphasizing that the climate is NOT right today. "In part it's a social issue, what's acceptable and what isn't."

Update: Ha, ha, stupid me. There I go listening to presiding officers and committee chairmen again.

H 1537, Jones' video poker bill, didn't get assigned to Rules. Sure, that's where Speaker Pro Tempore Wainwright, who was running the House session today, referred it on the floor. And yes, Rules Chairman Bill Owens, said his committee had the bill and wanted to hold onto it for a while.

But no.

It was sent to J II and then on to Finance.

So, ignore the rest of this post, except as a monument to my overly trusting nature.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH — The good news: Sales taxes and income tax rates would drop under a finance package state senators started examining Wednesday.

The bad news: North Carolinians would end up paying the state more anyway.

“We’ve got a short-term fiscal crisis on us and it has run smack-dab into the long-term problems we’ve got with the state revenue system,” said Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat.

Click here for the full story.

More, including documents outlining more about the plan and audio of Wednesday's briefing, at this blog post.

Two bills of local interest were filed in the House today:

• * H 1538 honors the 100th anniversary of the High Point Furniture Market.

• *H 1537 is Rep. Earl Jones' bill to legalize video poker. More on that here, here and here.

Sen. Dan Clodfelter and the Senate Finance committee rolled out their much anticipated proposal to rewrite the state's tax system.

You can click here for a 45-minute audio file that contains Clodfelter's explanation of the bill.

During the hearing, three different documents were handed out, presented here as handy PDFs:

• * Document 1 is an overview of the proposed changes.

• * Document 2 outlines in more detail changes made to personal and business income taxes and sales taxes.

• * And if you stare at it long enough, Document 3 supposedly shows the impact of the various tax changes on different kinds of tax payers and state collections.

Clodfelter took pains to say that the proposal would not be voted this week and may not see a vote next week. And, he said, the committee was open to reviewing changes. However, he warned, if someone wanted to pare down the revenue coming from a particular tax, they would be asked to make up the difference somewhere else.

I'm still trying wrap my brain around all this, but here are some highlights gleaned from today's presentation:

• * Income and sales taxes are lowered, but there are trade offs in each case. For sales taxes, the trade off is that more things - including services - would be taxed. For both personal and business incomes, the trade off comes in the form of fewer deductions and weird little loopholes.

• * State income tax would be based on federal adjusted income. This should, Clodfelter said, make filing state income taxes easier. Also, the plan would create a new bracket for the first $10,000 of income a couple earns. Instead of getting a credit, those very low income families would not be taxed at all, Clodfelter said.

• * Sales tax would be reduced to 6 percent.

• * You'll be paying sales tax on software on the software you download over the internet, as well as warranties and repairs for tangible personal property.

• * Heavy equipment, such as mill machinery, would be exempt from sales tax but things like grease and parts used to maintain those machines would be subject to sales tax. That's a change from the current system that taxes all such items at 1 percent but caps the maximum amount payable at $80.

• * Cities and counties would lose their sales tax exemptions. School boards have been battling for years to get the same exemption that other local governments have. Now, all local governments would be in the same boat.

• * Cigarette taxes would be increased 15-cents-per-pack to 50-cents. The tax on other tobacco products would rise 3 percent.

• * Alcohol excise taxes would rise. The amount collected would be similar to the amounts outlined in governor Bev Perdue's budget, but collected as an excise tax rather than the extra sales tax that Perdue had proposed. Taxes on particular alcoholic products would rise based on the amount of alcohol by volume they contained.

There’s more to it than that. If you have a question or a highlight (lowlight?) you want to point out, the comments link is open.

The Workplace Smoking Ban, aka H2, was due to be heard in the Senate Health Committee today but was pulled from the calendar.

According to Committee Chairman William Purcell, the film industry had a concern that needed to be addressed.

"The concern came up about film makers in Wilmington not being able to smoke on sets," Purcell said. Apparently, they wanted to ensure that there wouldn't be any fines handed out for actors doing a scene that involved smoking.

Purcell said that was the only issue of substance that would keep the bill from moving forward.

Purcell said the PCS - legislative talk for "proposed committee substitute," which is essentially a rewrite of a bill - took out the "Cole Amendment." That amendment allowed any business that didn't serve or employee people under 18 to post a sign and allow smoking. Essentially, the Senate is looking at running a bill that regulates smoking more tightly than the House version.

The Cole amendment had raised the ire of the restaurant industry, which thought it gave bars an unfair advantage over restaurants.

Purcell said the Senate PCS would also tighten the definition of "private clubs" where smoking would be allowed. That definition, Purcell said, would carve out VFW or other fraternal groups, but not exempt private clubs that exist pretty much as stand-alone bars.

Purcell said the bill would come back next Wednesday.

Today was a busy day on Jones Street and frankly, I don't have time to do justice to everything. So here's a little wrap of things I haven’t had a chance to blog yet.

• * The House Education Committee passed a bill that would let schools start as soon as Aug. 8.

  The measure, H 593, would reverse a change made only a few years ago that made Aug. 25 the earliest start date possible.

  It next goes to the House Commerce Committee.

  Click here for debate from the committee, including education lobbyists arguing for earlier starts and one student arguing against.

• * The House passed H120, a municipal campaign finance bill, on a 60-56 vote.

  I've written about this before (here and here)

  The measure was changed on the floor today to exclude towns with fewer than 50,000 people. Sponsors made the change to keep the heat off rural Democrats. Americans for Prosperity, a conservative anti-tax group, had targeted "about a dozen" members of the House, according to its leader, Dallas Woodhouse.

  According to Woodhouse, the group used robo-calls and member phone calls to convince some members who were on the fence to side against the bill.

  Click here to listen to the end of the debate from the House floor.

• * The House also passed H148, a bill to allow local governments to raise sales taxes to help fund transit systems on a 77-40 vote. The House must vote again Wednesday to confirm the vote.

  The bill would allow Guilford and Forsyth Counties to raise taxes to help fund PART.

  Part Director Brent McKinney said his agency would need more money by 2012 to sustain its planning and operational activities.

  "It gives the citizens the option to decide their future transportation choices and how they want to see their region developed," McKinney said.

The breaking news of the late day comes from the Associated Press' Gary Robertson. Senators seemed to have been of two minds all day over whether they would run their tax package Wednesday or not. Gary says we'll see it tomorrow:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina's Senate Democrats are set to consider a plan Wednesday that would change the state's tax system by reducing overall rates but adding taxes to many services for the first time.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to receive a proposal that would lower the sales tax rate people pay in most counties from 6.75 percent to 6 percent and reduce corporate and individual income tax rates, according to a document highlighting the potential changes obtained by The Associated Press. The 2 percent tax on food at grocery stores and other retailer also would be repealed, the document said.

But the proposal, which will serve as a template for Senate leaders seeking to reform the tax system this year, also would place the sales tax on a host of services, including building repairs, warranties, information technology, moving expenses and sales of downloaded music and software.

[snip]

Under the plan, the individual income tax rate would be reduced from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent, while the lowest rate would drop from 6 percent to 5.25 percent, according to the document.

There also would be a new bracket in which income earners would pay no new taxes - for example, married couples filing jointly and making up to $10,000. Right now, people must pay 6 percent even if they earned only a few hundred dollars.

Individual income tax rates would be simplified by basing payments on a taxpayer's adjusted gross income as calculated on federal tax returns, instead of having to change the amount to compute state taxes. There would be some credits for charitable donations and home mortgages, while the per-child tax credit would increase from $100 to $125, the document said.

The corporate income tax would be reduced from 6.9 percent - one of the highest in the Southeast - to 4.5 percent over two years, but limited liability companies would have to pay franchise taxes while state and local privilege license taxes would be repealed.

A host of business tax credits started in the mid-1990s to reward companies that created jobs or invested capital would be eliminated.

Earl Jones effort now has some public support from a group calling itself "The Entertainment Group of North Carolina."

You can see the group's lobbying filings here. They recorded no expenses in the first quarter.

Update: The registered lobbyist for The Entertainment Group of North Carolina is Gardner Payne, who works at McGuire Woods. His company bio lists several interesting extra-curricular activities, including serving as finance director of the Bev Perdue committee.

Update: A blog commenter suggests (correctly) that I should clarify Payne served during Perdue's days as Lt. Governor, not her latest run. And an e-mailer notes Payne helped push for the lottery earlier in the decade.

Update 2: One more time: Another e-mail says while it's correct Payne didn't have a PAID role during Gov. Perdue's 2008 run, he did have a volunteer position with the campaign.

The point of all this being: Payne has more than a passing familiarity with the current governor. And, by the way, former Gov. Mike Easley officially signed on with his firm today.

From a news release sent by the group:

RALEIGH – The Entertainment Group of North Carolina, a coalition of business owners in the amusement industry, today announced their support for legislation sponsored by State Rep. Earl Jones, which would create a set of new, tough oversight regulations and taxation of video lottery terminals.

“We are dedicated to partnering with the State of North Carolina to regulate the video terminal industry and provide a new dedicated stream of money that will help offset some of the revenue shortfalls we are currently experiencing and to provide new jobs and opportunities for locally owned and operated businesses across the state,” said Chase Brooks, Public Affairs Chairman with the Entertainment Group of North Carolina.

“We will work with Rep. Jones to bring in a new era of laws, regulation and oversight to the amusement industry. We see this as a win-win solution for the State of North Carolina and our locally owned and operated businesses,” Brooks said.

[snip]

“We already have gaming in North Carolina and the state is the largest operator. This legislation will enable locally owned and operated businesses to offer their customers a video lottery terminal that will be monitored and regulated in real time by the Department of Revenue and will pay taxes to the state,” Brooks said. He said estimated revenues for the state alone will exceed $480 million based on $2.4 billion in estimated annual gross revenues.”

Two bills of interest were in House Judiciary I this morning:

• * H 422, Parental Involvement in School Discipline, would allow parents to keep schools from administering corporal punishment in districts where spanking students is still allowed. Yes, there are districts in Guilford County that allow teachers/administrators to spank their students.

  Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, spoke in favor of the bill: "I think we ought to go the other way and make discipline stricter in the schools."

  It passed on a 9-6 show of hands vote. It next heads to the House floor.

• * H 193, Electronic Notice of Public Hearings, would allow some towns and cities to make notice of public hearings over the web rather than in newspapers.

  Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam pulled the bill from consideration when it became evident he would lose the vote. I talked to Stam afterward and he intends to bring it back if he can.

Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, would like to return video poker to a place among the state's legal amusements. From a story in today's paper:

RALEIGH — Rep. Earl Jones said he plans to introduce a bill this week to legalize video poker, a form of gambling outlawed amid accusations of political corruption and operators skirting rules.

The Greensboro Democrat said it is “hypocritical” for the state to run a lottery but outlaw another form of gambling that some people enjoy.

“I think it’s very unfortunate that you have some folks who are very paternalistic,” Jones said Monday. “Some people can’t pay $200 or $300 to play golf or $100 to go to a Panthers game. This is their entertainment.”

Click here for the whole thing.

Update: When asked about Jones' bill, Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, the Republican leader in the House, said: "That's the bad bill of the week."

Also in the paper today:

• The Washington Watch column update's the Alcoa fight and looks at some recent bill filings from the federal honorables.

• The Libertarian and Green parties had their day before the Court of Appeals, arguing that the state's ballot access laws are too strict.

As I noted earlier, North Carolina could soon designate an official potato festival.

The measure passed the House Monday 114-0 and will be sent to the Senate. You can click here to listen to the debate. Some highlights:

Rep. Jerry Dockham: “This doesn’t have anything to do with barbecue does it?"

Rep. Bill Owens: "No sir."

Dockham:"Just wanted to clear that up."

Last session, Dockham put forward a bill to designate the Lexington Barbecue Festival as the official state ‘cue festival. It was changed to become the official state “food” festival. The change was made to accommodate – apparently still raw – regional rivalries that exist between adherents of Lexington and eastern ‘cue styles, which came up during this debate over taters.

Rep. David Lewis: "Mr. Speaker?"

Speaker Hackney: "For what purpose does the gentleman from Harnett, Rep. Lewis, arise?"

Lewis:"Point of order."

Hackney:"The gentleman may state his point of order."

Lewis:"Rep. Dockham’s bill also had nothing to do with barbecue."

Earlier in the debate, Owens allowed as how most of the potatoes celebrated at the festival were white potatoes, which prompted this friendly exchange:

Rep. Mickey Michaux: “Did I hear you say all white potatoes?” (This prompted laughs. Michaux is a prominent member of the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus.)

Owens: “Actually, we have some red ones too, which Rep. Sutton likes." (Rep. Ronnie Sutton is the one Native American member of the House.)

Michaux:"I suggest you vote against the bill."

Fresh on the heels of Sunday's story about sorting out the stimulus comes this announcement from a pair of local legislators:

Sen. Katie Dorsett, Rep. Adams and Fellow Legislators to host Economic Recovery Summit April 27 at Guilford Tech

Senator Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford), along with Rep. Alma Adams (D-Guilford) and other members of the Guilford County legislative delegation, will host a summit entitled “Coping During Economic Difficulties: Stimulus Opportunities” on Monday, April 27th at Guilford Technical Community College. The meeting will bring together some of North Carolina’s top officials to discuss ways in which the federal recovery funds may be used to create jobs and grow the economy. They will also share information about how to apply for grants funded by the federal stimulus.

The summit will feature presentations by Dempsey Benton, Director of the North Carolina Office of Economic Recovery & Investment, who is know as our state’s “stimulus czar,” state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti, state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco and others.

The public is invited to attend.

“The Economy Recovery funds are essential in helping us get out of the recession. It is also important to provide information for residents and organizations in Guilford County so that the stimulus can help us locally. I look forward to an exciting and informative event,” Senator Dorsett said.

Details after the jump.

The Court of Appeals this afternoon will hear the N.C. Libertarian Party's appeal of their loss in a 2005 declaratory judgment action. In that suit, the Libertarians contend that their party and its members have been deprived of a fundamental right to have the state sanction the party of their choice.

The state argues no such right exists.

A lot has happened since the 2005 suit. In 2008, Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger won enough votes to keep the party on the ballot until the next election.

But if the Libertarians were to win, it might open the official political marketplace of ideas to more purveyors, such as the Green Party.

Read the Libertarian's brief here.

Read the state's brief here.

Before heading over to the court house, this line from the Libertarian's appeal caught my attention:

All members of the General Assembly, which enacts the election laws, including those on recognition of political parties, are either Democrats or Republicans. There are no members of the General Assembly affiliated with any other political party nor, upon information and belief, have there been any in at least thirty-five years.

Oh, how soon we forget.

Rep. Steve Wood, who represented High Point in the 1990s and early part of this decade, was once a member of the Reform Party. This came about after his own party wouldn't have him in their caucus and now-Rep. John Blust ran against him and beat him in a Republican primary in 2000. (Wood switched to the Reform Party and ran against Blust in the General Election, losing that one too.)

In fact, Wood was for a short time the highest ranking elected official in the Reform Party, an outgrowth of Ross Perot's quixotic presidential campaign. It was also the party of Jesse Ventura, the wrestler turned Minnesota governor, until he switched to Independent in 2000.

Now, the larger point the brief was making is still valid and Wood was never ELECTED to the General Assembly as a member of the Reform Party, he switched after voters put him in as a Republican.

But for the record, there you go.

The North Carolina Potato Festival in Elizabeth City would become the "Official NC Potato Festival" under a bill (H588) filed by House Rules Chairman Bill Owens. A vote by the full House is scheduled for this evening.

I confess: I did not know there was a potato festival, nor did I know that the title of Little Miss Tatter Tot would be decided there.

File this under fun with GS 145, which has recently added the official state food festival and official state collard festival.

This story from today's paper looks at the ongoing fun and games over video poker in North Carolina:

RALEIGH — The bill was simple enough. It would have affirmed the legislature’s intent to outlaw video poker in all its forms without making changes to existing law.

In particular, backers of the measure are frustrated that a video poker variant based on a sweepstakes computer system continues to thrive in the state and wanted to send a message to law enforcement and the courts.

“We’re really displeased with the way this law is being circumvented,” said Rep. Ray Rapp, a Mars Hill Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors.

But moments before the measure was to be heard Thursday, a clutch of legislators hurriedly conferred and pulled it from consideration by a House Judiciary committee.

“Some folks had some reservations,” said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, the committee’s chairman. Those reservations, he said, revolved around worry the state could be interfering in an ongoing court case.

Click here for the full story.

Also from today's paper, a chat with Rep. Mel Watt about his recent trip to Cuba:

When U.S. Rep. Mel Watt traveled to Cuba earlier this month, he was curious to meet President Raul Castro , the younger brother of the island’s long time leader, Fidel.

During his previous trip to Cuba in 2004, Watt said, one rarely heard about Raul , who ran the military but was not much of an up-front figure.

“I thought he would be a lot more restrained and a lot less outgoing” than his older brother, Watt said. “But, you know, Cubans like to talk. Raul is just as outgoing and loquacious as Fidel is.”

Watt, who represents parts of Guilford County, was part of a seven-member Congressional Black Caucus trip to the island.

The trip was a timely one, as Watt and other members of the delegation returned only days before President Barack Obama lifted some travel restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to the island.

Click here for the full story.

As the story says, the CBC trip was a timely one because the whole area of Cuban-American relations appears to be ready to shift. More info on recent developments in U.S.-Cuba policy comes from the Miami Herald and N.Y. Times.

Sen. Vernon Malone of Wake County died Saturday, according to the N+O. He was 77.

Update: This statement came from Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight:

“It is hard to put into words how much Vernon Malone meant to the North Carolina Senate, and to everyone who knew him. He had prepared himself for service early in life and he believed in a better opportunity for all. He was a man for all people and a man of integrity and he did not just seek to help those people with talents, he loved all people. He was such a big man in the way he lived his life – the concern, the love and compassion he had for people was special.

I can think of no one, nowhere in this state who meets the description of what Vernon was as a person. He was a wonderful friend to me and a real leader in the Senate, and I will miss him a great deal. What I knew of him as a person, not to mention the contributions he has made throughout his life, cannot be replaced. It is a huge loss, not just for the people of his Senate district, but for all the people of North Carolina.”

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton has issued this statement:

“The Senate, the people of Wake County and the State have lost a great advocate for education and for the future of our State. Throughout his life, Senator Malone was committed to public service and to making our State a better place. I am honored and proud to have served alongside Vernon Malone in the Senate, and the prayers of the entire State are with his family during this time of great loss.”

I don't have any other details and hadn't heard that he was sick. In fact, Sen. Malone cast votes on the Senate floor Thursday.

Update: The following is from the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State Sen. Vernon Malone has died of natural causes at his home in Raleigh. He was 77.

Malone's son Rod said his father died Saturday morning.

The Democrat served most recently as co-chairman of the education budget subcommittee and had represented District 14 in the General Assembly for four terms.

The Shaw University graduate held public offices in Wake County over three decades. As school board chairman, he presided over the merger of Raleigh city schools and Wake County public schools in 1976.

He served as a Wake County commissioner from 1984 until his election to the Senate in 2002.

Details for a memorial service are not yet set.

More from WRAL here.

Update: The following came from Gov. Bev Perdue:

“Vernon Malone was one of my closest personal friends and was a powerful voice for North Carolina’s future. He fundamentally believed that every kid should have a shot at success, regardless of their background and dedicated his life to making that belief a reality.”

The House debated and tentatively passed H 88: Health Youth Act on a 64-53 vote today. There will need to be a vote on 3d reading before the bill kicks over to the Senate.

The bill essentially creates two sex education tracks in North Carolina. Both supposedly emphasize abstinence until marriage. But as described by backers of the bill, they differ this way:

• * The abstinence track is what most NC students get now. Although some birth control methods are covered in this course, proponents of H88 say its emphases is unrealistic.

• * The comprehensive track would say waiting to have sex until married is better, but goes on to talk about birth control and disease prevention from what advocates say is a broader perspective.

Click here for a story I wrote back in February outlining the bill.

And click here for Wednesday's story on the House debate.

I could try to recount this debate, but it may be more effective just to let you listen in:

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Update: Here's one more piece of audio I didn't have in the original post. Wake County Republican Rep. Marilyn Avila argued against the bill: "Until we take the same attitude towards our children learning the responsibilities that they owe their bodies with regards to sex that we want them to take with regards to smoking, we're not going to see much of an improvement."

As hard as the workplace smoking ban was to pass the House, I dare 'em to try a ban on sex.

Click here to listen to Avila's full clip.

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Click here to listen to the debate on the first amendment of the day, which would say that if a parent doesn't give their written consent the student could not take either sex education track. Rep. Earl Jones challenged this idea, saying that kids with less involved parents who might not bother signing forms are the very kids who need the comprehensive course.

"It seems to me that science should not be trumped by fiction or fairy tail," Jones said. Bill sponsors backed this amendment as a way to make the bill less controversial and more likely to pass.

-=-=-=-=-

Rep. John Blust worried that parents wouldn't necessarily understand the choice between the two sex education curricula.

“I’m asking what information parents will be given as to the details of the proposed curriculum,” Blust said. “Reading these guidelines of what we’ve called euphemistically abstinence-based comprehensive — some of these particulars do not appear appropriate. We cannot even read them on the floor (of the House) probably without being gaveled down.”

Click here to listen to Blust's question and remarks.

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Another amendment offered to make the bill less controversial removed references to "long-term, committed relationships." From my story:

Conservative groups had railed against that language as opening the door to teaching about homosexuality or that having multiple spouses was acceptable. Backers of the bill said removing the language would make the measure less controversial.

“I’m a little curious about your amendment,” Rep. Jennifer Weiss of Wake County said. “Did you know your wife before you married her?”

Goforth paused, then said, “I think that’s a personal question and I don’t think —”

Weiss shot back, “I did not mean in the biblical sense,” as others on the House floor laughed.

“I did know my wife before I married her; I didn’t get her off the Internet or anything,” Goforth said.

Weiss argued that most people are involved in relationships with potential spouses before marriage. And she added that people in their 20s were waiting for years to marry while still involved with the same person.

Click here to listen to that debate.

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Rep. Paul Stam of Wake County argued against the bill pretty forcefully. Click here for his thoughts - all 13-plus minutes worth.

It includes the soon-to-be immortal line: "Big love is coming to North Carolina," a reference to plural marriages. Oh, and he had a couple of really oblique references to masturbation and anal sex.

-=-=-=-=-

Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro offered her thoughts in support of the bill.

“We’re teaching in most of our school systems abstinence, but abstinence is not what most students are doing,” Adams said.

H 148 passed the House Finance Committee this morning.

It looks like the bill would help PART expand. Committee members talked a fair bit about regional rail service during their discussion this morning.

Here's the AP's first blush account:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina legislative committee has approved a plan allowing the state's second- and third-largest metro areas to expand mass transit systems if voters approve raising local sales taxes.

The House Finance Committee voted 19-6 on Wednesday to advance the bill to a House floor vote.

The bill would allow voters in Forsyth, Guilford, Wake, Durham and Orange counties to decide whether to increase local sales taxes by half a cent and car registration fees by up to $2, piggybacking onto Mecklenburg County's popular experiment with light rail. The state's 94 other counties could raise sales taxes by a quarter-cent for transit projects.

The committee added a provision allowing Research Triangle Park to increase property taxes on its tenant companies to pay for transit.

The bill faces opposition from Republican members, who seem to both oppose the potential for property tax increases and have a standing philosophical object to how transportation money is divided among the state's counties.

With apologies to Paul Harvey, from our "For What It's Worth" Department:

RALEIGH — Some North Carolina tax returns are arriving in Raleigh steeped with what has become the ad hoc symbol of protest: a tea bag.

Drawing on the imagery of the Boston Tea Party, a movement driven mainly by conservatives has been sending tea to government offices — including some in Congress — as a signal that they would like to see taxes and government spending lowered.

“There has been some of that,” said North Carolina Revenue Secretary Ken Lay, confirming the spread to his agency. But whatever signal the filers are hoping to send may not be getting through.

“I don’t read anything into it at all,” Lay said. “For me to try to guess what’s on someone’s mind when they do something like that is an exercise in futility.”

A spokesman for the federal IRS, by the way, declined to say whether his agency was seeing anything similar.

From today's paper:

Car dealers regularly shop loans for new and used cars to a variety of banks, said the center’s Chris Kukla, often getting loan offers that vary in interest rates. Consumers, Kukla said, often don’t know if they’re getting the best of those rates.

“That’s the really tricky part,” he said. “There’s no way for consumers to know. The dealer is under no obligation to tell them.”

Frequently, finance companies can offer a “dealer reserve,” an incentive to the deal to put the customer in a higher-priced loan, according to Kukla.

Such reserves would be outlawed under a bill filed by Rep. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, and backed by Greensboro Reps. Pricey Harrison and Earl Jones.

Click here for the full story.

The bill is H 1223.

It is supported by the Durham-based Center for Responsible Lending.

Back last month, I wrote about the brewing battle over beer distribution laws. Short version: Guilford County's Red Oak is asking the General Assembly to raise to 60,000 barrels the amount of beer a brewer can distribute itself. Currently, if a brewer makes 20,000 barrels or more of beer, they have to sell through a distributor.

Beer distributors and even some alcohol control advocates have pushed back against that effort, saying that it would throw the three-tiered alcohol control system out of whack. Executives at Red Oak say they just want to be able to make sure their product gets to market in a proper manner.

Since that story ran, bills have been filed in the House and Senate to raise the self-distribution cap:

• * Greensboro Rep. Pricey Harrison is among the primary sponsors on H 1017. Rep. Maggie Jeffus of Greensboro has signed on as a co-sponsor. The bill has been assigned to the House ABC committee and then Commerce.

• * Sen. Katie Dorsett filed S 918, which has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.

As those bills were being filed (heck, as I was writing my story on the topic) Red Oak owner Bill Sherrill sent a letter to legislators advocating for his bill. In that letter, Sherrill took aim at the beer distributors, claiming that due to consolidation there were only two that served the Triad. And to support claims of big money in the beer distribution business, he said Greensboro-based R.H. Barringer paid $100 million to buy another distributor.

The Beer wholesalers fired back a letter of their own, asking Sherrill to retract his claims and, essentially, saying he was full of you-know-what.

You can download a PDF with that exchange by clicking right here. (It's a PDF. The packet was distributed by the wholesalers and is worth the read if only to appreciate the fine art of how lobbyists knock down legislation they don't like.)

When I had occasion to ask Sherrill about how he got the $100 million, he didn't produce any documents but said he had asked Barringer CEO Mark Craig about the purchase.

Did he get an answer? I asked.

Not really. "He just kind of smiled at me," Sherrill said.

So since the battle is joined down here at the legislature, it's fair to ask if the bills are going anywhere. My guess is the Senate Commerce Committee will have other fish to fry unless the bill crosses over from the House.

In the House, the ABC Committee will be a tough test. They'll hear from interests that they have seen fight some pretty fierce battles (brewers and distributors versus the Christian Action League and other control advocates) line up against the same bill. That sort of unified front usually gets a committee's attention and makes the job of the people pushing the bill that much harder.

Also worth noting: Greensboro Sen. Don Vaughan did not sign on to the bills, nor did Greensboro Reps. Earl Jones or Alma Adams. However, you will see some names from out in the western part of the state (where they have some pretty good microbrewers) as well as some Alamance County honorables. Although Red Oak started as a brew pub in Greensboro, its new factory is out toward the Guilford-Alamance line. I've had at least one member of the Guilford delegation express some parochial reserve about the brewery limit bill because Barringer is located in the city and Red Oak is almost in the next county over. (Essentially, they want to support the position of the business that still the home town business rather than one that could be drawing on Burlington's water supply.)

The Senate gave final approval to the budget, $500 million mystery tax increase and all.

The flagpole outside the General Assembly had some extra cargo this afternoon:

I am sure if Duke or some other institution of higher learning elsewhere in the state brings home a national championship they'll be accorded the same honor.

For those of you playing "Senate Budget, the home game," here are some resources:

• * News reports to help you understand the budget from the News & Record, News & Observer, AP, and the Winston-Salem Journal.

• * Click here for the money report. You will find the bulk of the dollars-and-cents numbers here. (PDF)

• * Click here for the budget provisions. This is the budget bill itself, complete with changes to state law made by the budget. You'll find some items in here not illustrated by the money report. (PDF)

• * Click here for the General Assembly's audio page. You can tune into the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting here today. (It will be held in room 643.)

• * Click here to listen to the first part of Linda Garrou's news conference from Monday explaining the Senate budget. (Sens. Charlie Albertson and A.B. Swindell were also there.)

• * Click here to listen to the question and answer part of the Garrou news conference.

Here’s how this plays out the rest of the week: The Appropriations (and maybe Finance) committee makes changes to the document as it’s presented today. Then the bill is heard by the full Senate on Wednesday. Amendments on the floor are possible. It will then have to be heard by the Senate a second time on Thursday. Typically, the debate is far more muted and number of amendments offered is far fewer on that second day of debate.

The budget next goes to the House, which will have to deal with the consequences of whatever numbers come in on April 15. In most years, the “April Surprise” is a good thing for budget writers. This year, well, maybe there’s a reason the Senate wants to pass the budget on before than news comes through.

After the House is done with its version, then the House, Senate and governor try to come up with a workable compromise.

The folks in charge of the Senate budget say they'll have the full package online tonight sometime around 7 p.m. Some highlights from a 2 p.m. briefing with Sens. Linda Garrou, Charlie Albertson and A.B. Swindell:

• * Total size will be about $20.05 billion, or about $1.4 billion less than last year's budget and just under $1 billion less than what Gov. Bev Perdue proposed.

• * About $320 million of those cuts come by raising the average size of a classroom by 2 students. For K-3 classrooms, average size rises to 20 students. For 4-12 classrooms, average size rises to 22.

• * About 712 government workers could lose their jobs under the Senate proposal, with another 900 vacant jobs eliminated.

• * The process of merging Smart Start and More at Four, the state's two early childhood education programs, begins under the Senate budget, although both keep their names for now.

There was not much talk about what the finance package that pays for all this will look like, although we’re told they need to come up with another $580 million to make the budget work.

From the Monday paper:

• * This story looks at a proposed law to more closely regulate mopeds. The thing I learned from this story is that scooters are legally mopeds in North Carolina because they fit this definition: "A vehicle that has two or three wheels, no external shifting device, and a motor that does not exceed 50 cubic centimeters piston displacement and cannot propel the vehicle at a speed greater than 30 miles per hour on a level surface." (S 135.)

• * This story looks at a tax break requested by Greensboro members of the General Assembly for the purchase and installation of aircraft simulators. (H 869 and S 1057.)

In case you haven't heard: the smoking ban bill passed the House.It will now go the Senate where leader Marc Basnight said, "I hope we pass it."

More here and coming in tomorrow's paper.

Rep. Beckey Carney, 64, collapsed in her legislative office and was taken to Wake Med hospital this afternoon, according to Rep. Bob England.

Carney, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, was treated by England, a doctor, and General Assembly police until EMS arrived.

"She was talking to Rep. Insko on the phone," England said. Carney collapsed around 4 p.m., he said.

After determining that Carney's heart had stopped, England said that he performed CPR and used one of the General Assembly's defibrillators to help revive Carney.

"She left here talking," England said. According to England, Carney was taken to WakeMed Raleigh.

Update: This came from an Associated Press update:

She was taken to Wake Med hospital in Raleigh, where she was in stable condition Thursday night, said Bill Holmes, a spokesman for House Speaker Joe Hackney. Carney had a heart arrhythmia, Holmes said, which can be a cause of cardiac arrest.

Here's hoping she makes a quick recovery.

Sen. Linda Garrou, the Winston-Salem Democrat who is the chamber's senior budget writer, said this morning that the Senate would roll out its version of the budget next week.

The schedule, she said, would be subcommittees on Monday, full appropriations and finance committees on Tuesday and floor votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

She said that agencies would be given "negative reserves" to help balance the budget. That's basically like giving an agency a $1 million but only letting them spend $900,000 of it. It's also a different approach from that taken by the governor, whose "truth-in-budgeting" approach would have more tightly defined what agencies could and could not spend.

As far as what areas are spared from the most severe cuts (education and economic development) and those that aren't (everything else), Garrou said the Senate and the governor were largely simpatico.

"I think we're tracking with a lot of things the governor has," she said.

As expected after last night, the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association now opposes the smoking ban bill.

The association stayed on the sidelines when the bill applied to everyone equally. But an exemption added Wednesday would allow bars to ban people under 18 and post signs saying they allow smoking. That change, association officials said, broke the peace.

"It's clear now that there's no longer a level playing field," said Paul Stone, who heads the association.

Many family-friendly restaurants pick up an active bar scene after 9 p.m. If the bill passes in its current form, he said, those businesses would be at a disadvantage competing against bars that can allow smoking.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, the bill's chief proponent, said last night he would ask the Senate to return the bill to its original form.

But Stone said it is not a matter of fixing the bill.

"We're going to fight the bill," he said. "We're going to tell the senate we're opposed to House Bill 2."

That hard line is strategic. Even if the Senate returned the bill to a blanket ban, it would go to a conference committee to reconcile difference between the House and Senate.

Conference committees are black boxes and non-legislators who have an interest in bills aren't thrilled when their bills hit conferences. That's because just about anything can emerge from the black box of non-public conference committees.

Having the association in the fight is problematic for smoking ban supporters. They helped kill the 2007 version of the bill (for the same reasons) and their membership has a wide reach. (Think representatives from tourist areas as well as big cities with lots of hotels and restaurants.)

The vote tallies and amendment language for H2, the workplace smoking ban, have been attached to the bill's NCGA information page.

Background here and here.

And here's the AP story.

The bottom line: The House Wednesday gave tentative approval to a workplace smoking ban that will cover bars and restaurants.

Rep. Nelson Cole offered an amendment that would let some bars and restaurants opt out if they post signs warning that smoking was allowed and do not employ or serve anyone under 18.

Update: Click here for my story from Thursday's paper that explains why the change could be problematic.

For those who didn't listen live and want a flavor of the debate, the following are some audio clips. (You can hear a recording of the entire day's session here.)

• *Click here to listen to Rep. Hugh Holliman introduce the bill.

• *Click here to listen to Rep. Jeff Barnhart explain his support for the smoking bill. Barnhart's father died of lung cancer. He was a non-smoker but worked in an office full of smokers.

• *Rep. Alma Adams, who gave up smoking after 30 years, supports the smoking ban. Click here to listen to her comments.

• *Rep. Nelson Cole says that the original version of H2 was too strict. He offered an amendment that would let bars and restaurants opt out of the smoking ban if they posted signs and excluded minors from working or being served. Click here to listen to him give his rationale.

• *Rep. Johnathan Rhyne, Jr. supported Cole's amendment. His was one of the better offerings in support of Cole's amendment and against the main bill. Click here to listen.

• *Rep. David Lewis's comments prompted a lot of feed-back as I was live-blogging the vote. "Somehow we've become convinced in this chamber that people don't have enough sense to make decisions for themselves." Click here to listen.

• *Click here for the end of the debate. The clip picks up in the middle of Rep. Dale Folwell's remarks opposing the bill, moves into Rep. Hugh Holliman's closing statement and ends with the vote.

For those who need it, here's background on H2, the proposed North Carolina smoking ban. The House is due to start debating the bill within the five o'clock hour.

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Update: For those who don't want to wade through the live blog, here's the early AP summary of the vote on the smoking ban bill:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Lawmakers in the North Carolina House have tentatively passed a measure that would ban smoking from restaurants and other workplaces that admit children

Lawmakers voted 75-42 in favor of the ban on Wednesday after the measure was changed to allow smoking in businesses that don't employ or serve anyone under age 18.

Democratic Rep. Nelson Cole of Rockingham County succeeded in easing restrictions that would have outlawed smoking in any workplace.

Supporters of the stricter ban said the change negates their efforts to protect waiters and other workers from inhaling secondhand smoke.

It should be noted the House will have to give the measure a final vote tomorrow (Thursday) before the bill travels to the Senate. I'll have more on the blog later tonight and in the paper tomorrow.

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The window below will carry live tweets from my Twitter account giving updates on the bill's progress.

The House Finance Committee held one of their auction sessions this morning, clearing out a bunch of local bills with no real controversy attached to them. At the end, Rep. Pryor Gibson, one of the committee’s chairs, warned his members and anyone else who happened to be listening that a reckoning was coming with regard to license plates.

In particular, Gibson said he was concerned about the proliferation of special plates that honor particular causes. Usually, the extra fees paid for those plates help fund whatever the cause may be. (In Greensboro there's a special plate authorized to support Guilford Battleground. Bills have been filed this year to support the High Point Furniture Market, Girl Scouts and the Town of Oak Island.)

Dozens of such bills have been filed this session, he said, and more were coming. (My own rough count shows 51 such bills filed between the House and Senate, but I could be missing some.)

"It's getting a little out of hand," Gibson said.

Members who had plate bills in should expect to see e-mails tweaking the boiler-plate language of such measures or adding another layer of scrutiny. Bottom line: it'll get harder to get a special plate authorized by the General Assembly.

"That's fair warning," Gibson said. "I don't know when it will come but it will be very soon."

For those who needed more explanation on H 688: Jamestown/Satellite Annexations, my colleague E.A. Seagraves has you covered with this story:

The town currently can only have satellite properties that make up no more than 10 percent of the town’s corporate limits. Town manager Kathryn Billings explained that Jamestown Park — separated from the town’s corporate limits by High Point City Lake — takes up the town’s 10 percent allowance.

Removing the satellite annexation cap would allow the town to take in future voluntary satellite annexations for areas that have requested water and sewer service.

Rep. Hugh Holliman told me this evening that he expects
H2, the smoking ban bill to be debated Wednesday "barring any unexplained absences."

He seemed pretty confident that the bill would prevail, but added, "It will be close."

For those following H 120, which would allow for taxpayer-funded elections, it was due to be heard tonight (Monday) but supporters say it needs a technical fix. The measure is heading back to committee, but Holliman said he expected to see it back on the House calendar later this week.

As for tomorrow's calendar: I'll be in Greensboro Tuesday to cover Gov. Perdue's big health care shindig.

From this morning's story on tobacco under fire in North Carolina:

“The argument I’m getting is this thing about tobacco farmers and companies, that we owe some sort of debt to them because they built the state,” Haynes said. “Well, our country was also partially founded on slavery, and we’re not doing that any more. We woke up and got some common sense one day. … Why aren’t the farmers farming something else? They’ve had plenty of time to switch.”

Isley shakes his head when asked if there’s another crop that could yield as much money for his 100-acre farm as tobacco.

“Maybe one acre of strawberries, and if you could have a little stand up on the roadside, maybe that could sustain your family,” he said.

Really?

“No. I wish it was,” he said.

So why doesn’t he get out of farming altogether?

“It’s in my blood,” he said. “It must be. It sure wasn’t because I wanted to get up at 4 a.m. every day and go to bed at midnight every night and make less money than my classmates.”

Click here to read the whole thing.

Haynes is Holly Haynes, a Winston-Salem woman who is fighting cancer. Isley is John Isley, a fourth-generation tobacco farmer from Reidsville. Among others, the story also includes quotes from folks who work at Greensboro-based Lorillard.

What I hoped to do with this story is let you hear a little bit from folks who are deeply vested in the tobacco policy debate but whose voices aren't often heard.

My editors and I talked over several times whether we needed to include a smoker in the story and decided against it because we've heard from them on many occasions. If you're dying for that perspective, Mark Johnson's excellent piece from earlier this year can scratch that itch.

And I should thank N+R news librarian Diane Lamb, who helped me sort through figures from the ESC, BLS and Reynolds American regarding tobacco-related employment.

If you're looking for more on this story:

• * Click here for H2, the smoking ban bill sponsored by Rep. Hugh Holliman. And Click here for background.

• * Click here to read the 2006 Surgeon General's report that declared:

  "Research reviewed in this report indicates that smoke-free policies are the most economic and effective approach for providing protection from exposure to secondhand smoke. But do they provide the greatest health impact. Separating smokers and nonsmokers in the same airspace is not effective, nor is air cleaning or a greater exchange of indoor with outdoor air. Additionally, having separately ventilated areas for smoking may not offer a satisfactory solution to reducing workplace exposures. Policies prohibiting smoking in the workplace have multiple benefits. Besides reducing exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke, these policies reduce tobacco use by smokers and change public attitudes about tobacco use from acceptable to unacceptable."

• * You can read details of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement on tobacco here. Good resources that help explain more include here, here, and here.

• * The Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently did a good story on the pending federal tobacco tax hike, while McClatchy's Washington Bureau put out this story about the ongoing conflict over FDA regulation of tobacco.

• * For those interested in public opinion, a March 2009 Elon University Poll showed that "A strong majority support local or state laws that ban smoking in all public places, including public buildings, offices, restaurants and bars. Seventy percent support local laws and 67 percent support state laws."(PDF)

So, does your opinion line up with the public's? The comment link is open.

House Bill 2, aka the smoking ban, is on the the House Calendar for Thursday, 3/26.

Don't freak.

"We're not going to do it tomorrow," Rep. Hugh Holliman, the House majority leader and the bill's chief author told me a minute ago.

It could come up next week, he said, but there could be some scheduling conflicts there as well.

The vote on this bill is expected to be very *very* close, so Holliman is counting votes carefully and only going to pull the trigger when he's sure as many friends as possible are in the chamber.

Smoking bill clears committee:

The House Judiciary I committee approved a bill to ban smoking in most public places, including bars and restaurants, on a voice vote this morning.

Several amendments aimed at making the bill less strict - one would have exempted veterans organizations - were withdrawn in committee after proponents raised questions about them.

Proponents say studies show there are no safe level of second-hand smoke and that the public needs to be protected.

"There's no risk-free exposure to bacon and eggs," said Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam arguing against the bill. "It's just not as great as smoking."

According to House calendars, the bill is next due to go the full House but according to its sponsor, Rep. Hugh Holliman of Lexington, may have to be heard in one more committee before it comes to the floor.

Background here.

I just spoke with at Rep. Holliman who says the bill will likely hit the floor early next week, barring a fortuitous head-count Wednesday or Thursday. (Read: if four opponents miss session this week, expect H2 to be brought up for immediate consideration.)

A contemplated dip into the House Finance Committee will not be necessary, he said.

The Senate would get the bill next.

The Elon University Poll just put out its latest two-day cycle of data, and in their news release today played up this question:

I'm going to read you three statements, and, after I read all three, I'd like for you to tell me which statement comes closest to your position on this issue:

[(#1) I oppose any legal recognition for same sex couples,

(#2) I support civil unions or partnerships for same sex couples, but not full marriage rights, or

(#3) I support full marriage rights for same sex couples].

Whether or not to put a constitutional amendment on same sex marriage before the voters has been a topic before the General Assembly. The Elon Poll reported the following results on the question:

(#1) OPPOSE ANY LEGAL RECOGNITION FOR SAME SEX COUPLES 44.4

(#2) SUPPORT CIVIL UNIONS OR PARTNERSHIPS FOR SAME
SEX COUPLES, BUT NOT FULL RIGHTS 27.5

(#3) FULL MARRIAGE RIGHTS FOR SAME SEX COUPLES 20.8

OPPOSE ALL ASPECTS OF THE SAME SEX MARRIAGE (v) 1.5

OPPOSE SAME SEX MARRIAGE ON RELIGIOUS GROUNDS (v) 1.0

DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT IT, DOESN T BOTHER ME (v) 1.7

DON'T KNOW (v) 2.8

REFUSED (v) .4

(My gut reaction is the "Don't really care" answer rate would be higher if it were offered as an initial response choice.)

The Elon Poll results seemingly conflicts with those gathered from a recent Civitas Poll. The Civitas Institute is a conservative think tank and has sent representatives to news conferences supporting a gay marriage ban. It asked about gay marriage this way:

North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast that does not have a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and woman. Do you support or oppose a constitutional amendment in North Carolina defining marriage as between one man and one woman?

Support 76%

Oppose 21%

Not Sure 4%

Refused >1%

For those who may be wondering, I'm told the more liberal-leaning PPP hasn't put out public numbers on the topic.

Elon also asked a roughly analogous question to Civitas - "Would you [support or oppose] an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that would prevent any same sex marriages?" - respondents remained split: with a little more than half opposing a constitutional amendment and about 40 percent supporting one. Civitas was up at 76 percent. So what gives?

Both polls seemingly did a good job get a broad spectrum of the population, although I think it's possible that the Civitas Poll's question 27 regarding political philosophy may reflect some over-sampling. (The party affiliation question, #30, is spot on with what I'd expect to see, though.)

Remember, Elon didn't preface its question with information about other states. It definitely seems like the wording of the question might have gotten in the way of replicable results here. Put crudely: The Civitas questions established a norm by referring to other states and there’s a pretty good body of research that shows poll respondents like to seem “normal” to those asking the question.

Elon also allowed people to express a middle path on both their questions. As with a lot of political issues, you have die-hards on either side and then folks who are willing to trod the middle road.

One of my favorite time-wasting/good-for-background-noise shows on cable is Mythbusters, mainly for the show's propensity to gratuitously blow stuff up.

Among the best tag lines from the show comes when the two hosts approach a damaged apparatus (usually one subjected to the aforementioned gratuitous explosion) and notes, "Well, there's your problem."

It's a slightly more succinct way to say, "Wow, there's no question why this won't work anymore and I really don't need to explain it because the evidence is right there in front of your face."

I had one of those moments this morning, although, sadly, it didn't involve an explosion.

The latest Elon Poll asked a question reported deep down in its data sheet:

"Would you say that campaign contributions to state lawmakers influence their legislative activities [a lot, some, not much, or not at all]?"

Now, I know what the response would be if you asked your average journalists. But these results come from a sample of folks roughly split on public financing of elections and who, as much as ever happens in a poll, seem to reflect the general population of the state:

NOT AT ALL 4.9

NOT MUCH 5.3

SOME 43.0

A LOT 40.9

DON T KNOW (v) 5.4

REFUSED (v) .4

Simply put: Well over 80 percent of those surveyed believe campaign contributions in some way, shape or form influence how state legislators go about making the laws of North Carolina.

I've written dozens of stories over the years about campaign donations and they inevitably contain some quote from a politician or their spokesman that says, "Well, sure, I get money from X industry, but they just must like where I stand." In fact, you can find just such a quote regarding donations on the federal level in the Charlotte Observer's story about tobacco industry donations to Richard Burr:

Burr spokesman Chris Walker says the campaign donations don't influence Burr's policy agenda.

"It's not something that comes into any equations here," Walker said. "It doesn't really affect what we're doing legislatively."

Let's be clear: this is a Republican/Democrat thing. You can write that same kind of story for just about any politician of any influence at the local, state or national level.

Even if it's true the policy position came first, even if it's true that a few thousand bucks isn't so much money in the grand scheme of fundraising, and even if it's true the money chased the policy position and not the other way around, the Elon Poll says 80 percent of the people don't believe you.

Well, there's your problem.

It does not matter if the campaign finance system is pure as the driven snow. The average citizen is unwilling to make the leap of logic to say; sure, you might get thousands of dollars from a particular interest but you, Mr. or Ms. Legislator, but it doesn’t influence your choices at all.

If you accept the poll results, there are a couple of relevant questions:

• * Is there a fix?
• * If so, what is it?

The same Elon Poll says folks are split on the idea of public financing for campaigns. The idea of putting tax dollars into campaigns with whose sentiments you might disagree sits poorly with a lot of folks.

So what's your solution? (Or should we take the results of the poll to mean that people believe money influences politics but they're okay with that?) The comment link is open for opining.

Filed in the House today was H 688 Jamestown/Satellite Annexations. The measure would remove the training wheels from Jamestown's satellite annexation powers - the ability to take land into the town that is not contiguous to the corporate limits. Currently, the town cannot have satellite territory that adds up to more than 10 percent of the town proper. Sponsor: Rep. Laura Wiley

Update: Click here for Friday's newspaper story.

-=-=-=-=-=

Here's a little more on the NC Community College Board's discussion (click for today’s brief update) over whether to admit illegal immigrants to colleges in the system.

First off this post from earlier in the month (click here) has links to some of the policy letters that went back and forth and bills that have been filed in the legislature.

Also interesting, my friends at Stateline have written about a very similar discussion going on in California and elsewhere.

Finally, you can hear the most interesting bits of consultant Gina Shkodriani's and lawyer Alice Maginnis' presentations to the board by clicking here.

Moving from our news desk this afternoon:

• * This update from me on the Board of Community College's efforts to adopt a policy on illegal immigration. There will be a little more on this in tomorrow's paper, but some background is here.

• * My colleague Joe Killian reports: People need to understand the hard facts of coming deep budget cuts, University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles said Thursday at a UNC Board of Governors meeting. "We're going to lose hundreds of people and it's going to hurt this University," Bowles said. "It's going to hurt our academic core."

Gov. Bev Perdue's budget continues to provide stories for us scruffy media types ... and consternation for just about everyone else.

From today's N+R:

• * Click here for my story about a social worker training program that could get cut. Telling here is that no one says this is a bad program, but folks in Raleigh say it's not efficient enough.

• * On day one of the budget release, UNCG and NCA&T were still evaluating the pain that the governor's budget would impose. Day two, my colleague Joe Killian reports they're feeling the pain.

Okay...I have to run off and do some reporting outside the Beltline today. Y'all play nice.

A couple of Greensboro-focused local bills - those that affect just one particular area of the state - floated through the House Local Govt. I Committee Wednesday morning:

• *H 541: Greensboro Motor Vehicle Levy would give the City Council the ability to raise the city's annual motor vehicle tax from $10 to $16. The extra money would go to support public transportation. The bill next goes to the Finance Committee.

• *H 519: Greensboro/Energy-Related Dev. Incentives would allow Greensboro to offer incentives to developers to use "green" construction techniques. The bill next goes to the committee on Energy and Energy Efficiency.

Among the things that got lost in the wake of Gov. Perdue releasing her budget Tuesday was an update on H 2, the proposed workplace smoking ban.

When last we left the bill, it had cleared the House Health Committee and was on its way to House Judiciary I. I'm told J-I nearly approved the bill yesterday but held off to give Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam time to offer some amendments.

Here's the report from AP's daily news roundup:

SMOKING BAN: The effort to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places has soft enforcement provisions, but a provision allowing local governments to impose tougher enforcement if they choose could increase penalties to include a misdemeanor. The bill discussed in a House judiciary committee would ban smoking in enclosed public places, including workplaces. Smokers asked to stub out their butt who refuse could be fined up to $50, but only by a public health officer. Businesses could be fined up to $200 after their third failure to stop smokers. The bill also allows local government to be tougher on secondhand smoke.

If what I'm told is right, you'll see the bill back in J-I on Tuesday and then it will probably bounce in to the House Finance Committee before hitting the floor. If it follows the same pattern as in 2007, it won't be any of its committee stops that are a problem for the bill, but its floor vote that's in doubt.

So, Gov. Bev Perdue rolled out her budget today and it got a fair amount of attention from us scruffy media types.

Click here to read the whole thing for yourself. Fair warning: the books measure roughly a foot high when stacked on my desk, so I'm guessing the PDFs are pretty big.

For those who want some of the early media coverage:

• * Update: Legislative leaders didn't give Perdue's budget the dreaded "dead on arrival" stamp, which means she did better her first time out than former Gov. Mike Easley did on his last.

• * The AP's Gary Robertson takes you through the basics.

• * One of my stories for tomorrow looks at some of the parochial effects of the budget, including the possibility a local prison could close.

• * My colleague Sonja Elmquist writes about one of the far flung effects of the current budget crisis.

• * The N+O's budget-paloza.

• * News 14 rocks some video.

Sen. Stan Bingham filed S 351: No Felon as Sheriff earlier this month, and I've had it rattling around on my to-do list for a while. (Dome posted on it here.)

Currently, a sheriff can't hire someone as a deputy who has been convicted of a felony. But, as long as someone has had their voting rights restored, a convicted felon can run to be sheriff.

Bingham's bill would put a constitutional amendment before voters. If enacted, it would add the following to the qualifications for sheriff:

No person is eligible to serve as Sheriff if that person has been adjudged guilty of any felony against this State or the United States, or of a felony in another state that also would be a felony if it had been committed in this State, whether or not that person has been restored to the rights of citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

(Click here to listen to Bingham and I talk about his bill.)

Who might this apply to? Well, Bingham is from Davidson County and there have been rumors - See this discussion on the Lexington Dispatch's forums page - that former Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege might give it a go in 2010.

Hege, for those of you who don't remember, was once dubbed "America's toughest sheriff," but ended up pleading guilty to two felonies in 2004. From a News & Record story in 2007 when Hege finished his probation:

The probation stemmed from his guilty plea in May 2004 to two felony counts of obstruction of justice for attempts to cover up money missing from the vice and narcotics unit of the sheriff's department. He resigned from the office he had held since being elected in 1994.

During Hege's first year of probation, he was under house arrest with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and was allowed to leave his home only for work, said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Corrections.

[snip]

Hege also paid $7,900 in court-ordered fees and restitution, Acree said. Hege completed 50 hours of community service working in the kitchen of the Salvation Army in Lexington.

Hege's guilty plea in 2004 ended a nine-year tenure as sheriff marked by his eccentric tactics: pink jail cells, paramilitary garb and media grandstanding. Hege generated national - and even international - attention for some of his techniques.

The criminal case against Hege stemmed from a State Bureau of Investigation probe that involved testimony from 28 of his own employees, including two top supervisors.

There were allegations Hege ordered prisoner abuse, promoted racial profiling, recklessly drove his sheriff's car and misused county personnel and equipment. But it was Hege's attempts to cover up money missing from the department's vice and narcotics unit that sealed his fate.

As a convicted felon, Hege couldn't carry a firearm, but he could hold the office.

Bingham said that he was contacted by several Piedmont area sherrif's asking him to run the bill. When asked if it was in direct response to the possibility Hege will run again, Bingham said, "Of course it is, Hege and others. He's not the only one."

Bingham said he expected Hege to run in 2010 but said the prospects for getting his bill through the General Assembly weren't good. That's because amendments to the state's constitution are scrutinized closely by members who are reticent about changing the state's foundational document.

So, was Bingham concerned about a Hege run in 2010?

"Absolutely he'll run again, but I don't think he'll get elected," Bingham said. "But there's no doubt about it, he's going to run."

Click here to listen to Bingham and I talk about his bill.

The state budget dance will formally begin Tuesday when Gov. Bev Perdue unveils her tax and spending proposal.

Already we've seen the preliminary handkerchief waving, bowing and pleasantries that go along with the beginning of any cotillion. The honorables have been reading up on various sections of the state budget in committee meetings while getting briefed on how bad the revenue picture really is.

Meanwhile, Perdue has been telling anyone who will listen how "tough" the choices she's going to have to make are. Her senior budget staffer even briefed us scruffy media types on the fiscal picture last week.

After Perdue makes her opening move, the action shifts to the legislature like this:

• * The Senate will take a crack at writing the budget first this year.
• * After the Senate passes its version, the House will get a shot at writing it and almost certainly put their own stamp on it.
• * The House, Senate and governor's office negotiate until a final budget is put before the honorables.

All along the way, updated tax revenue figures, breaking news, and the odd policy priority that bubbles to the surface shapes the final product. While some changes are big and thematic – what percent raise will teachers get, if any or how much money will be put into the mental health care system – often the fiercest battles are fought over the smaller pots of money.

For those small programs, such as support for the High Point Furniture Market, inclusion in the governor’s budget is a golden ticket to the final round of budget negotiations. And it’s a good bet those golden tickets will be harder to come by than a Wonka Bar at a health food convention this year.

Perdue has been giving different glimpses of her budget over the past week. Gov. Mike Easley used to do this sort of thing, putting out pieces of his budget agenda in advance to make sure they got media attention before putting out the entire thing, when reporters would start asking pesky questions about how he might pay for all those goodies.

As Laura Leslie notes at her blog, this isn't a half-bad idea since the stories written tomorrow will all be about which programs are getting slashed or who is getting taxed to balance the budget.

So what do we know of Perdue's budget priorities so far? The summary is this:

• * This afternoon she'll talk about her education spending plans, but she already said in the state of the state address that she wants to increase per pupil spending.

• * Over the weekend, Perdue released an audio statement on the National Guard, which seems to have gone missing from her web site. In it, she said that she would propose spending $2 million for National Guard family assistance centers and more from other programs, such as one that helps the children of national guard soldier cope with their parents' deployments.

• * Last week, she pledged to spend millions on beefing up the probation and parole system, where officials have admitted they can't keep track of all the offenders they should.

• * In another address last week, Perdue outlined economic development priorities that included raising the earned income tax credit, creating a tax exemption for small businesses and spending millions on job creation and recruitment programs.

Left unsaid so far is how Perdue plans to pay for all of this while tamping down a budget shortfall expected to be in the $2 billion range.

Undoubtedly, Perdue will have to make cuts in other areas and she has been gathering suggestions on what those might be. And while few expect she'll propose a broad-based tax hike such as a sales tax increase, taxes on alcohol and tobacco will almost certainly be proposed.

Whatever she does when she finally lifts the curtain tomorrow, prepare for much rending of clothing, beating of chests and gnashing of teeth.

From today's paper:

WHITSETT — A brewing fight over North Carolina’s beer distribution laws has its roots in Guilford County, with executives from two local businesses duking it out behind the scenes at the General Assembly.

Red Oak Brewery has stepped up its lobbying efforts to convince legislators that beer makers should be able to distribute up to 60,000 31-gallon barrels without being required to go through a wholesale distributor.

But wholesalers such as Greensboro’s R.H. Barringer Distributing say the General Assembly should hold fast to the current 25,000-barrel limit or lower it to avoid possible conflicts with federal laws.

“Our concern is that someone who has a Red Oak could have a poor Red Oak experience,” said Eric Hice, vice president of operations with the company. Red Oak’s beer is neither filtered nor pasteurized, processes that help brews last longer whether in a bottle or a keg.

“If it’s not handled right, we have real taste problems,” said Bill Sherrill, Red Oak’s owner. In particular, Sherrill said, it’s critical the beer is refrigerated from the time it’s brewed until it reaches a customer.

Beer distributors, Sherrill argues, send usually unrefrigerated trucks out with dozens of kegs from different brands and can’t ensure beer from small brewers is handled or marketed properly.

But as Mark Craig, president of R.H. Barringer, walks between walls of beer cases stacked 18 feet high in the company’s warehouse, he points to brands from around the country and overseas that his company sells in North Carolina.

“Longboard comes from Hawaii,” Craig said, pointing out a few cases shipped from the Kona Brewing Co. “It’s fine; it’s taken care of.”

Click here for the whole thing.

More than two years ago, I wrote a story on the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, a nonprofit closely tied with the legislative black caucus at the General Assembly.

It became one of several stories, posts, updates, etc... written by myself and others.

The central question in all of those stories was this: was it okay for a group of influential lawmakers to run a nonprofit that could solicit donations in unlimited amounts from folks who had business before the General Assembly.

Both of their own volition - and probably with a bit of prodding from us scruff media types - the caucus changed its practices.

One of the things we've been told repeatedly is that the caucus foundation and its legislative board members were given the all clear by the Legislative Ethics Commission. I've been waiting for that opinion to be released since it was supposedly issued in 2007.

Well, finally, here it is. It has been redacted but even a casual reader can see it involves the circumstances surrounding the black caucus foundation.

It's pretty clear from the opinion that in order to be ethically in the clear, the makeup of the board needed to change from being mostly legislators to being controlled by non-legislators. And it was pretty clear that the Legislative Ethics Committee was concerned about the appearance of something being hinky. From the report:

In addition to the issues related to direct and indirect gifts discussed above, under its duty to advise legislators on suggested standards of conduct under Chapter 120 of the General Statutes, the Committee suggests that there are circumstances where a legislator's solicitation and acceptance of a donation to the Organization from a lobbyist or lobbyist's principal could be inappropriate and could be perceived as an improper use of one's legislative position for the private benefit of either the legislator or another, namely the Organization.

For example, it would be inappropriate for a legislator who serves on the board of a 501(c)(3) organization that is controlled by the legislator or a group of legislators, such as the Organization, to solicit or accept donations on behalf of the 501(c)(3) organization from lobbyists or lobbyist's principals. It would also be inappropriate for a legislator serving on the board or executive committee of a 501(c)(3) organization, such as the Organization, where either the board or the executive committee is controlled by the legislator or a group of legislators, to participate as a member of the board or executive committee in any action that authorizes the solicitation or acceptance of donations by the 501(c)(3) organization from lobbyists or lobbyist's principals.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Four members of Guilford County's legislative delegation filed H 519: Greensboro/Energy-Related Development Incentives yesterday at the request of the city. It would add Greensboro to a list of municipalities that can offer developers incentives for energy efficient construction that includes Cabarrus County, Asheville, Charlotte, Concord, Durham, Kannapolis, Locust, Wilmington, Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Harrisburg, Midland, Mount Pleasant and Stanfield.

Legislators up here were a bit, um, fuzzy on how the thing might work in practice, but Greensboro Planning Director Dick Hails was happy to fill in the blanks.

Developers who wanted to take advantage of the incentives would have to show they are building an environmentally friendly process, such as applying for LEED certification.

In exchange, the city could offer things like:

• * A discount on plan review and other fees.
• * Expedited processing of a plan.
• * Increased density for a particular project.

On that last one, Hails said that Greensboro was less likely to offer something like that because city zoning law already allows for pretty high density.

But offering a break of fees, which can run into thousands of dollars on a large project, is definitely an option, as is offering an expedited review.

"I know a lot of developers would probably be as interested in saving review time as getting a break on fees," Hails said.

The request for the new authority came as part of the city's legislative agenda, which said the city would "seek legislation to enhance the ability of municipalities to implement energy-efficient practices and programs, and to remove obstacles to doing so through incentives, funding and research."

Hails said that some cities have struck out on their own to offer these kinds of incentives without specific authority from the state. But, he said, the current law was unclear so Greensboro wanted to have the ability spelled out in writing.

The bill has a pair of pretty friendly House referrals, going to House Local Government I (chaired by Rep. Earl Jones, one of it's sponsors) and the House Energy and Energy Efficiency Committee, where Rep. Pricey Harrison is a Vice Chair. It's also a local bill, which means it's less likely to draw flack from ideological opponents, if there are any.

For those interested in H 88, a bill that would let public schools teach comprehensive sex education classes, it passed the House Health Committee today on a 32-21 vote.

Click here for a story I wrote back when it was introduced.

Among the yes votes was Greensboro Democrat Alma Adams.
Among the no votes: Rep. Laura Wiley, a High Point Republican, and Rep. Pat Hurley, a Randolph County Republican.

The bill next goes to the House Health Committee. If it passes there, it would then go to the floor of the House.

Fred G., a reader from Greensboro who drops me an e-mail from time-to-time, called earlier this week to chat about a couple things, including his car insurance rate going up. He had gotten a letter from his company saying that a new state law was partly to blame.

That law requires drivers to carry coverage in case of an accident with a motorist who was uninsured or under-insured. Before Jan. 1, you could opt out of such coverage or have a lower than recommended coverage. Now all drivers are required to carry coverage equal to the amount they have for other parts of their coverage.

For Fred, it meant a bump of more than $100 in his premium.

This struck me as odd since back in January, when the new law took effect, the Department of Insurance estimated that the average driver would see their rates go up $17.

"The intent is to add another layer of protection for consumers," said Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

Up to 12 percent of drivers are on the roads without insurance. That's illegal and those folks can't get their tags renewed, but those folks are out there. It makes sense, Goodwin said, to make sure everyone has enough coverage so they're not left with a big bill should they have an accident with one of those folks.

And, he said, the number of uninsured drivers could go up as the economy worsens and people try to cut down on expenses or simply can't pay their bills.

But, Goodwin allowed, the law "has lead to some unintended consequences."

There's already an ongoing fight between insurers and the state over insurance rates, and this question of uninsured motorist coverage has gotten sucked into that, Goodwin said.

My friend Mark Johnson, who writes for the Charlotte paper, beat me to the punch reporting this out fully. Click here for his story from today's paper that outlines the issue pretty well and includes this:

It's unclear how many car owners saw a rate increase because of the requirement for equal levels of coverage. About 70,000 customers of Nationwide, the largest auto insurer in the state, got bigger insurance bills because of the law, said Susan Valauri, director of government relations for Nationwide in North Carolina. The average increase was approximately $22 for the year, with the largest jump being about $120 for the year.

Glasgow likely saw such a sharp price increase because he had a high level of coverage on his liability insurance and the minimum level of coverage on his uninsured motorists provision.

Valauri said more than 99 percent of the company's N.C. customers already had uninsured motorist coverage, and 91 percent maintained an equal level of coverage with their liability insurance.

“It's not a big deal for the vast majority of drivers,” Valauri said. “For those other customers ... it may have been a very big deal for them.”

According to Johnson, Mecklenburg Sen. Dan Clodfelter is working on a fix to the law.

Has your car insurance rate gone up? If so, drop me a line in the comment links or at mark.binker@news-record.com.

Update: Click here for the newspaper story.

The Greensboro protest petition bill passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon. There are no more legislative hurdles it has to get through, so it will be sent to the Secretary of State’s office and become law.

Because the protest petition bill is a local bill, one that affects fewer than 15 counties, the governor does not have to sign it.

House members are looking at H 120, which would create a pilot program for public financing of city council elections.

Chapel Hill currently has such a pilot and this measure, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison, would allow cities such as Greensboro to create their own public financing systems.

Two Greensboro residents, Nick Divitci and Eric Eno, came to Raleigh to lobby on the bill's behalf.

Divitci said that the bill would help cure "lopsidedness" in the makeup of City Council.

"The lopsidedness is mostly toward the development interests," Divitci said. He emphasized that Greensboro would not be required to participate if the bill passed. Instead, the city council would have to apply to the State Board of Elections to participate.

The House Election Law and Campaign Finance Committee passed the bill today. (It now goes to Judiciary II before heading to the House floor.)

Here's what Divitci told the committee:

Eno, a Lindley Park resident, said his neighborhood has been involved in fighting a lot of rezoning cases.

"I think there's been a disproportionate influence on the council by developers," he said.

The bill has the support of Common Cause, a good government group that has organized a lobbying effort on behalf of the legislation.

Jessica Hayes, a lobbyist for the N.C. Home Builders Association spoke against the bill during its committee hearing. She said if it passed, her member's participation through their political action committee would be curtailed.

"There is a finite amount of money we can contribute to each candidate," she said.

Dallas Woodhouse, who heads the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, also spoke against the bill.

"There is only so much the taxpayers can absorb in this state," he said. Cities are already struggling to cope with the sour economy and decreased tax collections.

He added that taxpayers, he said, should not be forced to fund the campaigns of those with whom they disagreed.

Gov. Bev Perdue signed her first bill into law today. Senate Bill 198 allows the same person to hold the post of North Carolina School Board Chairman and Executive Director of the state's public schools.

Perdue's pick for the job is former Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Bill Harrison.

Perdue announced the merger of the two positions back in January as part of an effort to clarify lines of authority within the school system.

"We are putting a system together so we all talk one talk and walk one walk," Perdue told reporters, legislators and a passel of school children gathered in the Old House Chamber at the Capitol Wednesday morning.

Click here to listen to more from the news conference.

The Greensboro protest petition bill passed the House 116-0 Tuesday afternoon. I now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Update: Click here to listen to the two minutes that it took the House to pass the protest petitions bill.

This was noted in the legislative press room by a few folks, including the Barkeep, but I haven't seen it shared yet.

A bill filed in the House this week would put a referendum before voters on a having a state constitution ban on gay marriage.

I wrote last week about the Senate version of the bill and how the legislative leadership won't let them get to fruition. In the Senate, such measures have been sent to the Ways and Means Committee, which hasn't met since George W. Bush's first term.

Speaker Joe Hackney was a little more subtle in his handling of the bill. He gave it four serial referrals.

"So?" I hear you ask. Here's what that means.

Since Hackney took over as Speaker, bills usually get a hearing in two committees. That can be a pretty tall order, particularly and the end of session, when committee time is short. But the idea is that if two committees sign off on something, it's been given a thorough going over.

On rare occasions, a bill will get three referrals, especially if it has a tax component. The bill to ban smoking, which was written by the House majority leader, may end up with three referrals before it hits the House floor.

Four referrals is just, well, it's a long road to walk. Even if all the committee chairmen were enthusiastic about passing such a bill, it would take the measure at least a month to clear out of committee were it to move at a quick but normal pace. And since committee chairmen serve at the please of the Speaker, perhaps their enthusiasm for this measure is less than ardent.

The bill, H 361, has been assigned to the Rules committee, then on to Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform and then to Judiciary I and finally to Appropriations.

Even if proponents were to push the bill by means of parliamentary maneuvers that let recall the bill from committee, the time involved would be immense. Every time such a vote got near, the bill could be passed on a voice vote and shuffled off to the next committee where a series of legislative clocks would be reset.

While nothing the legislature ever does is permanent or intractable, it seems this bill is unlikely to find its way to a floor vote.

Groups who support adding a gay marriage ban to the state constitution -- or, more precisely, want to define marriage as one man and one woman: plural marriages and barnyard nuptials would be banned as well -- rallied behind the legislative building today.

North Carolina already has a law that defines marriages as one-man-and-one-woman, but that definition is not constitutional. Folks who are concerned about this worry that a judge could overturn state law.

Temperatures are cold today and there's snow on the ground, so it's not a surprise that there appears to be fewer people here today than when the same groups rallied two years ago. Still, it's a sizable crowd - WRAL's estimate of more than 1,000 may be low-ish, but I didn't get up on the roof and count heads.

But for all the sound and fury, I don't think the political situation has changed much from last week (or last year).

Still, it does look like at least a few protesters have gotten the message that it is the legislative leadership standing in their way:

I just liked this picture:

The General Assembly is in the process of inviting Gov. Bev Perdue to give her annual State of the State address on March 9 at 7 p.m. (The governor cannot just show up in the General Assembly and start yacking. There are rules and tradition that govern these sorts of things.)

A governor delivers the State of the State once every legislative session - that's every two years to normal folks. Typically, the governor uses the speech to talk about their budget priorities and what other legislation she would like the General Assembly to work on.

When I saw her after the Council of State meeting this morning, I asked Perdue what she might tell the honorables.

"Would you like to help write the speech? We don't have one yet," Perdue joked. She added that meetings on the state budget, both the current year and the proposal for the budget that will take effect July 1, have consumed most of her time.

Click here to listen to her full answer.

Yesterday, I wrote a post linking to the several bills that have been filed at the N.C. General Assembly regarding whether the state's community colleges should admit illegal immigrants and/or their children.

In that post I had Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, explain why she filed legislation that would require the community college system to admit the children of illegal immigrants.

Today, here's Sen. Phil Berger explaining why he filed a bill to do the opposite and direct the community college system keep those with questionable immigration status out:

Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, has filed H 362, which would require the community college system to admit the children of illegal aliens.

The N.C. Community College System is studying the issue of admitting the children of undocumented workers per a directive by the State Board of Community Colleges. That study is due to be out this spring, although folks on both sides of the issue seem to think the system will largely defer to the General Assembly.

Harrison's is the first bill to allow children of illegal immigrants in as far as I know. Legislation to the opposite effect (keeping children of illegal immigrants out) has been filed by Republicans in the House and by Republican Sen. Phil Berger of Rockingham County in the Senate.

Harrison said she wanted to send a signal to the community college system and others that there were people in the legislature who felt differently from the sponsors of the other bills.

Here is a short (less than three minutes) video of Harrison explaining her bill and talking about some of the push-back that will come with it.

The bill to restore protest petition rights in zoning cases to Greensboro residents has had its vote in the House delayed a day. Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, pulled the bill back from consideration just before it was to be heard. The measure is now scheduled for Tuesday's calendar.

Rep. Earl Jones did not brave the ice, sleet and snow to get down to the General Assembly Monday night as the five other House members from Guilford County did. Jones, I'm told, wanted to make sure he got to cast a vote on the bill, so it was held as a courtesy to him.

The Senate version of the measure is on the Senate State and Local Government committee agenda for tomorrow. However, both bills do not need to pass and in fact it is rare (although not unheard of) for the House and Senate to do their own versions of legislation. Typically, the first chamber to pass a bill gets to have its version passed into law.

There are two items from me in this Sunday's paper.

The first idea came when I heard President Barack Obama mention charter schools in his speech to Congress last week. North Carolina has charter schools but the legislature seems kind of conflicted about them. From that story:

State law limits to 100 the number of charter schools, which are funded by tax dollars but are run by private boards. That reflects a certain legislative ambivalence toward the schools, which were created under a 1996 law but never fully embraced by the General Assembly's top voices on education.

Despite Obama's call to increase funding and "help create new, high-quality charter schools," N.C. lawmakers remain cautious.

"I don't, at this point in time, support raising the cap on the number of charter schools," said Rep. Maggie Jeffus , a Guilford County Democrat and former teacher who is involved in education policy in the General Assembly. She said some charters she had visited had excellent programs, but others struggled to keep pace with expectations in academics and management.

Click here for the whole thing.

-=-=-=

Next up is an update on the Jordan Lake rules. (Background.) This is one of those subjects we get to write about every so often because it's important, but not one that moves at a terribly fast clip. The real news from the story was that the parties trying to reach some resolution on the rules were on the precipice of negotiation. Or as I used a lot more words to say::

Lawmakers now will have to decide whether rules put forward by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will achieve their goals or merely cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars during a time they can least afford it.

"I expect it will be contentious because it has already been contentious," said Rep. Lucy Allen, a Franklin County Democrat who chairs the House environment committee. "We hear all of the objections coming from the communities up that way."

Although state law gives opponents of regulations a clear path to appeal to the General Assembly, it gives lawmakers little guidance on how to settle disputes. Allen has filed one of a handful of bills that would wipe the Jordan Lake rules from the books, although few expect that could pass as it is.

Lawmakers like Allen are looking for parties on all sides to come to some accord. At least some of various groups say they're ready to start talking, even if they're not sure when or in what format.

"I'm optimistic," said Steven Levitas , a lawyer and former deputy secretary in the Department of Environment. He has been hired by Durham to help negotiate a compromise and is one of the point people for all the groups opposing the rules.

As described by Levitas and others involved, there have been discussions between various parties one-on-one. The trick now is to get representatives for all concerned in the same room.

Click here if you're trying to cure some sort of sleep disorder.

-=-=-=-=-

And believe it or not, there was even more news in the state last week than President Barack Obama coming to visit. A sampling:

• * Winston-Salem's James Romoser writes about the unborn victims bill and why it has a hard time passing in North Carolina. Some of the reasons will be familiar if you've read up on the gay marriage law recently: both are politically volatile and could lead places counter to the interest of the folks who lead the General Assembly.

• * The federal stimulus money was on people's minds this week, whether those folks are running zoo's that my current N+R colleague Ryan Seals says won't get any help, or the home energy efficient efforts that my one-time News & Record colleague Paul Garber (now of the Winston-Salem Journal) wrote about or the high speed rail lines that the N+O wrote about.

• * Charlotte's Jim Morrill say Gov. Bev Perdue may raid lottery funds to balance the budget.

• * Raleigh's Dan Kane says in his Saturday story that the fees Blue Cross Blue Shield is charging the state for health plan transactions are getting people's attention, and not in a good way.

• * From last week, WUNC's Laura Leslie writes up a news conference with Greensboro Rep. Pricey Harrison on her proposal to ban the use of mountain-top removal coal.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Last night's "Take it to Raleigh" meeting in Greensboro hosted by the Guilford County delegation had a pretty good turnout - about 100 people in the room, 45 of who spoke on a variety of topics. Click here for the report from today's paper.

The House Judiciary I committee approved a bill this morning that would restore protest petition rights to Greensboro residents.

“This is a very popular issue back home,” Rep. Maggie Jeffus, a Greensboro Democrat, to the committee. “The citizens of Greensboro want this right restored.”

The measure, House Bill 64, next goes the House floor for approval. If it passes the full House, it would then be heard in the Senate.

When a land owner wants to change how their property is used – from a home to a business for example – they often have to seek rezoning. In most cities across the state, if five percent of the neighbors within 100 feet of the property oppose that change, they can file a protest petition with the city.

That petition requires that the City Council vote by a supermajority – seven of nine council members must approve in Greensboro’s case – to rezone the property, rather than just a simple majority.

Although some members of the committee said that the state might want to look at raising the threshold for filing protest petitions statewide, they agreed that Greensboro should not be treated differently.

A vote in the full House will likely come next week.

More background: here.

Update: Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, a Republican and the House minority leader, was the only member of the committee to raise a concern about the bill.

He said it was "anti-democratic" because a protest petition could thwart the will of a majority of a council. If six members out of nine want to approve a rezoning, goes his logic, why shouldn't that change take hold.

Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, supported the bill but said the five percent threshold should maybe be raised. Five percent, he said, may be too low. But he added quickly that Greensboro should not be singled out.

"I do think it's important to have citizens treated equally across the state," Blust said.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced earlier this month that she would peruse $300 million to fix the the bridge that carries I-85 over the Yadkin River.

What didn't sink in to me at the time is what an audacious play this is.

There is $1.5 billion set aside for competitive highway grants under the recently-passed stimulus package. No one state is allowed to pull down $300 million of that, which is about one-fifth of the total funding available.

And the Yadkin River Bridge would cost about $300 million to fix, according to N.C. Transportation Sec. Gene Conti.

"This is North Carolina's top priority," Conti told the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees that oversee transportation funding. "If we're given the money this year, we can get that under contract this year."

But with 50 states scrapping for the money, North Carolina is displaying some pretty sharp elbows laying claim to that big of a share.

And Conti told legislators that the state would need a "Plan B" if the stimulus funding doesn't come through. While the bridge is safe enough to travel on for now, it's not in great shape.

"We need to get that bridge taken care of in the near future," Conti said. He wasn't real specific on what "Plan B" might entail, but it could involve spending state dollars or using bonds that are repaid with future federal grant dollars, he said.

Conti was at the legislative building today briefing the honorables on how the state planned to use the $838 million in transportation funding coming to the state from the stimulus bill.

The $466 million in projects Perdue announced Tuesday was the first set of that spending. (More here.)

States have to hit some deadlines for spending the money or it will go back to the feds to be reallocated. Conti said North Carolina was poised to spend its share and then some.

"We're not going to give any of our money to other states, I can tell you that," Conti said.

Click here for my newspaper story on the bills to ban gay marriage filed at the General Assembly. The bill would enshrine a law already on the books in the N.C. Constitution.

For those looking to save time and hand-wringing, the most relevant portion of the story might be this:

In 2007, Hackney used his power as Speaker to kill a similar bill in the House that had managed to pass its first committee hearing. When asked if he would do the same again this year, Hackney said, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Senate leader Marc Basnight also was skeptical about the need for such a bill. When asked if he worried North Carolina’s marriage law could be overturned, Basnight said, “No one has shown me that could occur.”

Asked Tuesday afternoon if Forrester’s bill would be doomed to the same fate as in previous years, Basnight was noncommittal.

“Will it come up? I can’t say,” Basnight said.

But he assigned the bill to Ways and Means, a committee that has not met since 2001 and is controlled by one of Basnight’s chief deputies. Assigning a bill there is viewed as an efficient way to kill legislation.

In other words, the same legislative leaders who have blocked similar bills in the past show no signs of letting up on them.

You can read the Senate version of the bill here.

Update: You can click here to listen to Rep. David Lewis take questions about the bills from us scruffy media types during a news conference Tuesday. Lewis is a genuinely nice guy (whether you disagree with him or not, he's always very civil - unlike yours truly) and got a lot of hard questions from us. And frankly, the harder the questions got, the less help he got from other supporters of the bill.

For those following the Greensboro Protest Petition issue, mark your calendars: H 64 is due to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee I on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Rep. Hugh Holliman said today he expected the smoking ban bill to be heard in the House Health Committee Thursday. That committee typically meets at noon in Room 544.

This is the measure that would ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

"I think we have the votes in the committee but I don't want to cut off debate," Holliman said. It's possible, he said, that the Health Committee could send it on to a Judiciary Committee Thursday.

There was all sorts of fun debate over S 15 and S 35 today, bills filed by Sen. Rand and Sen. Hoyle in an effort to trim the length of legislative sessions. Both bills passed the Senate today.

The idea behind the bills is that General Assembly sessions run on too long, making it hard for members to plan their lives and giving the public the idea that the honorables are just down here frittering away time rather than working on the problems at hand.

Rand's bill would cut off per diem - the $100-plus dollars per day legislators are paid to keep themselves housed and fed while in Raleigh - after 135 days in the long legislative session. Hoyle's bill would create an early organizational session that would allow the legislature to appoint leaders and then recess for three weeks while top leaders appoint committees, move offices and what not.

You can debate the merits of either measure. On per diem, there's something to be said for providing a financial incentive for the honorables to get their work done and get home.

Of course, there's also an argument, put forward by Sen. Martin Nesbitt, that cutting off payments merely punishes rank and file members who don't set the agenda. After all, it's the legislative leaders who are usually cutting the big deals on the budget and other items at the end of session.

Cutting off per diem, Nesbitt argues, will just make it that much harder for those who aren't retired or independently wealthy to serve in Raleigh, he said.

All of that is kind of moot since House leaders don't seem to be going for it. That's pretty much to be expected, because the House has either ignored or voted down similar efforts over the past couple decades.

When I asked Rep. Hugh Holliman, the Majority Leader, whether the House would be more kindly disposed this year, he gave me a quick answer: "no."

He elaborated a little bit, saying that the legislature shouldn't send the signal that it’s rushing through work, particularly in a year when the problems will be so tough to crack.

"People are pretty anxious to get out of here when the time comes," Holliman said.

Rep. Bill Owens, the Rules Chairman, didn't seem to hold out a lot of hope for the measures either. He worried that having more hurried sessions could put more power in the hands of professional staff members, rather than giving legislators time to craft bills.

And Speaker Hackney has said several times that he does not consider the organizational time at the beginning of session wasted. He said it is useful for members to hear reports on the budget and get to know one another.

So don't expect to hear much about the session limits bills again, at least not from the House.

As House and Senate committees fire up, the Greensboro protest petition issue is one of the first items on the legislature's regular work calendar.

House Bill 64 would restore protest petition rights to Greensboro. If you need more background, I suggest reading Amanda Lehmert's story from this weekend.

The House Local Government II Committee is scheduled to take up the bill this morning at 11 a.m. Committee calendars are a bit fungible, so there's a chance it won't be heard or voted on today. Will update.

Update: The bill passed the LG II committee with no opposition. It next travels to a Judiciary Committee, either JI or JIII. (It is currently destined for JIII but Rep. Harrison, the bill's sponsor, now sits on JI so it may go there instead.)

From today's paper:

RALEIGH - Sex education as taught in most of North Carolina's public schools isn't working, says Rep. Alma Adams.

The Greensboro Democrat is one of the primary sponsors of a measure that would give parents the choice between two sex-education curriculums for their middle school students:

• *One would be the current standard course, emphasizing abstinence until marriage, that the legislature prescribed in 1995.

• *A more comprehensive approach relaying more information about disease and pregnancy prevention.

"There's just so much evidence that our kids do need to be informed," Adams said last week. "It's an issue I don't think we've addressed adequately."

Click here for the full story.

Click here to read the bill and click here for contact info on Adams.

Mentioned in the story:

• * The North Carolina Family Policy Council, which has opposed prior versions of this bill.

• * The Guilford County Coalition on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

• * The The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. In their rankings of teen pregnancy rates, North Carolina is 42 - or put another way, we have the 8th-highest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation per 1,000 girls age 15-19.

For stats and other stuff mentioned in the story:

• * Teen pregnancy stats for girls 15-17 by North Carolina County.

• * Guilford County-focused teen pregnancy stats, including by girls ages 10-14 - there were 28 in 2007.

• * Teen pregnancy stats by county over 1978 to 2006.

• * More stats from the state.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH - Women's volleyball isn't the first thing that comes to mind in the discussion of big-time college athletics and full-ride scholarships.

But for UNCG, it's one of the sports that may be caught up in an argument over whether taxpayers should subsidize the efforts of athletics boosters to recruit athletes at UNC system campuses.

Rep. Pricey Harrison , a Greensboro Democrat, is leading the charge to repeal a 2005 budget provision that allows athletics programs to get more athletes for their scholarship dollar.

Under that law, booster clubs who give full scholarships to athletes from outside North Carolina pay the in-state tuition rate. For the current academic year, that's a difference of $11,494 for students attending UNCG and $15,206.24 for students at the Chapel Hill campus.

"It has been extremely positive legislation for us, especially for our women's sports," said Nelson Bobb, UNCG's athletics director . "In volleyball we went from a bottom-dweller to a top competitor. In two of the past three years we played for the championship in the tournament."

Click here for the full story.

You can read the bill here and find contact information for Harrison here.

Summaries of its impact on schools and the state general fund are here and here.

After much anxiety yesterday, details of the stimulus bill are beginning to emerge.

click here for the legislation as offered by the House Rules Committee. The first of two parts is 13.4 MB. Anyone think your friendly local Congressman is going to have time to read that thing before they vote today?

NCSL has some more information here, although a lot of it seems to be linked back to what's posted on Congressional websites at this point. The Ceneter on Budget and Policy Priorities has some analysis up.

As the Barkeep mentions, there are still open questions as to how this will affect North Carolina.

Although, I would argue that the "state stabilization" piece, while important, may not turn out to be important as the feds picking up an increased share of Medicaid costs. So much of North Carolina's budget gets plowed into health care programs for the poor that relief of that end of things makes other parts of the budget puzzle easier to fit together. The question is what kind of maintenance of effort caveats come with that Medicaid money and what they mean in practical terms.

So the Guilford County delegation will hold their
annual Take it to Raleigh meeting in a couple weeks. But maybe you don't want to schlep to the Melvin Municipal Building; maybe the meeting time conflicts with your weekly Canasta game; maybe American Idol Season 8 is really just that compelling.

My friends, I'm here to help.

If you have a question for one of the ten honorables who represent Guilford County, send them my way. The easiest thing to do is leave a comment on this post, but I'll take them by e-mail too: mark.binker@news-record.com.

A few ground rules:

• *I may actually consider a question aimed at someone who represents Alamance, Davidson, Rockingham or Randolph if it's a particularly good one ... I'm capricious like that.

• * I am not going to lobby for you. If your question is something like, "Would you please support a bill to name March National Fuzzy Kitty Month," keep it. However, something like “Why do you support or oppose legislation to make March National Fuzzy Kitty Month” is dandy.

• * I will not deliver insults veiled as questions.

• * I reserve the right to reject any question because it's been asked and answered repeatedly, because it makes no darned sense or because I'm feeling cantankerous that day and that's just how it is.

Otherwise, fire away. Do you want to know how a legislator feels about a particular bill? Do you want to know how they prefer to get questions from the public? Do you have a question about something on their campaign finance report? Are you just looking for a good restaurant tip and think they might know a place?

Let's have 'em.

It is time once again to tell your friendly local legislator what's on your friendly local mind. From Rep. Earl Jones' office:

The Guilford Legislative Delegation is scheduled to have a Public Hearing on Thursday, February 26, 2009 in Greensboro. “This hearing titled, Take It To Raleigh, will provide an opportunity for the delegation to receive input from citizens about their concerns and issues, as well as provide opportunities to receive input from local municipalities and other entities representing Guilford County”, said Representative Earl Jones, Delegation Chair.

The Hearing, which will be held at the Greensboro City Council Chamber in the Melvin Municipal Building on Eugene Street from 6-8:00 p.m., is open to any citizen who would like to address the delegation.

Citizens are encouraged to come to share their thoughts with the Guilford County elected members of the North Carolina General Assembly. Speakers will be given a limited time and are asked to (919) 733-5825 to sign up. Organizations and individuals who need additional information are asked to contact Representative Jones office.

A great many of us scruffy media types who work in the states have been looking for anything resembling meaningful information regarding the stimulus bill Congress is supposedly due to pass this week.

While some broad strokes are available, there's nothing like the level of detail out there that would let us say with any precision or confidence how much money North Carolina might get for a particular program or to even begin thinking about translating that down to a county level. Yes, you can sort of extrapolate from prior versions of the bill, about how much in free-and-clear state aid or Medicaid funding might be coming down, but it’s really guesswork at this point. Take this bulletin from the AP:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina lawmakers are trying to get an early read on what federal economic stimulus legislation would mean for local construction projects and government payrolls.

State House Speaker Joe Hackney said Thursday a previous estimate of $2.2 billion in Medicaid help from Washington could be reduced. The federal $789 billion package is on track for final votes in Congress on Friday.

A key question affecting state government jobs is how much North Carolina would receive in funds designed to help states cope with the recession. Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, said the chunk targeted to help state budgets is about midway between previous congressional versions.

After striking out with normally helpful staffers in Gov. Bev Perdue’s office and at a couple Congressional offices in D.C., I put out a tweet looking for help. That request copied to my Facebook account where Stateline's Dan Vock pointed me to this post by the Sunlight Foundation:

While the House and Senate conferees have agreed on what the stimulus bill will look like in final form, the public may very well have to wait for President Obama to sign it to get a chance to read it. The House rules require that all conference reports (which is how the bill will be reported to the floor) be made publicly available for 48 hours before consideration. Yesterday, the House Rules Committee waived that requirement to allow the House leadership to bring the bill to floor immediately. And we still have not seen the bill, and “we” includes many, many members of Congress.

At this point, I have a great deal of sympathy for the point of view that any piece of legislation, much less one that spends $790 billion, which cannot stand up to public scrutiny before it is voted upon might not be worth the paper you haven't printed it on yet. This hardly fits with promises of a more open and accountable government we’ve heard so much about.

Sen. Don Vaughan spent part of his first day as a legislator stuck in an elevator.

Part of the problem, he said, was that firefighters and maintenance workers could not figure out which elevator he was stuck in.

Hence we have S 130 filed by Vaughan, which would require: "The Commissioner of Labor shall adopt rules pursuant to Article 14A of Chapter 95 of the General Statutes (Elevator Act of North Carolina) to require, in any building or structure having more than one elevator, the posting of a distinct number in plain view in the passenger cabin of each elevator for the purpose of identification of the elevator to facilitate extrication from any elevator that malfunctions while occupied."

House Speaker Joe Hackney announced committee appointments and chairmanships this afternoon. I'll post a link to the full electronic version when I get it.

Update: Click here for the full list.

Of interest to Greensboro:

• * Rep. Pricey Harrison gets a bump up as a co-chairman of the NER Appropriations Subcommittee. That subcommittee oversees a section of the budget that pays for economic development programs and the commerce department as well as more environmentally-minded departments like Agriculture and DENR.

• * Rep. Earl Jones keeps his gavel as head of the Local Government Committee.

• * Reps. Maggie Jeffus and Alma Adams are still "big chairs" of the Appropriations Committee.

More globally, there were not a lot of big moves. The Appropriations and Finance committees remain in the same hands, as does Rules. Rep. Bill Faison will chair the Ways and Means and Broadband committee.

In the case Lawrence V Texas the U.S. Supreme Court said that what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home with each other is, essentially, their business.

That case struck down a bunch of state laws that outlawed sodomy, including North Carolina GS-177.

So, to clean up the statute books, lawmakers have proposed H 100, presented here only because it made the part of me that's still a 12-year-old giggle:

§ 14-177. Crime against nature. (a) If any person shall commit the crime against nature, with mankind or beast, he shall be punished as a Class I felon.

(b) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply if the conduct engaged in under subsection (a) of this section: is not with a beast, is not unlawful under Article 27 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, and is between mutually consenting adults in a private home, private residence, or other private abode."

Rep. Garland Pierce was stumping for his bill to ban texting while driving, one of several bills meant to curtail bad behavior while behind the wheel this section.

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro.

It's worth noting that Greensboro has something of a special interest in this bill. A UNCG professor was hit by a driver while he biked home from work. The driver was texting at the time.

Rep. Maggie Jeffus brought up this case during Pierce's presser today. Here's that video:

Whether it be from an editor scrounging for copy or one of my friends in the political world, I've been getting this question a lot as of late:

"So, um, what's going on down there at the General Assembly?"

The implication is this: Hey, it's been a couple weeks since they've gone into session, shouldn't these folks be doing something news worthy.

Patience.

It takes awhile for the General Assembly to lumber to a start. The Senate appointed committees last week, and the House is due to appoint committees this week. The honorables are still working on drafting bills.

Today, a lot of legislators are down at Gov. Hunt's Emerging Issues Forum

There's also the small matter of getting everyone up to speed on the budget (defining just how "bad" is "bad") and making sure the new kids can find their way about and reassigning offices.

And, of course, there's all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in terms of staff work, legislative bonding, lobbying, etc. ...

Already, there are some signs of life. The GOP is holding their weekly press conference and other legislators are getting us scruffy media types together to pitch various bills. Groups like the state employees and right-to-life Democrats are already planning lobby days.

Look for hard core legislating to start in a week or two.

Back last summer, I wrote this story on the budget, the one that now has a big ol' gap in it that Bev Perdue is trying to fix.

Rep. John Blust wrote to ask me about it the other day, because he was trying to remember the quote he gave me at the time:

Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican pointed to a line in the budget document that estimates how much revenue the state would earn next year.

"Those that vote yes on this budget in just a few minutes are making a big bet that that number is going to hold up," Blust said.

As he points out, that number didn't hold up.

Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, also had a salient quote at the time:

Opponents, mainly Republicans, say there's increasing evidence that the slowing economy will mean less revenue to spend than budget writers expect.

"What we're doing is setting ourselves up, or rather we're setting up next year's legislature for a serious problem," said Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican and the Senate minority leader. He likened the pending budget to one passed in 2000 that plunged the state into deficit just as Easley took office.

"Those memories are still pretty vivid to me," Berger said.

Now there is an argument to be made that Republicans criticize the budget every year. And, frankly, you'd be correct. In the four years I've been covering the GA full time (and the few years before that of pitching in the occasional story) lots of folks in the GOP express skepticism about the budget - particularly Blust and Berger.

But whether this is a case of the blind squirrel finding the not or not, it does seem they were spot on this time.

I'm catching up after being laid up by an industrial grade cold for most of this week. And waiting at the top of my to-do pile this morning was this:

RALEIGH - Bills to restore protest petition rights to Greensboro residents were filed in both the House and Senate this week.

Protest petitions are tools used by neighbors of property involved in rezoning cases, legal proceedings that change what can be built on a property. If a sufficient number of neighbors file such a petition - representing 5 percent of the property bordering the property in question - a city council must approve the change in land use by a supermajority vote.

Greensboro is the only city in the state where residents do not have protest petition rights. They were taken away by a 1971 law that current lawmakers and city council members are at a loss to explain.

The bills filed Wednesday would reverse that law. They must be heard by committees and passed by both chambers before taking effect.

House Bill 64 was filed by Reps. Pricey Harrison, Maggie Jeffus, Alma Adams, Laura Wiley and John Blust.

Senate Bill 67 was filed by Sens. Katie Dorsett and Don Vaughan.

Those in need of more background can click 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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

I put out the audio earlier, but click here for my Q+A with Gov. Easley. Commentary on the interview has come already from Doug Clark on our editorial page and James at BlueNC.

My other story this weekend is something all us scruffy media types tend to write a dozen times over: what's coming up next year during the General Assembly session. This year's story, no matter who has been writing it, pretty much focuses on the gap between what the state wants to pay for and the money it can raise.

Elsewhere in the big wide media world, the N+O's Rob Christensen demonstrates the perils of political prognostication, but goes ahead and forecasts for 2009 anyway.

Winston Salem's James Romoser explores the fact that only one NC inmate was sentenced to death in 2008.

Charlotte's Lew Powell offers his year in review, worth clicking on if only for the graphic.

And by way of confession, seeing this cover from Vanity Fair in the local Target prompted me to surf to the site for the first time in a while:

If you go, this profile of Tina Fey is worth reading, even if it was written by Maureen Dowd.

Now, as I've said to my oldest child this morning, go play outside - it looks like a nice day out.

(Headline cultural reference for the humor impaired.)

Listening to legislators may not be enough. A House panel says you should see how the sausage is made.

From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A state House panel says the chamber should broadcast live video on the Internet of its daily sessions and some committee meetings.

A House committee approved the idea Thursday, sending the findings to House Speaker Joe Hackney for consideration.

Democratic Rep. Cullie Tarleton of Watauga County, the committee's chairman, said all the equipment should produce broadcast-quality video.

He wants television stations to be able to use the footage, and said someday the equipment may be used to broadcast sessions on television.

The Legislature currently provides only audio from the House and Senate floor and two committee rooms. Setting up video coverage could cost the state more than $1 million in upfront costs, and hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

After they were given unofficial nods to head their chambers again next year, House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight stopped to chat with reporters yesterday.

Basnight talked about cutting back and looking for efficiencies and making sure government programs aren't redundant. But come on, don't we hear that every year?

"When you are forced into situations, you make different kinds of decisions," he said. Basically, he said, yes we always talk about cutting back, but this year we really have to do it.

Click here for more of that answer.

And he offered some thoughts on all the government programs that have gone amuck in this clip.

Hackney was more circumspect, saying "We need to look to programs with a careful eye."

Click here for more of that answer.

Both Hackney and Basnight said there were big problems that needed to be fix in the executive branch agencies but gave Gov. Mike Easley high marks as he prepares to leave office after eight years. I asked Hackney to square those two thoughts.

Click here to listen to that. (No, he really didn't answer the question.)

And click here for more of Hackney's thoughts on the session.

House Democrats once again chose Rep. Joe Hackney as their nominee for Speaker. Like Basnight, he'll have to wait until the first day of session before the choice will be official. Given that Democrats hold a majority of seats in the House and there's little dissension in the ranks, Hackney will almost certainly win a second term as the House's top dog.

Rep. Hugh Holliman of Davidson County will once again serve as majority leader.

After the caucus meeting this afternoon, Hackney said he was looking forward to working with Republicans, the new governor, the Senate, etc... to tackle the problems that need tackling. Like Basnight, he put the ailing probation system and mental health at the top of his list, adding that education classroom spending needed to be held harmless.

Asked about the budget gap Hackney observed that we really don't know what the budget numbers are. The folks predicting a $1.3 billion current year deficit and those predicting a $3 billion deficit can both make a case.

But both numbers are "pretty raw speculation" Hackney said.

While Basnight talked about the need to find new revenue - even if only through closing tax loopholes - Hackney was much more circumspect about looking for new money to spend.

The House and Senate Democrats are getting together today to choose their leaders.

First up have been Senate Democrats, who just a few minutes ago finished choosing Sen. Marc Basnight as their candidate for President Pro Tempore. He won't be officially chosen until the opening day of session. The whole body has a say in that vote, but Democrats hold 30 of the 50 seats so their choice is pretty much guaranteed election.

This would be Basinght's ninth term.

Sen. R.C. Soles will once again server as caucus chairman. Word is today is Soles' birthday and they were supposed to have cake to celebrate. But sources inside the meeting say there was no cake - maybe a reflection of the economic times.

Sen. Katie Dorsett, of Greensboro, will once again serve as whip.

When some scruffy reporter types caught up to Basnight after the meeting, he talked about the next year and things the General Assembly has to get into. He cited problems with the probation system along with ongoing problems like mental health reform.

"We're seeing a mismanaged government, that has to be corrected," Basnight said.

He also talked about finding efficiency in government and cutting costs where costs can be cut - sounded darn near like some Republicans I've talked to recently.

House Democrats are meeting as I type. They are expected to chose Hackney as Speaker.

From today's papers:

PED staff ponders ways to make ABC system more profitable.

The Division of Mental Health takes a hard look at the Alamance, Caswell, Rockingham LME. Wake and Orange County are in the same boat the N+O says.

Related reports.

The General Assembly has a research arm called the Program Evaluation Division that looks into various aspects of state government and suggests places where there might be some improvement.

Two reports of interest came along today.

First up, the PED concludes North Carolina's alcohol control laws are antiquated and in need of an update.

What, just because there are 158 different local ABC boards, some of which compete directly with one another and at least a few of which lose money every year?

One of the more clearly understood recommendations of the PED was to give the state ABC Board more latitude to regulate the local boards. That way, stores that barely turn a profit can get some help or be consolidated in ways that make sense.

The report is at this link.

Related only in a tangential sort of way, the PED issued the second of three planned reports on the state's mental health system.

The bullet out of the meeting for me was that five mental health systems, including the one that operates in Rockingham County, have been told they need to improve or the state will take a major set of functions away.

Patients coming home from state mental hospitals only get seen by providers in their communities about 54 percent of the time on average. That's not good.

But the Rockingham, Alamance, Caswell system was among five systems where that performance was even worse that the state average.

According to Leza Wainwright, on the co-directors of the division, the state has told them they need to shape up or follow-up care responsibilities will be moved elsewhere.

The PED report itself talks about the need for better follow-up and tracking of patients coming out of state hospitals and the need for more critical care mental health beds in communities. If you've been following the ongoing problems with the state mental health system, neither recommendation will come as much of a surprise.

Click here for the report.

From my contribution to today's paper:

Even as issues of energy supplies and conservation have gained national and international importance, a legislative oversight committee responsible for keeping watch over the state’s utility regulators and power companies has met just once during the past six years.

The Joint Legislative Utility Review Committee has been dormant even as the state has enacted new and sometimes controversial laws to encourage conservation and new energy technologies.

Although the committee’s mission may be more important now than when it was formed in 1985, advocates and other legislators complain its co-chairmen have passed on exercising their oversight powers. And, they note, both chairmen are beneficiaries of campaign donations from the power industry and one of them now works for a power cooperative.

"There's never been a more important time to be thoughtful about energy policy," said Rep. Pricey Harrison , a Greensboro Democrat and one of the panel’s 10 members. "This committee is precisely situated to engage in that kind of discussion and oversight, and it’s very frustrating to me we’re not engaging in that."

Click here for the story.

Other good stuff:

• * My colleague (and fantasy football commissioner) Jason Hardin writes about the life of undocumented immigrants here in North Carolina. One anecdote:

  Moises Campos Palencia was on his way to realizing the American dream — a wife, a young daughter, a business he started from scratch.

  Until it all fell apart at a traffic light in High Point a few months ago.

  A police officer pulled him over, saying he’d turned left on red. The next thing Palencia knew, he was in a detention center in Georgia, awaiting deportation.

  Although he had lived in the United States since he was a boy, brought here by his parents, Palencia hadn’t been able to attain citizenship, despite his efforts.

• * The N+O revisits the probation and parole office in force:

  Since the start of 2000, 580 people have killed in North Carolina while under the watch of state probation officers -- 17 percent of all convictions for intentional killings.

  The high profile killing of UNC student Eve Carson is part of this story, as are hundreds of other cases. The killer line in the story is the quote from Corrections Secretary Theodis Beck:

  "This is not something we would have expected to deal with," Beck said. "We're here because of the failure of two cases out of 117,000."

  Granted this is something that three reporters and a team of others at the N+O spent a year on. But if a group of outsiders can figure out this stuff, surely the people who own the data and actually manage the system can...right?

  The N+O has two more parts to this series coming, and I wouldn't expect them to be warm and fuzzy follow-ups.

That's the early take this morning. Let me know what you're reading.

Update: This came to me by way of a Facebook link posted by an acquaintance of mine at the Inky: Smoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA. It's worth a read and listen.

President George W. Bush (remember him!) was in Greensboro today. My friend and colleague Gerald Witt has the story here.

(Credit: Jerry Wolford / News & Record)

Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Easley (remember him!) and governor-elect Bev Perdue were up in Pennsylvania today talking about federal aid for states.

(Credit: The Associated Press)

The Associated Press reported:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ North Carolina Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue says Barack Obama is speaking her kind of language when it comes to an economic recovery plan.

Perdue was on hand Tuesday as the president-elect spoke to current and soon-to-be governors in Philadelphia. Obama pledged to make quick work on an economic stimulus package that would include tax cuts and federal spending.

Perdue told The Associated Press in a phone interview she liked that Obama is interested in giving states money for water and sewer upgrades and other improvements - and not just road repairs. She also appreciated Obama saying that state leaders aren't to blame for the bad economy.

Perdue said she talked with Obama on Monday night during an event for Democratic governors.

Outgoing Gov. Mike Easley also was in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, important people in the legislature will be running to stay important this month.

Legislative Republicans are due to meet in Greensboro this Sunday to choose leaders.

Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam is running again for minority leader in the House, and there's no mention of a challenger in the rumor mill.

Meanwhile, Rockingham County Republican Phil Berger will have competition for his seat. Sens. Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg and Pete Brunstetter of Forsyth are running for the right to lead the 20-seat Republican minority in the Senate.

I don't know either Brunstetter or Rucho well. I will say that Berger and Stam are cut somewhat of the same cloth. They don't play angry, take their victories where they can get them, are confrontational with the majority when it suits their purposes but not overly so. Brunstetter seems like he may be from that same mold but those that know him say Rucho may be a bit more inclined to get in Basnight's face a bit.

Democrats will hold a similar leadership election exercises later this month (Dec. 17) and House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight are expected to hold onto their posts.

(Editor's note: I've deleted a final sentence that was in an earlier version of the post that was copied and pasted into the post out of context and, in fact, made no darned sense as written.)

Believe it or not, the North Carolina Zoo has its very own legislative study committee.

And that committee is getting ready to make some recommendations that could help the zoo go from a day-trip attraction to a destination for over-night travelers.

Of course, it could also lead to taxpayers plowing more dollars into the attraction.

First a little background.

Earlier this year, there was a big referendum down in Asheboro on allowing alcohol sales within the Asheboro city limits. As mentioned by my colleague Joe Killian at the time, this is in part expected to help the zoo's expansion plans.

Those plans, as laid out for the study committee last week, include a third "continent," what the zoo calls its major exhibit areas. Already there are North America and Africa. Asia would be the third group of animal habitats.

As one who has hoofed it through the entire zoo, a good bit of that way carrying a sleepy four-year-old on his shoulders, the zoo is already a full day. Adding a third area would definitely put it beyond the see-it-all-in-one-day threshold.

Of course, Zoo Director David Jones made the case to Killian back in August that the zoo was already a multi-day affair:

"To do the zoo properly, you really need to be here for at least a day and a half," Jones said. "If you can encourage people to stay the night, their spending goes to about $145 a day."

Jones said the zoo has been looking to expand, add a new continent exhibit and draw in multiday visitors for years -- but the alcohol ban made things more difficult with potential investors and visitors.

The Asia continent is on the long-range capitol planning spreadsheet he gave committee members last week.

However, to meet existing renovation needs (for example: the zoo is in the process of improving its polar bear tanks and replacing its African Pavilion already) and build for the future, it needs a source of income.

One idea the study committee just might endorse is allowing the zoo to use more of the money it gets from ticket sales to go toward a special capitol fund. That money could be used to repay bonds that pay for repairs, renovations and expansions.

The upside is the zoo would not have to come to the General Assembly every year to ask for money for individual capitol projects. (No more legislative debates about polar bears and large animal barns.)

The downside is the zoo uses ticket sales to pay for staff and other operational costs now. If that money were shifted away, it would need to be replaced with tax dollars - probably to the tune of $4 million.

It's not a crazy idea - the Zoo is a state agency operating under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. But with big old budget deficits staring the state in the face, now isn't exactly the best time to go prospecting for tax dollars.

DENR Sec. William Ross endorsed that idea in a letter to the committee last week. (You'll note, he didn't endorse the idea of making the zoo a free-standing agency or its own nonprofit.)

Rep. Harold Brubaker, a Randolph County Republican who manages to get things done despite his affiliation with the minority party, said that 2009 may not be the year to get a change in zoo funding done. But he said that 2010 or 2011 might be.

The upshot of the expansion would be the zoo could then attract an up-scale hotel on-site or nearby. (And yes, if it were on-site there would need to be a fix to the Umstead Act.) Jones also mentioned an additional attraction, like a theater.

If more folks started staying over night, that generates more business for local businesses and, of course, more government revenue from taxes on things like hotel nights and restaurant meals.

More coming in a story due to be published later this week.

I'm back at the day job after hosting Capitolbeat 2008 with the Barkeep and able assists from Jordan, Eszter and James.

Speaking of Capitolbeat, locals may be interested in former N+O reporter Pat Stith's reflections on investigative journalism. Stith was our keynoter Saturday night and we were honored to have him.

In the mean time, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue is getting ready to become Gov. Perdue early next month.

The Junior League here in Raleigh is hosting a series of inaugural events, including a big shindig the night before the actual swearing in.

NOTED: the sponsors of the events include AT&T, Duke Energy, McGuire Woods, GlaxoSmithKline, University of Phoenix and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina. In every case, I can think of one or two things they might be asking various organs of state government over the next four years. (And full disclosure, my Capitolbeat conference had quite a few sponsors, including Pew and the national Wine and Spirit's Wholesalers.)

In other newly elected governor news:

• * Perdue has put up a "suggestion box" on the internet. "During this transition period I believe it's important for citizens to be engaged in their government and to have input – this is a way for them to do that," Perdue said in a press release.

• * Zach Ambrose will be Perdue's chief of staff when the new administration takes hold. According to the news release, "Ambrose served as Lt. Governor Perdue’s Chief of Staff from 2005 – 2007 and managed her gubernatorial campaign. A North Carolina native, Ambrose has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Russian from MIT and served five years in the US Navy."

Looking toward the General Assembly, the legislative calendar is filling up with a bunch of study and oversight committees in advance of the honorables scheduled return on Jan. 28.

Recommendations from the study committee don't have a whole lot more procedural oomph at this point than bills filed cold, but you can get a sense of what leadership considers critical issues for the upcoming session. Consider there are the following:

• * Municipal Incorporations, Joint Legislative Commission on
• * Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation, Joint Legislative Commission
• * N.C. Zoological Park Funding and Organization Study Committee
• * House Select Committee on the Legal Aspects of Using Lottery Proceeds for Charter School Funding
• * Potential Impact of Major Hurricanes on the NC Insurance Industry, Joint Select Committee on the

That's in addition to the regular litany of oversight and study committees.

And just to round this out to the third branch of government, the N.C. Supreme Court is due to take up Dept. of Correction v Medical Board, which is the case involving the issues that have the state's death penalty in a virtual deadlock. I found the AMA brief useful in understanding both sides of the discussion.

With all that going on, what's on your mind? What corner of state government ought to get a check-up in the coming months? Drop me a line via the comment link below.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH - Governor-elect Bev Perdue says O. Max Gardner, a governor and Democratic power broker in the first half of the 20th century, is one of her favorite political figures in Tar Heel history. Gardner was in office at the beginning of the Great Depression, and Perdue said he set an example relevant to the current economic crisis.

"He used the time as a transformational period for the state of North Carolina," Perdue said. Instead of simply cutting the state's budget, Gardner invested in roads and universities so the state would be positioned to prosper when the economy turned around.

And even as North Carolina faces a budget shortfall that could be as large as $1.6 billion this year, according to state economists, Perdue says the state needs to invest in education, transportation and other pillars of economic development.

"The day I take office, I'm going to be prepared to deal with a global economic crisis," Perdue said.

Gov. Mike Easley, whose term ends in January, has ordered state agencies to cut as much as 5 percent from their budgets. The goal, according to officials who briefed legislative leaders last week, is to have $1.2 billion extra on hand to plug shortfalls in the $21 billion budget the General Assembly passed last year. That doesn't account for extra cuts that would be needed if problems worsen, or another $300 million shortfall faced by the state-funded employee health plan.

Click here for the whole thing.

Related.

The Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations is just about as much fun as the name implies. Basically, it's the legislature's way of keeping tabs on things even when the General Assembly is not in session.

Today the members got some reports that may make them wonder why they bothered running for re-election.

In particular, Economist Barry Boardman of the Fiscal Research Division and Charles Perusse, Director of the Office of State Management and Budget, dropped these little nuggets:

• * The government is managing what looks to be a $1.2 billion hole in the budget, give or take $400 million or so. If you want a quick overview of what is going on with the economy, check out this presentation. I would point especially to page 15, where collections of real estate transfer taxes fall off the edge of the Earth.

• * That shortfall doesn't include what's likely to be a needed $300 million fix to the state health pan.

• * As a result, the governor has upped the ante on budget cuts. Agencies originally asked for 2 percent trims are now being asked for upwards of 5 percent cuts.

According to Perusse, savings will come from several places. The Medicaid program is not sucking up as much money as was budgeted, due in part to lower costs in the mental health programs. He warned, however, that could and most likely will change.

The state is putting off some pay-as-you-go construction projects, although bond-funded projects are still on track. Agencies that are being asked for 5 percent cuts in several areas, including most general government functions, Environment and Natural Resources and the Commerce Department. DJJDP, the juvenile justice agency with in DOJ, is also being asked for 5 percent. There is some flexibility, Perusse said, for "hardship agencies" that would not be able to make cuts without cutting critical services.

Still, to completely balance out the $1.2 billion hole, if it gets that big, the governor's staff relies on $287 million from the state's rainy day fund. That wouldn't wipe out the fund, but the idea didn't sit well with some legislators.

Rep. Mickey Michaux of Durham, for example, said that the rainy day money might be better spent on the health plan's problems rather than plugging holes in revenues.

The good news is that officials are aware of the problem and are making cuts and otherwise addressing the problems so the state's books will remain in the black. That means Bev Perdue won't have a big old deficit to manage when she walks into office.

"He (Gov. Mike Easley) was adamant in his direction to me that he wanted a management plan in place that would allow the next government to inherit a balanced budget," Perusse told the committee today. Also in the relatively good news column is the fact North Carolina is not as bad off as some other states where cuts have been more immediate and Draconian.

The bad news, of course, is constructing the next state budget is going to be absolutely no fun at all. Boardman projected that the downturn in the economy (which creates a downturn in tax collections) will last well into 2010. That means right as demand for government services (unemployment benefits, Medicaid, education, etc...) goes up, the state is going to have less money to put into all that stuff.

Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue has brought the somewhat volatile topic of stem cell research into the gubernatorial campaign, both through a policy statement on the topic and a recent ad:

When asked about the ad last night, McCrory said, "I've never heard her bring up this subject in her eight years as Lt. Governor."

However, the topic has come up.

Greensboro Rep. Earl Jones, a Democrat, ran this bill, which was a tamer version of earlier proposals. The latest draft of the bill, which passed the House but died in the Senate, would only have led to research guidelines for stem cell research. Earlier proposals would have put state funding into embryonic stem cell research.

State funding is now something that Perdue says she favors.

More background on that legislative discussion here, here, here and here.

I asked Jones about the issue coming up in the campaign, and he said that Perdue was supportive when the bill crossed over from the House to the Senate.

"She called me directly," Jones said. "Perdue was very supportive; she was the first person in the Senate to call me."

Jones rightly said his bill got bogged down by the political debate surrounding embryonic stem cells. In particular, some people who oppose abortion tend to oppose embryonic stem cell research and bring intense and vocal pressure to bear.

You can find more on the topic from the National Academy of Sciences and the Boston Globe, which has a whole page dedicated to the topic. (It's a bit out of date now, but worth a read anyway.) Also, the topic seems to be bubbling up in the presidential campaign.

The Decision 2008 blog and related election work has been keeping me hopping lately, but the wheels of government continue to turn here in Raleigh.

Some of those wheels can be found at the North Carolina Supreme Court, which has the lawsuit seeking to end the lottery on its docket for Monday.

The case was brought by the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, a conservative legal think tank based in Raleigh, on behalf of several plaintiffs, including Rep. Paul Stam, the Republican minority leader in the House.

Click here for the institute's document library on the case, which includes filings from both sides.

The lawsuit doesn't allege that North Carolina can't have a lottery. Rather, it makes the case that the lottery is tax and a pledge of the full faith and credit of the taxpayers, and therefore needed to be passed as a "revenue bill," essentially requiring votes on two separate days in each chamber of the legislature.

For those who care to get in the way-back machine and head back to the 2005, the North Carolina legislature was a bit more rough and tumble than it is today. Rep. Jim Black, a Democrat now doing time in the federal pokey following conviction on corruption charges, was Speaker of the House. It passed the House on a 61-59 vote and was confirmed on a voice vote, rather than being voted on two separate days.

Months later, the Senate approved the bill after being deadlocked over the measure. Here's what I wrote at the time:

RALEIGH - North Carolina is about to join the lottery club thanks to a hastily called legislative session and a rare tie-breaking vote cast by the lieutenant governor.

Supporters of the game sounded more relieved than elated that Tar Heels would relinquish their status as the only state on the East Coast without a government-run game.

"I'm glad we passed it," said Sen. Katie Dorsett, a Democrat from Greensboro. "I wanted it to end. If people all around us are having the lottery , we might as well bring that money to our state."

[snip]

The House approved the lottery legislation in April, after which the issue cast a shadow over the Senate. As other business chugged through the chamber, speculation about lottery prospects and how it might come to pass has consumed staff members, lobbyists and senators themselves.

A coalition of five Democrats and all 21 Republican senators had blocked the bill.

Last week, that coalition held and Senate leaders sent their colleagues home and promised no more votes for the year.

But Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, a Dare County Democrat, reversed that decision late Friday, recalling all 50 senators to meet this week.

Two lottery opponents - both Republicans - could not make the session Tuesday. Sen. Harry Brown of Jacksonville is on his honeymoon; Sen. John Garwood from Wilkes County was too ill to attend.

Neither took advantage of a Senate rule that would allow their votes to be counted in their absence. Although some lottery opponents complained leaders didn't give proper notice of the session or ample opportunity for Brown and Garwood to record their wishes, Basnight and Berger said that was not the case.

The two opponents' absences left the measure deadlocked at 24-24.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the lottery . It was the first time since 1996 that a North Carolina lieutenant governor had played such a role in the Senate.

Lottery opponents still grumble about the way the Senate vote went down. So far, the courts haven’t sided with lottery opponents, but the Supreme Court oral arguments should be fascinating anyway.

Courts generally seem reluctant to tell other branches of government how to carry out their business, mindful of the separation of powers. But the Supreme Court took the case, so you have to figure there is some chance they'd rule against the lottery. Such a ruling would put official Raleigh in a tizzy, if for no other reason that outlawing the thing would throw the budget completely out of whack - not to mention all those lottery players who would be holding lottery tickets of dubious value.

...it took the House all of seven minutes to vote 92-7 93-7 (one member changed her vote after the fact) to override the governor's veto. The big boats bill now goes to Senate, which is expected to give it a similar vote approval.

This would be the first time Gov. Mike Easley (or any governor) has been over-ridden on a veto.

Update: The Senate voted 39-0 with one pair to over-ride the veto.

For those scoring at home, that means Easley's veto has been thoroughly ignored.

Is that a quack I hear?

Here is how the Associate Press wrote it up:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ For the first time in state history, North Carolina lawmakers have voted to override a governor's veto.

Members of the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to override Gov. Mike Easley's rejection of a new law easing the restrictions on the towing of boats.

Easley rejected a measure approved last month that allows boats up to 10 feet wide to be towed without a permit. The new law also allows boats up to 9 1/2 feet wide to be towed at night.

House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman said lawmakers tried to work out a compromise with Easley before Wednesday's vote, but were unsuccessful.

North Carolina lawmakers have never overridden a veto since the state's governors were given the power in 1996.

Update: Three more members have been allowed to vote after they showed up to the House session late. But their votes don't change the outcome.

Update: An hour and nine minutes after coming in, the General Assembly is out of here.

As I mentioned, Gov. Mike Easley has vetoed a bill that would allow people to transport wide boats on state roads without a permit.

And apparently some readers picked up a bit or sarcasm when I said the honorables would be “delighted” to head back to Raleigh to reconsider this thing. A bit.

Here’s why: The constitution does require the honorables to be brought back into session if there’s a veto by the governor, unless they turn down the opportunity in writing. That’s been done before.

And while a special session isn’t unprecedented or all that uncommon in recent history, it’s still kind of a big deal. The fact that a big deal is being made over the boat bill might be a little less noxious if there weren’t other things that might actually might warrant a special session in some folks’ estimation lurking about, like say:

• * An under-funded state health plan.
• * Continuing problems in the state mental health system.
• * Shortfalls in road construction funding.

So is running back to Raleigh so people who schlep around 9.5-foot boats can tow them at night, over narrow two-lane roads while moderately beered up a good idea? You tell me.

On the flip side, it doesn’t seem like the honorables are planning on taking a whole lot of time redrafting the legislation or otherwise messing about.

The bill first goes to the House and Rep. Hugh Holliman, the Democratic leader there, said this morning “I don’t anticipate spending a lot of time with it.”

He said that barring some breakthrough, folks should expect to see an up-or-down veto over-ride vote. And, he said, this is unlikely to be a caucus decision, which means each individual member will be free to vote their conscience.

“I don’t think you’ll see any arm twisting,” Holliman said.

Three-fifths of those who show up tomorrow will get a vote on the bill. If everyone who voted for it the first time votes for the bill this time around, the veto should be easily overridden. There were only five “no” votes on its final passage in the House, including Reps. Bordsen, Fisher, Insko, Luebke and Wess. The final senate vote was 43-0.

Two updates: A couple of folks have passed on thoughts regarding the boat bill. The first (actually, the first couple) suggested that maybe Easley should get a dart for calling the General Assembly back the session when it looks like he could be massively voted down on a relatively minor bill.

Point taken. This doesn't really strike one as a case of choosing one battle's wisely. And if Easley does suffer his first veto over-ride, that could be a reason: legislators hacked off about the bad timing and the odd thing to pick a fight about.

Secondly, a friend in the Senate President Pro Tempore's office sent along some "stats for your enjoyment." So I thought you'd enjoy too. This is the pro-side of the boat bill argument. (Just to be really clear, I don't give a rats behind much about what the law is, but it seems to me there are issues with bigger constituencies that might be addressed.)

Safety issues

* Current law forces wide boats to travel during daytime hours when traffic is more congested. This bill allows boaters to travel early in the morning or at night, or on weekends and holidays, when school buses are not on the road and traffic is not as heavy.

* This bill requires new safety measures for boats and trailers – boats and trailers wider than 8 ½ feet must be equipped with amber lights at their widest point to ensure greater visibility.

* Existing law already requires someone pulling a boat/trailer in excess of 10,000 pounds to be 18 or older.

* Of 230,000 total vehicle accidents statewide (yearly average), an average of about 7 accidents per year involve boats greater than 8 feet wide.

* From 2005-2007, fewer than 5% of boat trailers involved in accidents were wider than 8 ½ feet.

* For accidents that were directly due to boat width (sideswipes and hitting parked vehicles), on average, there were only 2 accidents per year involving boats wider than 8 ½ feet.

Economic issues

* NC is home to more than 3,000 boatbuilding or boating-related companies, employing more than 25,000 workers.

* More than $500 million in sales of boats, motors, and boating equipment is generated annually in NC – fifth in the country.

* NC has 370,000 registered boats, ranking 11th in the US in boat registrations.

* NC is 4th in the nation in the number of outboard (trailerable) boats.

* NC saw more than $662 million in total boating trip spending in 2007.

* Boating and fishing are important sectors of NC’s tourism economy.

* Since 2007, boat sales in NC have dropped by more than 20 percent.

* More than 14% of the boatbuilding workforce has been laid off within the past year.

I’m back from vacation and delighted to see that political campaigns of all ilks seem to be preparing for an enthusiastic slide into trivial silliness as we approach the two months of campaign season where most folks are paying attention.

In the mean time, Gov. Mike Easley has called the honorables back to down to deal with his veto veto of H 2167, known affectionately as the wide boats bill.

The veto session has been called for Wednesday at 11 a.m.

I can well imagine the honorables glee at being pulled away from the campaign trail and their real jobs to re-consider this bill. I mean, there must be legions of constituents that have a 9-and-1/2-foot wide boats sitting around that they’re just dying to tow to the coast and fuel up?

The Barkeep has detailed where the push for the bill is coming from. Meanwhile, as many pictures of tractor trailers wedged under overpasses as my paper has run over the past year, how long is it before we get our first picture of a wide boat wedged on a one-land bridge?

By the way, the legislature has several options during a veto session: let the veto stand, over-ride and pass the bill as is or craft some new bit of legislation that addresses the topic but fixes whatever problem the governor has. As of yet, the North Carolina legislature has never done a straight-up veto-override.

H 2499, a bill aimed at letting the state government better manage through a drought, became law today. Gov. Mike Easley signed the thing during a news conference this morning. (Click here for the release.)

The new law gives the state more powers to tell local communities to create drought management plans and use them should it look like the state is hitting a dry spell – like the one we’re in right now.

Easley was asked if he would have liked to have seen anything else in the bill or if there are additional steps the state ought to be saying. He said no, he had gotten what he wanted out of it.

But House Speaker Joe Hackney weighed in: “I just want to say this is a good first step, but there’s a lot of water wasted in North Carolina and we need to do something about that as we go forward. An example, are our leaky pipes in almost every municipality or water system in the state.”

Click here for audio from that.

-=-=-=-

As the drought bill was going through the General Assembly, there was a lot of discussion over private wells and what exactly the state could or should do to encourage the owners of those wells to conserve. So what changed in the final bill, Easley was asked.

Not much, Easley said. The state really can’t do anything now that it couldn’t do a day ago.

Click here for audio from that.

-=-=-=-

After the drought talk, Easley went off topic for a while. He was asked about national independent expenditure groups spending money in North Carolina gubernatorial campaign between Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue and Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. The state, Easley said, had done it’s best to keep 527s at bay, but the courts have ruled you can shut them out entirely.

“The truth of the matter is the squirrel always finds a way into the bird feeder.”

Click here for audio from that.

-=-=-=-

At the end of the news conference, Easley was asked about his shoulder and why it wasn’t in a sling.

“There’s always some specific moment you remember that really made one of the shoulders hurt,”

Pray tell?

“When Barack Obama came, and I welcomed him, he came up on the stage and we did the little fist bump…”

Ah, so it didn’t just look awkward…go on:

“…and then he wanted go up high with that right arm, his left and my right, and he was grabbing that right shoulder. I was smiling but I was saying you know, I got to get this fixed.”

Click here for audio from that.

As the AP Reports, Gov. Mike Easley signed 25 bills into law today. Among them was the video slot ban, which goes into effect Dec. 1.

For the full list of bills that became law today, click here.

By the way, the governor's office reports Easley came through his surgery just fine. Here's the verbiage from the release:

Raleigh - Gov. Mike Easley underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder this morning. Dr. Bill Garrett and Dr. Dean Taylor “removed spurs, excised a bursa, and debrided the cuff tendons.” The governor will be in a sling for several weeks and then can progress through rehabilitation.

The governor was not sedated, watched the procedure, and is back at work. He joked with the surgeon during the procedure and was in good humor. But Garrett cautioned: “I expect the governor’s mood to change when the nerve block wears off.”

The honorables are winding down their work for the year today. Presumably they'll adjourn sine die before the calendar page turns, although the exact time is in doubt. It doesn't sound like they'll hit their goal of getting out of here by noon, but the list of pending bills is relatively short.

An appropriations technical corrections bill, a measure that deals with ticket scalping, a bill that would expand the payments available for the funerals of state troopers and rewrite of the state ethics act are still in the offing.

As well, the honorables as of this hour are still trying to figure out what, if anything, they will do with a shortfall in the state employee health plan.

S685, which increases the penalties for burning crosses, using nooses to intimidate people and otherwise doing things along the lines of ethnic intimidation has passed the House and Senate and is heading to Gov. Mike Easley's desk.

Only one member of the House, Republican leader Skip Stam, voted against the measure. Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat and chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus, took the unusually step of taking her colleague to task in writing today. From a release:

The members of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus are utterly shocked, saddened and disappointed in Rep. Skip Stam’s lone vote AGAINST increasing the penalties for cross burnings and noose hangings (Senate Bill 685). The bill passed in the House by a vote of (113 to 1).

Rep. Stam, the House Minority Leader, has taken a position that flies in the face of the forward progress being made in our communities, our state and nation. Further still, Rep. Stam has offered no explanation or apology for the only vote to keep these gross actions from occurring in the future. The LBC hopes Rep. Stam fully understands the implications of his vote on the millions of African Americans and minorities across this state. Representative Alma Adams, legislative Black Caucus chairwoman comments:

“Numerous noose episodes and other instances of hatred throughout our state and nation have been consistent with a kind of terrorism in America that all people should dispel. This legislation is therefore necessary and appropriate for our state to have passed.”

For those following the video slot machine debate, the conference committee has reached an agreement. Already, the House has approved that final draft. Once the Senate does, the bill will head to the governor for his approval.

As reported earlier, the bill makes sure that the Cherokee Indian Tribe can keep its casino open. It also tightens language so that the sweepstakes loophole as well as any close relatives are wiped out.

“We hope it will put an end to video poker once and for all,” said Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, one of the prime movers behind the bill.

Update: The Senate has passed the bill, it is headed to the governor.

Update 2: A little more information on what went down:

The state will ban a kind of video slot machine that has proliferated since legislators passed a ban on video poker in 2006.

The new games use terminals connected to remote computer servers and are based on a sweepstakes scheme. They take advantage of what legislators say was an unintentional loophole in the earlier law.

A bill the General Assembly passed Thursday afternoon, with only two dissenting votes in the House, closes that loophole and is on its way to the governor for his signature.

"We hope it will put an end to video poker once and for all," said Melanie Wade Goodwin, a Richmond County Democrat who was on of the measure's primary supporters.

The bill has been in a conference committee for much of this week as legislators tried to work out final touches. The final draft makes ensures that it does not accidentally outlaw the casinos operate by the Cherokee Indian Tribe. It also broadens the prohibition to include and sort of promotion, not just sweepstakes, that would use such computers.

Possessing or distributing the video slot games will become a crime on Dec. 1.

* The General Assembly is scheduled to meet from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday. If all goes according to plan (yeah, right) they'll adjourn sine die by noon.

* Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue says she's done for the year presiding over the Senate. Basnight praised her service as serving "with distinction, honor and an incredible respect for all people" and asked the body to give her a round of applause.

Perdue said thanks this way:

Thank you very much. I just said to Sen. Basnight, regardless of those wonderful words, which I deeply, deeply appreciate, I wanted to remind Sen. Hoyle that I will never forget when I was trying to get the appropriations chairmanship and he told Sen. Basnight not to let me have it. So I want to thank all of you all for the friendship and for the privilege of serving with you and for you and God speed to all of you and good luck and god bless all of North Carolina.

That bit about Hoyle was something of an inside joke, or ribbing, or something - but it didn't seem meant to be mean.

From our friends at the Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ North Carolina state budget director David McCoy will be the next state controller.

The House on Thursday unanimously confirmed his nomination to the post. He is charged with keeping the state's books, monitoring cash flow and managing state payroll. The Senate confirmed Gov. Mike Easley's choice in May.

McCoy will replace Robert Powell, who has served since 2001. Controllers serve terms of seven years.

McCoy has served as budget director during Easley's two terms in office. He previously was transportation secretary under Gov. Jim Hunt and directed the state's recovery donations program following Hurricane Fran in 1996.

Controller is one of those jobs in state government that most folks normally hear about, unless something goes wrong. Although, if you get a check from the state, the controller is the guy who signs it.

For those following the bill that would prevent people with mental illness from buying guns, it sailed through the House Judiciary II Committee this morning.

You may remember the Senate watered down the bill some. As originally written, anyone committed to in-patient or out-patient treatment would have had their name entered into the NICS system, a national database used to determine folks who shouldn't be able to buy firearms. The Senate changed that to say that if you're committed by the court to out-patient treatment, there has to be an additional finding that you're dangerous to self or others.

That point was hugely controversial on the House floor, but not so much this morning.

Rep. Rick Glazier, who is handling the bill on the House side, didn't seem to think that was such a big change and said the bill should ride as is. Grassroots North Carolina, a gun-rights advocacy group that opposed the original bill, said they were neutral on it in its current form.

My guess is this thing will still draw some fire on the floor but will probably pass here in the final days of session.

Update: The bill passed the House with virtually no debate. Because there was no change from the version passed by the Senate, it now heads to the governor.

For anyone following the mess with the anti-bullying bill, we have some dueling polls for your consideration.

First up, the folks at PPP says you, the voters, like it. From their blog:

There is currently a proposal in the General Assembly that specifies the need to protect children from bullying based on their sexual orientation. Do you think this provision should be passed into law?

Yes 72%
No 28%

North Carolinians overwhelmingly support a controversial provision in a bullying bill to specifically name sexual orientation as something children need to be protected from bullying based on.

Support for that provision comes from across party lines. 84% of Democrats are for it, as are 72% of independents, and 58% of Republicans.

But the folks at Civitas say you don't like it.

Provisions of House Bill 1366, better known as the Anti-Bullying Bill, have not enjoyed widespread popularity among North Carolina according to a May poll released by the Civitas Institute.

When asked: Do you think public schools in North Carolina should implement an anti-bullying policy that requires students be taught that homosexuality, bisexuality, cross-dressing and other behaviors are normal and acceptable? North Carolina voters responded:
Yes 24%
No 66%
Not sure 10%

The bill’s language identifies bullying or harassing as acts perceived to be motivated by race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory disabilities. The bill goes on to state that the information regarding implementation of HB 1366 will be included in every school’s employee training program, a defined description of the bullying by the school, and the official school publications, such as the student handbook.

“Obviously there is an agenda behind the bill, it seeks the power of the public school system to expose young children to lifestyles in a way that a majority of North Carolinians clearly say they are against,” concluded De Luca.

My take, both polling firms have political agendas here. PPP works for mainly liberal causes, Civitas is a conservative outfit. However, I will say Civitas's poll question seemed loaded to get the result they wanted.

At any rate, the honorables could ignore the polls and vote their consciences, right?

Our editorial writers made a case for local governments to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. So they might have liked this bill, to require the state motor fleet to do the same.

Well, they'd going to be disappointed, according to a release from Environment North Carolina:

Senate lawmakers appear to have killed a measure that would require new purchases of state government vehicles to be cleaner and more fuel-efficient. The House passed the before the July 4 weekend by a vote of 62 to 46. But the bill has stalled in the Senate in the face of pressure from automobile dealers and auto manufacturers.

“Instead of investing in gas guzzlers, the state should be leading the way in purchasing the most efficient and cleanest vehicles available,” said Elizabeth Ouzts, State Director of Environment North Carolina.

Last week, the Senate Commerce committee severely weakened House Bill 2720 by requiring that new state government vehicle purchases be only in the top 50% of efficiency for their size class, rather than in the top 15 percent. The bill was scheduled for a vote on the floor of the Senate on Monday night, but was mysteriously referred to the Finance committee instead. The bill received a discussion, but no vote in the Finance Committee this morning.

The state purchases about 1,000 new vehicles each year—the vast majority of which would be required to be more fuel efficient if the version of the bill, as passed by the House two weeks ago, becomes law.

“In the legislature’s final days, lawmakers could make the state’s fleet of vehicles more fuel efficient and cleaner—saving taxpayer money and reducing pollution.” said Ouzts. “I’m still hopeful they’ll take that common sense step.”

For those following the Video Slot bill, S180, it is still in conference committee where differences between the House and Senate are being worked out.

Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin tells me that a compromise bill is being drafted. That bill will likely include language requested by the Attorney General, she said. As well, it will reference the statute that allows the Cherokees to run their casino out west. That language for the Cherokees was left out of the original drafts, which is sort of a boo-boo since the bill could have accidentally outlawed their casino operation.

There still seems to be the expectation from both chambers that a conference report will be produced and this bill will pass by the end of session.

From today's paper:

• * Officials in Rockingham County's school district give credit for rising math test scores to help they received from the budget.

• * The gas isn't half price, it just may look that way.

• * The SBI opened a new crime lab in Guilford County Tuesday.

• * You're driver's license could be going grey.

Rep. Joe Boylan apologized for his behavior over the past year during a point of personal privilege offered on the House Floor today. Click over to Isaac Hunter's Tavern for the audio.

Back in May, I wrote about Rep. Nelson Cole's desire to rebel against federal REAL ID regulation.

Just today, that bill got a hearing and passed out of the House Transportation Committee. I'm not sure how far it's going to get, seeing as how the legislative session is quickly winding down but consider the sabers rattled on the issue.

For those following the video slot / sweepstakes machine issue:

The Senate has refused to concur in the House bill and it has been sent to a conference committee.

According to Sen. Tony Rand, this delay comes at the request of the Attorney General, who wants the legislature to make the bill even more stringent. I'll try to dig out more on what “more stringent” means tomorrow.

From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C (AP) _ A plan proponents say will increase compliance with the state's public records law has been approved by the Senate.

The chamber unanimously approved the open government bill on Monday.

Under the proposal, citizens and groups that challenge government officials for access to public records would be guaranteed compensation for their legal bills if they win.

The bill also would create a special unit to mediate open records disputes between government officials and record-seekers. The program would charge users fees for the service.

The measure now heads to the House, which needs to approve the proposal before it can be sent to Gov. Mike Easley.

A word about the "guaranteed compensation" line.

Right now, government bodies can get out of paying the bill for court costs if they rely on the advice of their lawyers. That essentially takes any sting out of losing a public records case.

Under this bill, there would be some sting even if the government body in question thought it was right in denying a request. So before going to trial there would be some economic incentive to make sure their lawyer is right.

So, is this really the last week of the legislative session?

The honorables in the House just ran an extension of their mini continuing resolution that will keep things in government working as they should until whichever of the following comes first: July 25 or the moment the budget passes into law.

According to Rep. Mickey Michaux, the senior budget chair in the House, they have no word from the governor what he might ultimately do with the budget. The options are sign, veto or let it pass into law without his signature.

When asked if he was confident the governor would sign the budget, Michaux said, “I'm not confident about anything he's going to do.”

Michaux did allow as to how the governor was lobbying for three changes to the budget, one of which could be handled in one of the big technical corrections bills and two others which would need to be separate legislation. All, he said, had to do with More at Four, the pre-kindergarten program, or Learn and Earn, Easley's high school-to-college initiative.

“We'll be out of here Friday,” Michaux said confidently.

If they're going to start monkeying with the budget, color me slightly less confident.

So Jack Betts and I were on Legislative Week in Review this weekend yakking about hogs, legislative process, guns and the mentally ill and "the end of the legislative session."

With regard to that last bit: the conventional wisdom says that the honorable will wrap up things sometime on Friday. Guesses vary as to whether that will be Friday in the wee hours of the morning, middle of the day or maybe bleeding over into Saturday. And five days out, I'd be a fool to hazard a prediction. Things have a weird way of getting gummed up at the end of session.

For those who are newcomers to the legislative process, here's what we're talking about: The General Assembly meets over the course of two years. In odd number years, it begins its session in January and typically ends during the summer - usually the end of July or August. Then it goes home - barring a special session - until May of the even number year.

In 2008, we picked up the honorables in May after the Thomas Wright affair and after the primary elections. This legislative "short" session is primarily aimed at taking care of a budget revision (basically an update of the two-year spending plan passed in 2007) as well as cleaning up legislation left hanging last year and taking on some pressing issues.

Now, those who have been paying attention might have notice Gov. Mike Easley hasn't signed the budget revision yet. That's the case as of 12:01 a.m. this morning, unless he's made a decision and not sent word about it yet.

Don't expect the honorables to decamp until that budget is signed into law, has gone into effect on its own or we have a veto showdown on our hands.

What now?

Well, the most straightforward way for a bill to become law is for the governor to sign it. But if the governor neither signs nor vetoes the thing, it goes into effect 10 days after it hits his desk. So here are two dates to look at this week:

• * The fun-sized CR put in place when a budget deal wasn't done on schedule runs out on July 15 - Tuesday. I would expect - expect but not guarantee - something to happen by then. It would just seem silly to let the items in the CR slide just over an inter-branch wrasslin' matching.

• * If Easley does just let the bill sit without veto or signature, the 10 day clock runs out late on Friday night.

There's been no clear sign or signal out of the governor's office that would allow me to divine exactly he's planning on doing. Certainly, his rhetoric over the bill cooled off some when it was sent his way, but that's just reading tea leaves. I'm not going write right now about the possibility of a veto, because we'd be diving into a whole different kettle of fish there - all of them with big pointy teeth and bad dispositions.

Aside from last-minute jostling over the budget, what can you expect to see this week? If it truly is the last week of session, things will run at a mad-cap pace. You'll almost certainly see some drought legislation pass, along with a whole lot of bills that have gotten close enough to completion it would be silly to leave them on the table. And there will be some folks who get up and complain that their pet bill that passed one chamber didn't get a hearing in the other - such as the annexation moratorium.

When the session finally is over, the honorables will adjourn Sine Die. It's a fancy Latin term that means "without any future date being designated," but a better translation of its common usage is "done permanently." Basically, the General Assembly adjourns Sine Die when it's done with its work for the whole two-year session. It would only come back to Raleigh for special sessions, such as to talk about a veto over-ride or at the call of the governor to handle some pressing bit of business, such as the session that created an economic incentive package for Dell. The honoralbes can also call themselves back, although I've never heard tell of that happening in modern times.

From today's paper:

• * I had 10 questions for Rep. Pricey Harrison, including paper or plastic. Answer: neither.

• * It used to be if the honorables wanted to borrow money in your name, they'd ask first. Not so much anymore:

  According to a debt study by the state treasurer's office, North Carolina did not issue debt without voter approval until 2001. And although voter-approved bonds are still the bulk of the state's borrowing, the process has changed substantially.

  North Carolina now owes about $940 million in loans that voters did not get to approve. If signed by Gov. Mike Easley, the budget legislators passed last week would nearly double that amount.

  For many taxpayers, the difference between a general obligation bond that voters approve and so-called "certificates of participation" that the state can issue without a vote is the stuff of minutiae.

  But an increasing number of state legislators and observers on the political left and right say that voters should be looking askance at the state running up its borrowing without seeking permission.

  Click here to read the whole thing.

  I figure that when the conservative Locke folks and the liberal Budget and Tax Center are in the same groove, it's a concept worth paying some attention.

From today's paper:

• * The latest installment of as the state tire contract turns.

• * Talking with the animals, or at least their keeps, at the zoo.

• * We've got some crazy weed(s), dude.

For those following the video slot issue, it has been put on the Senate calendar for Monday night.

I wrote last weekend about S2081, a bill that would ban those who are ordered by a court into psychiatric treatment from purchasing guns.

That debate hit the Senate floor today, after a big lobbying push by Grass Roots North Carolina, which opposes the bill. The bill didn't die, but it got a bit weaker today in the mind of its sponsors.

First, if you need background on the bill, click here to listen to its sponsor, Sen. Tony Rand, explain the thing.

Here's the run down on what happened next: the bill got three amendments. Two were fairly technical and there was pretty much no disagreement.

But Amendment #1 by Sen. Phil Berger of Rockingham changed the measure substantially. If you're a gun rights activist, you'd say it stopped an over-reach. Rand said it left a big loophole.

The debate centers on this: people in North Carolina can be ordered by a court into outpatient treatment. Gun rights folks, including Berger, said that if someone isn't committed to a hospital they're not dangerous to themselves or others.

Rand argued that court-ordered mental treatment is a pretty good indication that something is wrong enough with someone they shouldn't be buying a weapon.

Click here for Berger's opening salvo on the amendment.

And click here for Rand's answer.

There was more debate, but things eventually rolled back around to Berger, who answered back to Rand.

"I think throwing around the concept mentally ill in an effort to try to create an emotional fear with reference to what's going on here is a very easy thing to do. But mental illness can be a very broad term, and it doesn't necessarily deal with things that result in people acting in a dangerous manner. It doesn't," Berger said. Click here for more.

Of course, Rand had an answer, including: "I quite smoking. I probably had a nicotine disorder. The only thing I was dangerous too was a cigarette or a cigar ... Or I might be dangerous to a Twinkie, but not to any of you. But this is a deadly serious matter as we talk about someone who has a mental illness, they have to be found to have a mental illness and it has to rise to a point where action is taken by others to make sure they get treated."

Then things got wonky.

Sen. Doug Berger, no relation to Phil, one of the Senate's more liberal members, made a libertarian argument for adopting the amendment - saying that the state shouldn't infringe on a constitutional right. Click here to listen to the other Berger.

It went on like that for quite a while. Click here for the end of the amendment on the debate, which features Doug Berger and Tony Rand going at it pretty good.

The Senate voted to adopt the amendment 30-19.

Notable yes votes (local and otherwise): Stan Bingham of Davidson, U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan of Greensboro, Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte, David Hoyle of Gaston, and R.C. Soles of Tabor City.

Notable no votes: President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, Katie Dorsett of Greensboro, and Treasurer candidate Janet Cowell and Lt. Gov. candidate Walter Dalton.

Click here for the full vote on the amendment.

The bill itself passed unanimously and it has crossed over to the House.

Reps. Pricey Harrison and Rick Glaizer are handling the bill on the House side. Harrison told me that she thought the House might make an effort to change the bill back. Look for action on that next week.

Update: Click here for a release AG Roy Cooper sent out on the day's action.

After the jump, AP's take on things.

Every year, the Department of Agriculture comes down to the legislature and holds what they bill as a "milk chugging contest." But the contestants used straws to slurp their milk, making the show more soda shop social than frat house showdown.

At any rate, the Senate team - Sens. Ed Jone, Don East and Andrew Brock - triumphed over their counterparts in the House, lead by Rep. Dewey Hill. Hill seemed to lose track of his place in the sipping order and had a delay in picking up his second container of milk, which cost his team valuable seconds.

Yes, there's actual legislating going on today, I think, maybe. But here are some pictures:

Brock anchored the Senate team.


Don East: man of determination.

Ed Jones gets off to a fast start.

Dewey Hill drinks in the scene.

Not only did Brock chug his two containers, he snagged a left-over carton that the House team didn't finish for his victory toast.

Update: Click here for the story from today's paper.

-=-=-=-=-=-

So Rep. Earl Jones was the "1" in a 116-1 vote in the House today. The bill in question would ban a video slot system that is becoming more prevalent in the state that some folks liken to video poker.

(You can click here to listen to Reps. Melanie Goodwin and Ray Rapp give the rationale for outlawing the machines.)

Jones has cut against the grain at the General Assembly since getting elected up here.

Of banning video poker, he said in 2006:

"Just to ban it straight out when we just passed the lottery is kind of hypocritical."

and

"I don't see any difference between video poker and the lottery," said Rep. Earl Jones , a Greensboro Democrat.

Of payday lending, another industry the state has outlawed, he said in 2005:

State Rep. Earl Jones , D-Guilford, said that payday lending fills a financial services gap not covered by banks.

"If they're shut down, there will be no mechanism that will develop to meet that need," Jones said.

And remember, Jones is the guy who filed the medical marijuana and the stem cell bill, which both provoked some controversy.

So when Jones was on the short end of a 116-1 vote over video slot machines, I can't say I was shocked.

"I think people really just want to be left alone," Jones said. "If a person wants to play cards or play the lottery or participate in this activity...it just seems to be overreaching relative to government telling people what to do."

While he said there's probably no way he'll make up the vote difference Wednesday, Jones objected to third reading so the House has to vote again before sending the bill to the Senate. Jones said he wasn't sure what he would say Wednesday. But, he added this:

"I guarantee you, a year from now, two years from now, I'm going to end up being right,'' Jones said, "and the General Assembly's actions are going to end up being wrong because I think there's a fundamental issue of businesses being treated fairly."

You can click here to listen to part of my conversation with Jones, where we discuss some of those points and argue over a few facts. (More audio from that conversation.)

Of course, I will be taking a gander at Jones' campaign finance report for this quarter when he files it, just to see if anything interesting might be there.

For those following the bill to restrict gun sales to those involuntarily committed, the measure is scheduled to heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday morning. That's 8:30 a.m. in 643 LOB. It looks like Rand means what he says about moving the thing by the end of the session.

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

Update: The AP reports the bill has cleared Appropriations and is headed to the Senate floor.

For those following the video slot issue, the House voted 115-2 to ban those sweepstakes-based machines.

One of the two votes against: Greensboro's own Rep. Earl Jones. He even objected to third reading, forcing the House to vote again Wednesday.

Update: Whoever had initially sided with Jones jumped ship. The final vote was 116-1. Jones stood alone.

More on this in the paper tomorrow.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH - The House and Senate gave tentative approval to a $21.3 billion state budget Monday night despite objections that it borrows too much without voter approval and may overestimate how much money the state will take in next year.

Both chambers are due to vote a second and final time today. The bill will then go to Gov. Mike Easley for his review.

If Easley signs the budget into law, North Carolina will spend 3.5 percent more than in the previous year. Opponents, mainly Republicans, say there's increasing evidence that the slowing economy will mean less revenue to spend than budget writers expect.

"What we're doing is setting ourselves up, or rather we're setting up next year's legislature for a serious problem," said Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican and the Senate minority leader. He likened the pending budget to one passed in 2000 that plunged the state into deficit just as Easley took office.

"Those memories are still pretty vivid to me," Berger said.

Click here for the whole thing.

Also: Local votes.
Local items.
Other bits.
Earlier.

Update: After the jump, the AP's long list of items in the state budget:

The $21.3 billion state budget passed both the House and Senate Monday night. They'll both give it a final vote Tuesday before sending it on to the governor.

Local votes in the House include:

For: Democrats Alma Adams, Pricey Harrison, Maggie Jeffus and Earl Jones of Greensboro, Nelson Cole of Rockingham County, Hugh Holliman of Davidson County. Republicans Harold Brubaker and Pat Hurley of Randolph, Laura Wiley of High Point.

Against: Republicans John Blust of Greensboro, Bryan Holloway of Randolph and Stokes.

Total vote: 97-21 with one excused vote (Paul "Skip" Stam of Wake County) and one member not voting (Speaker Joe Hackney).

Local votes in the Senate include:

For: Democrats Katie Dorsett and Kay Hagan of Greensboro, Republican Stan Bingham of Davidson County,

Against: Republicans Jerry Tillman of Randolph and Phil Berger of Rockingham.

Total vote: 34-16.

From a story in Sunday's paper:

A measure aimed at preventing shootings like the one that claimed more than 30 lives at Virginia Tech in 2007 has sat in a legislative committee but will move forward before the end of the year, its sponsor said.

“If your mental condition has deteriorated to the point where you have to be ordered into treatment, society has a right to protect itself,” said Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat and majority leader in the Senate.

The bill, which is backed by Attorney General Roy Cooper, has cleared a Judiciary Committee but has sat in Senate Appropriations since June 12.

Rand said that senators have been distracted trying to compile the state’s $21.3 billion budget but that he would work to get it passed before the General Assembly adjourns, likely later this month.

Under the bill, if a court orders someone into mental treatment, that person will be entered into a nationwide database used for criminal records checks. That person would be unable to buy a gun legally in North Carolina.

Click here for the whole story.

The bill, (S2081) is opposed by Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun owner's rights group. My suspicion is you will almost certainly see it move out of the Senate in the next week, but I don't have a good read on what its prospects may be in the House.

Any state budget can be read on a couple of levels. One, of course, involves the statewide spending priorities and policies it sets. Another way, of course, is to see what's in it for your parochial interests.

Because funds were limited this year, the number of "special projects," money for nonprofits and projects local to one community or another, was limited. Still, you don't have to look all that hard to find funding of particular interest to certain communities.

Looking for things of interest to Greensboro and the Triad, here's my running list (after the jump):

My colleague Taft Wireback has been writing about the tires again:

An effort to reform North Carolina's method of buying retreaded tires is moving haltingly through the General Assembly amid disagreement over techniques used by the current contract holder.

A bill introduced by state Rep. Nelson Cole of Rockingham County would block the state from paying White's Tire Service of Wilson for controversial "spot repairs" to about $3.4 million a year in recycled tires.

Cole's bill also bans removing the original manufacturer's trademark and other identification from retreaded tires. It's a step White calls critical to its process, but critics say it is unnecessary and voids important warranties.

"Being unable to readily identify tires that might be involved in a recall just doesn’t make sense," said Cole, a retired auto dealer and vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "Granted, their tire looks better, but I don't know what that has to do with safety or saving money."

Forgive the cliché, but this issue has been going around and around the General Assembly all session long. It's unclear whether it will be resolved before the honorables make tracks out of town.

Sometimes things in the state budget just catch my attention. They don't have to be earth shattering or all that expensive, just odd bits included in the major statement of fiscal policy statement for the year. To wit:

• * For those who remember Gov. Mike Easley's proposal to have a sales tax holiday for Energy Star rated appliances, it's in the final budget. It will be in effect from "12:01 A.M. on the first Friday of November and 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday." Qualified items include Clothes washers, Freezers and refrigerators, Central air conditioners and room air conditioners, Air-source heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps, Ceiling fans, Dehumidifiers and Programmable thermostats. The exemption doesn't apply to products purchased by a business or rentals.

• * The Lorax got his: There is a $1 million per year earmark over the next five years in the DOT budget for planting seedlings along the roads. "The Department shall consult with and use the expertise of the United States Forest Service and the Division of Forest Resources of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the development and implementation of the plan. The plan shall include the planting of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation that (i) are native to the various regions and areas of the State in which they are being planted, (ii) will provide clean air and otherwise benefit the State's environment, (iii) are appropriately placed for the safety of those traveling on the roads and highways, and (iv) reduce the costs of mowing and maintaining the rights-of-way along the State's roads and highways."

• * The problems associated with illegal immigration have been at the center of several political races this year, including the U.S. Senate race between Republican Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Kay Hagan. And there is, in the budget, at least two mentions of immigration.

  One is in the section expanding Health Choice/Kids Care, the state/federal health insurance program for children. One of the enrolment requirements is that a child must "Be a resident of this State, meet applicable federal citizenship and immigration requirements, and be eligible under federal law."
  
  The second immigration mention is in a section that concerns money the state is spending to help sheriffs participating in the 287(g) program, the federal partnership that allows local law enforcement to identify and help deport illegal immigrants. The honorables have ordered a report on how those funds are used "Recommendations on ways that federal, State, and local resources can be used to further improve the effectiveness of the Illegal Immigration Project and other immigration enforcement initiatives."

• * Back when the Senate wrote its budget, Pro Tempore Marc Basnight inserted a section that would require the state to use biodegradable water bottles. That appears to have been toned down to a study that requires "The University of North Carolina, in collaboration with the Division of Waste Management of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall study the current state, usage, and recycling of plastics (including, but not limited to, beverage bottles and plastic bags) in North Carolina." Note that plastic bags were a concern for Rep. Pricey Harrison.

Word comes from Gerry Cohen that the budget bill is now online. (Very large PDF.) The money report (the other half that has a lot of the information in terms of spending increases and cuts) should be online sometime today, he says.

Also: Here's my early budget story from today's paper.

Happy 4th of July.

House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight briefed reporters on the budget deal the two chambers brokered earlier today. Here is video of their opening remarks.

Basnight talked about the $90 million set aside for teacher bonuses - causing Hackney to chuckle - and Hackney discussed funds for the mental health system:

Gov. Mike Easley had asked for $45 million in recurring cuts to the budget, trimming from spending targets that had been in place a month ago. The legislature came up with $30 million by delaying two tax cuts - one the elimination of the gift tax and the other an expansion of the EITC.

Hackney and Basnight said that the $45 million in cuts were unnecessary but that they were trying to make Easley happy. Except they came $15 million short of what Easley wanted. Here's the discussion on that piece:

Teachers got a 3 percent average raise in the budget. Teachers at the lowest three rungs of the salary scale will get a $1,100 bump in salary. Teacher salaries have been been a major emphasis for Easley and the legislature didn't give him exactly what he asked for. Also, fuel costs have been a concern. More on that:

The budget will authorize about $850 million in borrowing over the next four years and spend another $109 million in cash to build buildings around the state. Much of that will go toward the university system. If you're into public financing discussion, this is the video for you:

Two terms you may or may not know from that discussion:

COPS: Certificates of Participation. Government borrowing that does not require voter approval.

2/3 Bonds: When a government in North Carolina pays back a bond, it can (within two years) go out and borrow again 2/3 (two-thirds) of the amount it has repaid.

Members have been signing off on the conference report for the budget this afternoon. Although I'm told there are still a few remaining straggling items, the compromise is largely brokered.

Rep. Paul Luebke, a chairman of the House Finance Committee, told reporters about the finance package. The state will eliminate the gift tax and raise the Earned Income Tax Credit to 5 percent starting in the 2010 tax year. Essentially, those two items were originally due to go into affect for the 2009 tax year, but the two sides put them off in order to ensure the budget doesn't go into deficit. Delaying the two tax cuts a year will create $30 million in budget availability.

Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate Leader Marc Basnight are due to brief reporters at 4:15 p.m.

Click here to listen to Sen. Phil Berger, Republican of Rockingham, reflect on the Senate floor today about the meaning of the nation's birthday. He concludes:

"From then until today, we have struggled to live up to those principles. And in many ways we have fallen short. In many ways, we disagree on details. But as we go forward to picnics, parades, time with our families, and as we celebrate, we can all agree that we should continue to strive to fulfill the promise of that summer day in 1776."

Speaker Joe Hackney spoke a few minutes ago to the full House, which is holding session this afternoon.

"With respect to the budget ... we have reached agreement with the Senate on almost everything. There are a few items remaining. It is hoped that will be concluded by the end of the day."

Click here for more from the AP.

If all that holds, look for a budget vote next week. After that, the race to adjournment will begin.

For those following the video slot discussion: The bill has been put off until Monday's floor calendar.

Last night, Rep. Hugh Holliman and others I spoke with were saying the bill needed to go to Finance. At some point since then, a decision was made that the thing could hit the floor as is. Then someone realized that they didn't have an incarceration note, something that accounts for the cost of jailing folks who are prosecuted under the new crimes the law would create. To allow time for that report to be generated, it is put off until next week.

Confused? Good. So were lots of other people following the bill today.

It was gently suggested to me today that this could have been a lottery-initiated action. The state-sanctioned gambling enterprise, the logic goes, would want to eliminate any potential competition.

"We were not involved in the bill. We didn't even know about it," said Alice Garland, a lobbyist for the lottery.

Garland said that the lottery has not studied if or how much money they might lose to video slots and pointed out that sales of lottery tickets jumped last year to $1.087 billion.

"We're aware of these games but we just haven't gotten involved at all," she continued. "Our focus is on increasing our own sales."

Sunday night: Rep. Hugh Holliman, majority leader and one of the House budget negotiators says that enrolment growth in the UNC system is a major difference between the House and Senate.

Monday night: Rep. Mickey Michaux, the senior budget chair in the House, says that enrolment growth in the UNC system is a major difference between the House and Senate.

Wednesday, about 45 minutes ago: House Speaker Joe Hackney says, "The enrolment hasn't been an issue for at least a week."

I'm so confused.

For those following the video poker issue here's where things stand as of Tuesday evening:

It has passed the House Judiciary I Committee on a unanimous vote. House leaders have decided it must go through the Finance Committee. My guess is they are thinking the bill is going to be a bit controversial and want to make sure it has a fiscal note. (Bills that spend or potentially spend money need to have cost estimates attached to them, or certain members of the House and Senate can kill them by fiat by pointing out that said cost estimate has not been done. Running a bill through Finance can sometimes assuage the worries of money-minded folks and seems to get a fiscal note done as a byproduct.)

I have heard from members that there is more than one lobbyist looking at this bill and I'm told by Rep. Hugh Holliman that some with an interest in the video slot devices complained they didn't have a chance to get heard on the bill. Apparently these folks will get a chance in Finance.

I don't know when that Finance hearing will be. From what I can gather, this isn't in the top tier of bills that the House Democrats will push to get done, but it's considered fairly important and they'll make a go at getting it over the Senate before the end of the legislative session.

A couple folks have called frustrated they can't find the video slot language online. That's because the House gutted a senate bill and substituted what was there. Take a look at the latest edition of S 180 now and you should be able to see what we're talking about.

The bill creates two new offenses: one for possessing video slot machines and another for promoting and selling the service. (Basically, it's aimed at getting you whether you're in retail or wholesale.) It does not criminalize the act of playing one of these machines. And it goes into effect on Dec. 1, so presumably people would have time to cash out and get rid of them.

From what I've been able to discern, House leaders aren't interested in having anything that resembles video poker hanging about the state. Part of this, I'm sure, has to do with hangover from the Jim Black era, when video poker was involved in one of many scandals culminated in the former House Speaker go to jail.

Some quotes from today's Judiciary I hearing:

"I would characterize this as whack-a-mole," said Rep. Ray Rapp, a Madison County Democrat. "Just when we think we've gotten it taken care of in terms of video poker and gaming, it pops up again."

.....

"When I met them a couple months ago, I'll be honest with you, I first thought these people are video poker reincarnated. And they're not, they just got unlucky," said Theresa Kostrzewa, a lobbyist for Hest Technology, who asked the committee to delay making a decision on the bill. Video poker was part of a string of scandals that plagued former House Speaker Jim Black, who was later convicted on corruption charges.

"I told them, you're going to be guilty by association, but I know you're no breaking the video poker law," Kostrzewa said. "They're playing a legal sweepstakes game."

House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate Pro Tempore Marc Basnight spent a couple hours with each other and budget staff this evening. I was told going in that they were going to work on the education and capital sections of the budget, which is where House and Senate negotiators have their biggest differences. (For those coming late to this party, the House and Senate and Governor's office are in the last stages of negotiating an update to the state's $21.4 billion budget.)

Hackney emerged from that meeting at 7 p.m. and I asked if there was anything new with the budget.

"No, not really. We're just tossing around some scenarios," he said. I asked if there was going to be a deal worked out, even in principle, tonight.

"No."

Basnight was a little more effusive on his way down to the legislative building's garage.

"We have to reduce the budget by $45 million in recurring and $70 million one time," he said. "So you can see, we're given a very enormous task."

The state budget is funded by two pots of money: recurring revenue such as tax collections that come in every year and one-time money that is essentially windfalls from under-spending or legal settlements. Recurring money is more valuable in legislative land because it can be used for things like salaries, but reductions in either.

Of interest here: the governor has been asking the legislature to revise down the revenue estimates in just this way. Legislators had been resisting that because less money to spend makes a deal all that much harder to reach.

But as Easley said earlier today, the numbers are what the numbers are.

"My biggest concern here is revenues ... the budget has to be balanced. I can't sign an unbalanced budget, I want to make that clear to everybody."

Basnight said that the professional staff had been instructed to work on some compromises tonight and that he and the Speaker would meet again in the morning.

It sounds like they're going to look for ways to save money that don't throw the meat of the agreement out of whack. Easley would like them to not do about $50 million in tax cuts the two chambers have agreeed to, but I'm pretty sure some members would scream about whacking what few tax cuts can be offered up this election year.

At any rate, there's no agreement tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Planning-wise, Rep. Hugh Holliman told me earlier that if the budget is read-in (legislative talk for formally introduced) Wednesday evening that we may see it debated and voted on Thursday and then again 12:01 a.m. Friday morning, at least on the House side.

Gov. Mike Easley has a presser to talk about home foreclosures today, backing a bill that will help people in trouble with sub-prime mortgages stay in their homes. (You can click here to read that press release.)

More fun was the off-topic Q & A portion which covered two topics: his wife's travel habits and the budget.

He got a little testy with reporters asking about the travel expenses, saying that the trips have value and help recruit foreign travelers and investment to North Carolina. Click here to listen to some of that. (The audio is audible although not the best because my recorder wasn't mic'd up properly.)

On the budget, Easley said he didn't want to get into what would or would not prompt a veto. But then he said, "Certainly, very troublesome to me are the tax cuts for the wealthy." Easley's was referring there, I believe, to a proposed elimination of the gift tax. Click here to listen to two questions in that arena.

I wrote earlier this year about video slots, a server-based video game that simulate gambling and popped up all over following the demise of video poker. You can find them everywhere from gas stations to rented strip-mall spaces that do nothing but sell phone cards and host the slot terminals.

The machines have been operating in a gray area for a couple years now. The machines have been the subjects of raids by ALE agents, controversy among DAs and at least one lawsuit.

Well it seems the General Assembly is about to turn that grey to black and white with a bill that would outlaw the machines. The background here is a little Byzantine, but if you need more check back on these posts:

Background 1.
Background 2.
Background 3.

I spoke tonight with Rep. Deborah Ross, who chairs the Judiciary I committee in the House. Tomorrow, her committee will take up Senate Bill 180, which is an unrelated measure right now. That bill will be gutted and the language prohibiting video slots will be inserted.

If the House were to pass this bill, the Senate could, in theory, simply vote to concur with the language rather than vetting it through the full committee process.

As Ross explained it, the new bill will outlaw all but a very narrow segment of "server-based sweepstakes" games. That's essentially the sanitized version of what a video slot machine is.

J-I meets at 10 a.m. in room 1228.

Update: The committee has sent the bill to the full House for consideration.

Rep. Mickey Michaux, the Senior Budget Chair in the House, argues that House 2437 is not really a continuing resolution, since the business of government could continue without it.

But it does keep programs under continuation review or funded by federal block grants going - which probably feels pretty darned necessary to the folks who work in those programs.

Whatever it is - I like the fun-sized CR moniker - it passed the House and Senate tonight. The bill also keeps automatic raises from going into effect and basically holds the line on government spending until July 15.

"We have reached something of an impasse," Michaux told a hastily called meeting of the House Appropriations Committee Monday night. "These differences are not many but they are of a pretty large nature."

After that meeting, Michaux said that it was time for budget negotiations be moved to the "corner offices," a reference to the House Speaker and President Pro Tempore. This would seem to indicate the negotiators have gone as far as they think they can and need the big dogs to chew through the final few issues. He pointed particularly to funding for the university system.

Here are two audio takes (one and two) from Michaux explaining more.

Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican leader in the Senate, just asked Majority Leader Tony Rand about the status of budget negotiations on the floor.

"Most part of the budget have been resolved other than the education part and the capital part. Those are the parts we are in the process of trying to resolve those," Rand said.

That's about where the budget negotiators were last night.

"We hope that we will be able to now quickly resolve the remaining parts but we're not quite there yet," Rand said.

Berger also asked whether the budget bill would be a one day or two day bill. Bills that contain new taxes or borrowing must be voted on two separate days.

"It will have to be two days because of the cops - certificates of participation - so it's a two day bill," Rand said. For the uninitiated, COPS are a way for governments to borrow without going through all that messy voter approval needed for bonds.

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

Update: The House Appropriations Committee is heading downstairs to a committee meeting - yes at 7:42 p.m. - to do the mini CR I wrote about last night.

Good Monday morning.

Budget negotiations broke up about 10 minutes or so before 11 p.m. Sunday night. House and Senate budget writers said they would be back in the morning to continue work on a final deal.

For those just tuning it: this is re: the $21.4 billion +/- state budget. Previous Sunday budget posts here and here..

According to Rep. Hugh Holliman and Sen. Tony Rand, the majority leaders in the House and Senate respectively, it is the education and capital portions of the budget remain unresolved. There are also "a few little items here and there" outstanding, said Holliman.

On education, both Rand and Holliman named the enrolment growth figure for the UNC system - how many new slots at university the state would underwrite - as one of the major unresolved issues. Left unmentioned was the teacher salary issues the governor was complaining about earlier in the day.

The capital section deals with what the state is going to build where for its universities and agencies. Although these will be state-owned buildings, legislators covet capital projects for their districts. And with little money for "special projects" - read: grants to nonprofits and the like - these capital items will be that much more sought after this year.

I asked Rand if there was any item upon which the two sides seemed intransigent, and couldn't think of one.

"You try not to get like that," he said.

So that's where things stand as the honorables go to sleep tonight.

(By the way, when I say budget negotiators were meeting, I mean the big chairs of the conference committee, not the cast of thousands that make up the full budget conference. But you knew that, right?)

There's also the possibility you will see a small budget continuation package pop up this week.

This isn't you're classic "continuing resolution" that the federal government seems to live off of and budget negotiators sometimes need in odd-numbered years. The budget passed in 2007 is a two year budget and will keep things going through June 30 of 2009, even if left unaltered.

But a couple folks knowledgeable about the process pointed to at least two sets of items that might need some legislative tweaking if a deal isn't done Monday or Tuesday:

• *One set is a group of federally-funded programs paid for through block-grants to the state. The legislature generally apportions these one year at a time. So even though there might be money sitting about from the feds, the state technically shouldn't spend it on anything. If memory and a quick check of last year's budget serve, there are a lot of these things in the Health and Human Service program area.

• *Items that were put under continuation review. "Continuation review" is legislative speak for "let's look and this and see if we're throwing money down a rat hole."

  Basically, once a program is made a "continuing" item in the budget, it appears over and over again until the honorables take some action to stop it. Putting an item on continuation review removes this "continuing" status and gives whatever the program is funding for one year while legislators kick the tires. Presumably if they look at something and don't like what they see, they simply drop the line item and whatever the program is goes away.

  One example of an item under continuation review from the 2007 budget is money county-level Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils. Now, these things are considered critical by folks working on anti-street gang measures and I haven't run into anyone who really thinks they're going to be de-funded this year. But, their state funding technically runs out at midnight July 1 unless the legislature does something to renew it.

There might be some way around doing this sort of mini-CR, particularly if a deal is imminent. And budget negotiators generally prefer that they focus on the main deal rather than little continuation bills. But if the lack of spending authority would throw a big monkey wrench in some particular set of works, don't be shocked to see a continuation bill come along.

...I wandered downtown to check on the budget negotiations in person. If you want the virtual experience, stare at this picture for several hours, pretending that someone opens the door every so often to make a head to the bathroom or run down to a similar room on the opposite end of the hall.

Room 612 is a conference room in the legislative office building is where the House budget negotiators have set up their base camp. Senate negotiators have another conference room. Occasionally the two groups of top negotiators will get together - typically in 612 if tradition holds - but I haven't seen that tonight.

Some tidbits from my perch here in the hall:

Rep. Hugh Holliman stopped by to say hello. He seemed pessimistic toward idea that things might finish up tonight.

Rep. Bill Owens also said hello.

"Having a big night?" he asked.

"Well," I replied, "the kids are in bed, the wife is watching a sappy movie and I just couldn't think of something better to do."

"I would have on the way down here," he quipped.

That there is funny.

Other than me, there's one poor television station reporter and her camera man hanging about, although I know other scruffy media types are calling in to check on the action like I was earlier today.

Gerry Cohen, the maestro of bill drafting, is lurking in the hall waiting to see if he can send his staff home or whether the bill typers and proof-readers will bill up late tonight and early tomorrow morning.

Other than that, I have no new news to report since the governor got grumpy earlier today. Someone told me that they were going to wrap up at 9 p.m., but it's 9:32 p.m. and they're still going at it.

The wife and I took the kids swimming today. When we wandered back in, a statement from Gov. Mike Easley was sitting in my e-mail:

"Earlier today, my staff met yet again with House and Senate budget leaders on the reduction in revenues and the best ways we believe to deal with that reduction. I am concerned that this message keeps falling on deaf ears.

"The State Constitution requires that a budget be balanced before I sign it. The General Assembly cannot ignore reality. The very latest numbers verify that we remain short of the estimates that legislative budget writers are currently using.

"We recommended specific and sensible ways to fill the budget gap.

"It makes no sense to provide almost $20 million in tax cuts to the wealthy, in this economic environment, as they currently propose."

It goes on, and uses this phrase: "the budget must be balanced and have the right priorities for me to sign it." That's a veto threat in not so many words.

As has been noted on several fronts, the honorables have incentive to end the session quickly. Pretty much all of them have some sort of fall campaign to run, and several members of the Senate are running statewide. Speaker Hackney has a big NCSL meeting in the middle of July, and one would imagine he doesn't want to be messing with an ongoing legislative session while he does that.

The governor, however, loses all his playmates when the session ends. Also, when I've spoken to Easley one-on-one and in group settings about the budget, it's clear that he doesn't want to leave the next governor with the sort of budget emergency he inherited. So this idea that he's worried about declining revenues (as well as his own signature programs) seems to come from a genuine place. (Bonus: at the same time he fights for his signature programs, Easley gets to use the bully pulpit to claim the high-ground on fiscal responsibility. It seems to me this e-mail is an opening salvo in that campaign.)

And since the budget written last year is a two-year budget - this year's is merely a tweak - Easley wouldn't have to do anything drastic like shut down the government if he were to issue the first budget veto in North Carolina's history.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but Easley's veto threat carries a little more weight this year.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Update: I just spoke to Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat and one of the legislative budget negotiators. She said that as of 4:45 p.m. the budget chairs were still at the legislative office building and still working. When asked how late they would stay tonight, she said, "I don't even know." It didn't sound like an agreement was within striking distance, but that's just one woman's opinion.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Update 2: The barkeep has a good roundup of roundup of all things budget related this week.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Update 3: "They're making some progress on some small things but there haven't been any big breakthroughs yet...no eureka moment," said Bill Holmes, a spokesman for the Speaker's office who is keeping tabs on the budget negotiators today.

"Big things" would mean tax breaks that the legislature wants and the governor doesn't, enrolment increases for the university system, teacher salaries, etc...

This story about an N+O reporter being shut out of a budget meeting has prompted some discussion, including from editorial writer Doug Clark. Doug and others have asked how it can be that the General Assembly can just ignore the law. Well they can't, or at least haven't in this case. Here's the explanation I wrote over at Doug's:

Doug,

This is a case where what's right and what's legal don't mesh up.

What's right would be for the entire budget process to be in the open. Period. End of story.

Some operations of the General Assembly are, and have been for years, exempt from the open meetings laws. One of those exceptions (involves) conference committees of the general assembly (see GS 143-318.18). The budget is in conference committee now between the House and Senate, so that's one out.

Also, the meeting that Kane was booted from involved just the chairs of the conference committee, not even close to a quorum of membership. So they have an out on two fronts.

So was there a legal justification required for closing the meeting? Yes, two of them.

Should they have let Kane, or anyone else who wanted to in? Certainly we scruffy media types would prefer that. It would be in the best interest of the public understanding how their $21 billion (give or take) is spent.

By the way, budget negotiators are back at work today (Sunday), supposedly getting together at 8:30 a.m. I'm told two different stories: one that they're going to try to finish today and the other that they'll try to finish on Monday. Either way, they're gunning to get the final bill passed by Friday, July 4.

From a story in today's paper:

RALEIGH — A trio of anti-smoking bills making their way through the legislature would ban smoking in state vehicles, keep smokers 25 feet from state government buildings and reinforce community colleges' authority to restrict smoking on campuses.

Should they pass as expected, the new laws would be the latest in a series that chip away at where smoking is allowed, particularly in and around government buildings.

Advocates and observers say these smaller prohibitions could be the foundation for broader anti-smoking measures in years to come.

In particular, advocates say, a ban on smoking in all workplaces — not just those owned by state or local governments — may be within reach after falling six votes shy of passing the House in 2007.

"That's the big one. It's coming back in January," said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat who has pushed broad smoking-related restrictions after his own experiences with smoking-related cancer.

Read the whole thing here.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH -- The N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation will hold its relaunched Scholarship Weekend today and Saturday, a year after it was canceled because of questions surrounding the connection between legislators and fundraising.

"We just tried to get things reorganized," said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat who leads the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus and its foundation.

About 400 people are expected to attend, organizers said, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California is expected to deliver a keynote address. The leaders of the state's 10 historically black colleges and universities are also invited to attend.

The black caucus is made up of the 28 African American legislators who are in the House or Senate. The foundation was established by that group in 1986 and has as its charitable purpose advancing education. The foundation has funded scholarships for students at hitsorically black schools.

The foundation's website is here.

Previous coverage can be found here, including my first story, post and linkage.

Rep. Mickey Michaux told members on the House floor today, "We're going to have a budget for you shortly."

He also cautioned they were dealing with some "bruised egos" and suffering some "slings and arrows. (One of those from Dome: the closed open door.)

It sounds like there are a few remaining big issues.

"We could really be done in a half hour," he said. To which everyone with a lick of sense said, "Yeah right."

At any rate, if you're into reading tea leaves, you can click here to listen to Michaux's two-minute riff for yourself.

Update: And then then there's this tid-bit from our friends at the Associated Press, although $70 million isn't quite the monkey wrench in the works you think it might be:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Gov. Mike Easley's administration is warning legislative leaders there's less tax money than previously believed to spend for next year.

Easley's office told lawmakers Thursday that state government should collect $70 million less than projected when the fiscal year ends next week. Easley budget adviser Dan Gerlach attributes the decline to lower-than-expected sales and income taxes.

Less money now means less money to spend in next year's budget, which is being worked out by House and Senate Democrats. Negotiators may have to find additional spending reductions or take money out of savings to make up the difference.

Rep. Jim Crawford, one of the House's negotiators, downplayed the news Thursday. He said the dollar figure is a small percentage of a budget that will exceed $21 billion.

So, I think to myself as I walk out the backside of the legislative building, what is this thing:

A mutant pumpkin? The leavings from
the AFP rally?

Nope. It's a giant colon.

Rep. Ty Harrell asked for a group of cancer prevention organizations (and with them, the colon) to come down as part of Cancer Screening Awareness Day. On hand were the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, 4CNC and others. The colon belongs to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation and its appearance was funded by the drug company called Sanofi-Aventias. (Eds note: an earlier version of this post had the wrong ownership information for the colon and mistakenly called this a lobby day.)

Now, I know, I KNOW, there's an urge to make fun here. I mean, the idea of bringing a giant poop shoot amongst the honorables invites all sorts of jokes. Really, it's astounding how many giant a--hole jokes three reporters can come up with in the space of 60 seconds. None of them are appropriate, mind you, for a family blog...except maybe in the comments section.

If you want to share you're best, um, crack at such a joke, the comment link is open.

Alexis Moore, who's with 4CNC and the Linberger Center, gave me the tour.

"People don't die from colon cancer if it's found early and treated," she said.

She also said there's a pilot program in High Point that is aimed at seeing if expanded use of self-testing (there's a kit) can head off more cases of advanced colon cancer, which apparently looks like this:

Moore said that the High Point program could be expanded to all of Guilford County as well as a couple of other metro areas. You can find more about it here.

And just to round out the pictorial:

Gov. Mike Easley, the House and Senate are all honoring those students from Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Charlotte who integrated North Carolina's school more than 50 years ago, as well as the superintendents who made it happen. The date was Sept. 4, 1957.

First up was Easley, who hosted the group at the executive mansion this afternoon. I wasn't standing close enough to get really stellar audio, but you can hear some of his comments by clicking here. (You can click here to read Easley's proclamation.)

"It was 50 years ago that each of you together opened the schoolhouse doors to African Americans," Easley said.

Among those on hand were Josephine Boyd Bradley, who joined Greensboro Senior High School in 12th grade. I asked her what those first days were like.

"It was frightening," she said. "I didn't know what to expect."

She said that by the last two or three months of the school year, much of the commotion around her presence in the school had died down.

"As graduation got closer, things kicked back up again," she said.

On hand to witness Easley's proclamation was Fayelene Thompson, Bradley's niece, who grew up in Greensboro. I asked her if she knew about her aunt's place in history growing up.

'"Not early on," she said. "But as I got older I did."

When she was in high school, Thompson said, she wrote a poem dedicated to her aunt titled "Thank you."

Craig Phillips, who was superintendent of the Winston-Salem public schools at the time was also recognized for his role in devising a plan to integrate. Benjamin Smith, Greensboro's superintendent at the time, was recognized posthumously.

Phillips said that he greeted Gwendolyn Bailey Coleman that day with a handshake, some thing that he said he has been pondering the past 20 years.

"If instead of shaking your hand I gave you one big hug, we might have been a lot farther along," he said. So he proceeded to giver her that hug today.

As I load this, the state House is debating a resolution honoring those who made integration happen.

Americans for Prosperity is holding a rally to complain about high taxes on Wednesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, they parked a giant pig outside the legislative building, presumably to make a point about pork-barrel spending rather than as preparation for the bbq:

Substance aside, they may win the contest for best prop to be used at a legislative rally this year.

For those following the transfer tax repeal, the measure has popped over from the Senate, where it passed to the House.

When bills cross over that way, the Speaker of the House (Joe Hackney right now) gets to refer them to committee.

The referral for the transfer tax repeal: RULES, if favorable to FINANCE.

Before Hackney's tenure as speaker, a referral to RULES was tantamount to the kiss of death for substantive legislation. It was where former Speaker Jim Black parked bills he didn't want to see go anywhere.

Hackney doesn't seem to have used the referral to rules quite as much, or at least quite as punitively as Black did.

Worth noting, however, is that despite some support in the House for repeal, there is also considerably more resistance to the repeal in the House. More liberal members in particular favor keeping the thing on the books.

So is Hackney parking the bill to die? Or will it become a bargaining chip in the ongoing budget negotiations?

I asked Rules Committee Chairman Bill Owens what the likely fate of the bill was.

First thing, he said, is it probably wouldn't emerge from committee unless the Democratic caucus got together and decided as a group what they wanted to do with the thing.

That said, he's not a fan of the repeal. Owens was one of the people who helped push the transfer tax through as part of a complex deal with the counties over Medicaid funding in 2007.

"This is one of the concessions we gave them," Owens said, saying it didn't sit right to pull it back less than a year after granting the authority. "It's something we should talk about next year in the long session."

Owens, who is a realtor himself, notes as the realtors groups do that the transfer tax has failed on referendums where ever it has been tried. But he has a different take.

"Right now, the people are having their say, what's wrong with that," he said.

From this conversation it sounds like the thing is parked for the year, unless it somehow gets played as part of the ongoing budget negotiations.

From today's paper:

RALEIGH -- How did five lines related to biodegradable plastic bottles make it into the Senate budget draft -- freaking out bottlers, outraging Republicans, surprising the only company that makes them, and showing exactly how random the process of putting together a $21.4 billion spending bill can be?

Two words: Marc Basnight.

The quirky, environmentally-minded Senate President Pro Tempore has enough clout to finagle any item he wants into his chamber's version of the budget. And what he has wanted lately are ways for North Carolina to reduce its consumption of foreign oil and to pollute less.

Since most plastic bottles are made from oil and many end up in landfills, Basnight jumped at the chance to boost anyone making biodegradable containers made from plants.

But flexing legislative muscle, even to save the planet, can have unintended consequences.

Click here for the full story.

Linkage: The company mentioned in the story is Primo Water Corporation in Winston-Salem.

How do we have audio of a debate that largely wasn't allowed to take place?

Well, the Senate has a rule that allows members to take some time at the end of session and explain why they voted a certain way. A few took that opportunity.

Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican leader in the Senate, was the first to take advantage, summarizing his party's objections to how things went down.

"This essence of a democracy is debate," he said. Click here to listen to more of his deconstruction of the budget process.

Majority leader Tony Rand is not one to let challenges to his party's actions go answered. His reply to Berger's criticism was that regardless of the process, North Carolina's budget seems to be pretty well constructed. How else, he asked, can you explain the state having room to grow some programs at a time when other states are cutting back.

"We're obviously in a state of grace," Rand said. Click here to listen to more of his response.

Bonus audio: The House rejected the Senate version of the budget. Rep. Mickey Michaux explained some of the differences between the two versions. The Senate, for example, only provided $11 million to help schools fuel their buses, the House put $45 million toward helping with rising fuel prices. They also differ on bigger items such as children's health insurance and the finance package: The House has a finance package, the Senate doesn't.

Click here to listen to more from Michaux.

The Senate gave final approval to its version of the budget. The vote was 31-14 with two "pairs," groups of two senators who agree offset each others votes even though one of them isn't in the chamber. Local note: Sen. Stan Bingham of Davidson paired with Sen. Jim Forrester, with Bingham as the "yes" vote.

Because of the parliamentary maneuver that was used to shut down debate Wednesday, there was absolutely no debate today.

The bill has to wander back over to the House, which will almost certainly reject the Senate plan, prompting a conference committee. Then negotiations begin.

The main players will be the full appropriations chairs for the Senate and the House, along with other leaders like the majority leaders and - usually behind the scenes until the end - the Speaker and President Pro Tempore. Also, the governor's office has a fair amount of input and usually has folks in or near the room where things are being worked out.

Yes, there will be two pretty big conference committees from either side appointed to work out the differences. But the really hard items - ones were the differences are bigger or more intransigent - get worked out at the higher levels and with fewer folks involved.

Raleigh's Dan Kane had a good breakdown today of the differences between the House and Senate budgets. From that story:

The N.C. House and Senate are just $15 million apart in their budget proposals, a minuscule gap in spending plans that exceed $21 billion. Neither increases taxes, and both offer the same modest pay raises for teachers and state employees.

But when you flip through their proposals, dozens of differences emerge, and some could easily keep lawmakers in Raleigh past the start of the fiscal year July 1.

Take the pay raises, for example. Both chambers offer 3 percent for teachers, community college instructors and UNC faculty, with most other state employees getting the greater of a 2.75 percent increase or $1,100. But the Senate threw in a provision that allows Gov. Mike Easley to give teachers another increase this fall if the economy improves.

When I spoke Wednesday with Rep. Hugh Holliman, the House majority leader, he said he expected negotiations to begin in earnest on Monday, although I wouldn't be surprised to see a few discussions here and there on Friday.

The GOP does a press conference to make the case (with some fairly strong arguments on their side) that they were unfairly shut out of the Senate budget process.

Mitch Kokai with John Locke shows up to video tape the thing.

As most reporters were still finishing their budget stories, this news release comes from Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger's office under the subject heading "Video News Release on Senate Budget":

The N.C. Senate today passed its version of the 2008/2009 state budget. In doing so, they refused to allow a vote on many Republican offered amendments through motions to call the question or table amendments offered. They were able to avoid recorded votes in an apparent strategy in this election year to maintain control.

Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and members of the Republican Senate Caucus held a press conference immediately following the conclusion of today’s Senate session to discuss the budget’s passage. To view a video of the Senators’ remarks at the press conference, please click here. (Eds note: Bold mine)

That link goes to a John Locke server that hosts the Kokai's video file, without linking to any other JLF content or telling you where you are, unless you read the URL. (Note there was a post on JL's blog that contained similar if not the same video, but that's not where the release sent us.)

Does this mean John Locke is dropping the whole non-partisan thing and openly throwing in as a support group for the GOP now, providing "video news release" hosting services and such? Or did Berger's office just rip off the link without giving credit? Or will John Locke be providing "video news release" services for the Democrats when they announce a final budget deal?

We've got a budget blog post here, a a budget news story post there (Republicans have some legit complaints about the process) and online budget bill info for good measure.

An anti-illegal immigration rally turned into more of a gathering, and those who attended will likely be disappointed with the state of immigration-related bills at the General Assembly.

Female legislators made their voices heard Wednesday, while Gov. Mike Easley sounded off for Obama.

Oh, and the raw milk bill cleared the Ag committee Wednesday and is headed to the health committee today.

And that's just the stuff I and my colleague Emily Stephenson (who came to Raleigh to help me out for a couple days) could get to Wednesday.

One bit via the AP McClatchy Newspapers: Gov. Easley's trip to Italy cost $170,000. I hope he at least got one of those little Leaning Tower of Pisa statues for that deal, or, you know, swiped some little shampoos from the hotel.

So you want to pass a bill that contains $21.4 billion in spending without all that troublesome debate that you run across in a representative democracy?

Then the N.C. Senate might just be the place for you.

Click here for a version of the AP's budget story, which gives the broad outlines of Wednesday's budget debate.

Budget discussion was moved along at a brisk pace by senate leaders, mainly Majority Leader Tony Rand, who used his powers to cut off debate on several amendments and out and out kill a few others. Of the eight amendments that we heard about on the Senate floor Wednesday, three were tabled or ruled out of order. Others were offered but debate was cut off after they were introduced.

As an example, the last amendment of the day was offered by Sen. Harry Brown, who wanted to take some money from funds set aside for dropout prevention to fund vocational educational programs.

Brown is a consistent advocate for vocational education, saying that more kids should be encouraged to pursue trades rather than channeled toward college.

At any rate, the amendment ran into an objection from Sen. A.B. Swindell, who argued the dropout prevention grants were doing good throughout the state and ought not be raided.

Click here to join Swindell as he decries Brown's amendment and then moves that it be laid upon the table.

Tabling an amendment essentially kills it, although it's theoretically possible to resurrect the thing. Essentially, it's a tool of the majority to keep measures they consider undesirable at bay.

After the tabling Rand, as you can hear on that take, moves the previous question. English translation: Rand cuts off debate on the bill, curtailing all other pending amendments and any discussion of the bill on its second reading.

So it was done, the vote 33-16. Don't expect to hear any debate Thursday either.

This sudden ending of the debate did not sit well with Republicans who used words like "offensive" and "disrespectful" to describe the sudden shut down.

"They've got the majority.... They're going to get the budget bill they want," said Sen. Phil Berger , an Eden Republican and the Senate minority leader. "But the idea that they can't countenance debate seems to me to be offensive to everything that we expect from an elected body."

You can click here to listen to more of Berger's thoughts.

From talking with folks who have been around the General Assembly longer than I have, the GOP has something of a point here. Even if GOP amendments had failed before, they at least got something of an airing. And cutting off debate entirely is something that, if not unheard of, is rare.

And it's quite the contrast to the House process used this year. Here's how I described it for a story in Thursday's paper:

When the House debated its version of the budget, members were allowed to offer amendments during two sets of committee meetings as well as a protracted floor debate.

But rank-and-file senators were given a copy of the two-volume, 337-page budget Monday afternoon and had to offer any changes for committee consideration by 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Then Wednesday, leaders allowed only eight amendments to be offered on the Senate floor, with three of those dismissed by way of parliamentary rulings and motions.
By contrast, the House fully debated and voted on more than 20 changes on the floor.

Berger said that Republican Senators had a bunch of other amendments in waiting, some relatively innocuous, like one that would require state agencies to use tap water rather than bottled water for their employees. Others were definitely more political, like one that would have prohibited More at Four Pre-Kindergarten funds to be used for the children of illegal immigrants.

So why did Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight have debate shut down? Basnight said he was protecting his members from having to vote on amendments that were politically motivated.

"You will have an amendment that will come in for the sole purpose of not necessarily changing what's in the budget. ...The purpose would be to put people on record without any kind of protective debate on the subject," Basnight said.

Click here for more of Basnight's thoughts.

Those votes, he said, could be used against his members during the campaign. Basnight added that Republicans were not showing their amendments in advance of offering them and that if they had been more forthcoming more debate would have been allowed.

An alternative explanation:

Republicans said they did share some of their proposals and suspected one in particular may have prompted the clamp-down.

The Senate budget would give Gov. Mike Easley authority to raise teacher salaries by up to 7 percent if tax revenues come in higher than forecast over the next four months.

Berger wanted to amend that so that other state employees would receive the same raises teachers got. Such an amendment would pit the interests of teachers and state employees, two key Democratic constituencies, against one another.

Republicans also said the idea that politics should be scoured from the budget debate was disingenuous, pointing to an amendment offered by Hagan that would allow the state to expand available slots in a children's health insurance program earlier than planned.

"I know that's not an issue in the campaign for the U.S. Senate. That was a pure coincidence," said Sen. Tom Apodaca , a Hendersonville Republican.

Hagan is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and gave differences over federal funding of the state children's health insurance program as a key reason she entered the race against the Republican.

I would imagine the real reason for stopping is some blend of those two, some ones I haven't guessed yet and the ever-popular "we were just freaking tire of talking about the thing."

I don't have much of an opinion about the substance of any of the amendments shot down or left hanging. But the expression "politics ain't beanbag" kept running through my head tonight. Shouldn't the honorables running for one office or another be able to withstand what head would have been created by a few more amendment votes or debate? Or was Basnight right to protect his members from potentially volatile discussion.

You thoughts welcome below.

The big immigration rally turned out to be more of a gathering, with only turned out 25 folks showing up other than media and other onlookers. Here was the scene this morning:

Two stories relevant to Jones Street from today's paper:

• *My colleague Emily Stephenson reports the Senate version of the budget has a crafty way to give teachers raises without giving them raises.

• *Hagan and Dole have been scrapping over illegal immigration. This applies to the legislature because anti-illegal immigrant groups will be rallying at the building today. More than likely, they'll be unhappy with the N+O report that bills designed to keep illegal immigrants out of community college have stalled and are likely going nowhere.

I wrote in a column earlier this month that Rep. Pricey Harrison had gotten some push-back on her legislative stance regarding illegal immigration:

(Harrison has) taken the most heat over a bill she did play a part in drafting. It would prevent community colleges or state universities from asking about a person's immigration status, overruling a decision by the community college system this year.

"I'm getting pretty ugly e-mails and probably some phone calls on that," she said. A couple of writers have suggested "your days are numbered," but she didn't take that as a death threat but more of a promise to find political opposition in an upcoming election — no one has filed to run against her this year.

"More of them are like, 'What part of illegal don't you understand?' or, 'Go back to Mexico,'" she said. "But pretty ugly."

More on that bill here.

More of that push-back is coming to the General Assembly on Wednesday, when ALI-PAC and related groups are due to hold a rally. From an e-mail sent to us scruffy media types:

On Wednesday, June 18, 2008 a historic coalition of immigration enforcement and border security groups will converge on the NC Legislature, to ask for emergency legislation to stem the tide of illegal aliens into North Carolina.

Each group participating is focused on a different aspect of illegal immigration and each group is multi-ethnic and inclusive meeting ALI-PAC's standards of working with only non-racist and non-violent groups.

The following leaders are available for interview, before June 18th by phone. Also available on the first floor of the Legislative Bldg. and at the rally on the bicentennial Mall, across from the Jones St. entrance to the Legislative Bldg, between 11 and 1 on June 18.

More here. Other immigration-focused groups like the Minuteman and some think-tank types like Civitas will also be on hand. I would be surprised if at least a few legislators did not speak as well.

I was interviewing William Gheen for a related but different story last week and he mentioned the legislative lobby day.

He said that the rally had two big objectives:

• * Shut down the bill sponsored by Harrison and company.

• * Push the legislature to amend the budget so that no state resources go to people here illegally.

"Close to 80 percent of the public feels that no taxpayer resources should be going to illegal aliens," Gheen said. "We want to make sure the lawmakers understand this is a crisis situation because of the South Carolina crackdown."

More regarding the South Carolina situation is here, although the gist of the measure seems to be that it makes work harder to come by for those here illegally.

Gheen also said that the state should stop funding El Pueblo, a nonprofit group that does community building in the Latino community. The group gets grants to do various types of outreach work.

But it also has a lobbying arm. Gheen argues the group shouldn't lobby while it receives state funding. This is a point, he said, his group will make when lobbying on Wednesday.

This is not a new charge. The group responded to a similar statement back in 2007. (PDF)

I asked Irene Godinez, El Pueblo's advocacy director, whether her group would be on site Wednesday to provide any sort of counter-argument.

"We're trying not to engage with that particular group," she said of ALI-PAC. "The more we can do to avoid engaging them, the better off we will be."

This may, in fact, be a situation where El Pueblo and other immigrant advocacy groups are better off not getting into the argument. The legislature as been reluctant in recent years to move either way on the status quo regarding immigration. So while Wednesday's rally is likely to be noisy and will get a lot of attention, recent history casts some doubt on whether it will cause much movement on the issues ALI-PAC is bringing to the forefront.

More to come later this week.

I'm stuck in Greensboro today as the first-look at the Senate budget goes down this afternoon. The early AP bulletin had this to say:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Leaders in the North Carolina Senate are releasing their budget proposal, which proposes spending less money than the House on reimbursing doctors and others for treating Medicaid patients.

Senate Democrats began rolling out portions of their spending plan in subcommittee meetings Monday afternoon. Proposals are expected later Monday on spending for education, the environment and prisons.

The Senate's proposed health budget reduces the money available for Medicaid reimbursements by $42 million. That's a deeper cut than the House offered in its budget two weeks ago.

The Senate has scheduled a full meeting of the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning. The two chambers want to get a final budget to Gov. Mike Easley before the fiscal year starts July 1.

I'll be back tomorrow to dig into the full budget bill and report.

Senate majority leader Tony Rand said his chamber's top appropriators were scheduled to finish tinkering with the skeleton of their budget proposal this Friday. They plan to give staff members the weekend to write up and print what will amount to the first draft.

That would let the Senate appropriation subcommittees to meet on their parts of the bill Monday and the full appropriations and finance committees to take a swing at the thing on Tuesday.

According to Rand, salaries for teachers and state workers will be about the same as they were in the House budget. If that average of 3 percent raises for teachers holds, it will disappoint Gov. Mike Easley, who wanted to see a much bigger boost in salaries to get teachers to the national average.

Rand said that Senate leaders hadn't yet figured out what they'll do with COPS or other borrowing as of Thursday morning, saying that was a topic to be discussed Thursday afternoon.

If plans for next week hold (and you can almost hear the legislative building itself laugh at you when you talk about plans and timelines) the subcommittees would do their work on Monday, the full committees would do their mojo on Tuesday and the bill would be voted on Wednesday and Thursday.

That would allow conference discussions to begin Friday, Rand said. For those who don't follow the budget full time: the conference process lets the House, Senate and governor's office settle the difference between their three versions of the budget.

H 2367, which would create a year-long moratorium on forced municipal annexations, passed the House finance committee this morning on a 25-4 vote, if I counted right.

The bill next goes to the House Judiciary II committee, and then on to the floor. There seems to be a fair amount of momentum for this thing on the House side, although conventional wisdom says its prospects in the Senate are far less certain.

(Click here and here for background.)

The topic of cities bringing land into their corporate boundaries has been a hot one down here at the legislature, at least on the House side. There have been several cases throughout the state where people feel quite aggrieved at the process. The basic argument against particular annexations seems to be this: they help the city by increasing the tax base but hurt homeowners because they have to pay extra taxes without getting a lot in extra services. At times, they complain, cities are involved in land and money grabs rather than logical growth.

Under the bill, homeowners could voluntarily request they be brought into a city. But a city could not target land adjacent to its corporate borders and bring it in. The idea is to give the General Assembly a year to work out changes to the law that would protect homeowners.

Groups pushing for the moratorium and a rewrite of the state's annexation laws have organized under the Fair Annexation Coalition.

Cities, represented by the North Carolina League of Municipalities, have said that they shouldn't be punished for a few bad actors or cases outside the norm. Stifling annexation, they say, will hurt economic development. They argue that solutions can be crafted while annexations continue.

Click here to listen to a short clip from Doug Aiken, with the coalition, and Andy Romanet with the league speaking to the finance committee this morning.

Rep. Pryor Gibson attempted to amend the bill so it would be a six month moratorium, ending on Jan. 1.

"We lack political courage," Gibson said.

Click here to listen Gibson make his pitch and then lose the vote.

Of local note, Rep. Earl Jones, D-Greensboro, and Rep. John Blust, R-Greensboro, voted in favor of the bill. Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Lexington, did not vote on the measure. His house is in a territory that's due to be annexed, so he has a conflict.

The votes against the bill were Gibson, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield of Wilson, Rep. Bill Owens of Elizabeth City and Rep. Kelly Alexander of Charlotte, all Democrats.

Alexander is the newly minted legislator appointed on May 30 and during his comments on the bill said that he did not want to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," a line that Romanet used in his presentation.

For those following the state tire contract debate, you should know S 1797 cleared the Senate today and is headed to the House.

The latest Senate version would permit companies to continue to grind the identifying markings off of tires before doing retreads.

Rep. Nelson Cole opposes removing that measure, saying it will be tough to identify tires incase of a recall or an accident involving a retread.

Cole said Wednesday that when the bill is vetted in the House, there will be a PCS - proposed committee substitute - that restores the language.

For those following the dust up over Agriculture Research Stations, there appears to be an agreement to play nice among all involved.
Rep. Dewey Hill, who chairs the House Ag Committee, sent out an e-mail this afternoon saying H 2450 wouldn't move forward:

House Agriculture Committee Members:

HB 2450 Study Ag. Research Stations/Develop Plan will not be moving forward. Commissioner Steven W. Troxler, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Dr. Johnny C. Wynne, Dean and Executive Director for Agricultural Programs, NC State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Dr. Alton Thompson, Dean, Agricultural Education/Economics and Rural Sociology, NC Agricultural and Technical State University have agreed to continue their work together and to jointly study and develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the management of agricultural research stations.

I am pleased these leaders in our thriving agricultural community will be working together to improve our way of life as we live and work in this great State of North Carolina. A common vision of an agricultural research system that is efficient and up to date is shared. Also shared is a continuing commitment to work together for the best future of North Carolina agriculture. Your ongoing support is most appreciated.

Sincerely,
Dewey Hill, Chair
House Agriculture Committee

That comes on the heels of this joint letter from the Ag Department, NCSU and NCA&T going out Tuesday along with this e-mail from Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler:

Dear Friend of Agriculture:

Many of you are aware of efforts recently undertaken by the General Assembly's Program Evaluation Division (PED) to study the agricultural research stations system in North Carolina. The goal of the PED's work was to find ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our research system. This is a laudable goal and one that all agricultural leaders agree is necessary as food prices climb and our population continues to grow.

I am pleased to report that NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Johnny Wynne, NCA&TSU School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Dean Alton Thompson, and I have collaborated on a joint letter that reaffirms our commitment to work together to improve our agricultural stations system. A copy of the letter is attached.

Dean Wynne, Dean Thompson, and I are looking forward to moving ahead with our efforts. We look forward to consulting with you as plans are developed, and appreciate your continued interest in our agricultural research system. I hope you will not hesitate to contact my office if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Steve W. Troxler
Commissioner of Agriculture

I'm not sure if or how this affects Rep. Nelson Cole's bid for horse facility money.

But it does seem to indicate that some of the tension between NCSU and the Ag Department might have eased.

Groups hoping to end North Carolina's ban on collective bargaining rights for public workers rallied at the General Assembly today. North Carolina and Virginia are the only two states with such a prohibition.

H 1583 would end that ban.

Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson came for the rally today, probably among the few municipal officials to be so outspoken in support of the bill. The North Carolina League of Municipalities, which lobbies on behalf of the state's towns and cities, has opposed the legislation.

"There's no question in my mind that we ought to have the option," Yvonne Johnson said on a phone call. "I think we could save a lot of legal fees that way...I think city employees should have the same rights as somebody who works at Wal*Mart."

Folks from the Natural Science Center of Greensboro came to the General Assembly today, along with a lot of their colleagues from around the state. They set up booths all around the building and showed off whatever it was that made their museum special.

The Grassroots science museums took a cut in the House version of the budget and part of today's appearance was to argue for restoration of that funding.

The folks manning the Greensboro booth said that they'd had lots of traffic from pages and interns, although the day had been a bit light on legislators. (To be fair, pretty much every Wednesday there's some group of groups showing their wares, so it's pretty easy for this to blend into the background.)

Greensboro did have a pretty good display though. They had an infra red camera that showed how hot your body is.

Here's a picture of museum staffer Rick Betton aiming the camera at me and the thermal image it produced displayed on the monitor.

And here's Terri Cooke who donned a plastic bag as Martha Regester looked on. Even though Cooke was under the bag, the camera picked up both of the museum staffers just fine. I'm told the camera is useful if you're looking for critters at night.

No word on whether it's useful in finding room money in the budget for your program.

For those in Guilford County interested in the H 1195, the Pleasant Garden Recall bill, it passed the House today. Because it's a local bill and has already passed the Senate, it's a done deal.

The folks at the JWP Civitas Institute, a conservative policy group, just put out this study on N.C. Senate earmarks:

During the current "short" session of the General Assembly, more than half a billion dollars worth of earmark spending has been requested by the North Carolina Senate as identified by The Civitas Institute. The total for the two year budget cycle comes to roughly $1.3 billion in Senate earmark requests.

Now hold on a minute, you may be saying. Didn't the Republican leadership just come out with an earmark list that totaled $2 billion?

Yes, but the methodology is different. While the Republican leaders counted any appropriation bill as an earmark, the Civitas study used a more narrow definition, more in keeping with what the word "earmark" has come to mean: an appropriation that takes the decision making out of the executive branch's hands and sends money to one particular geographic area.

Of local note: Civitas calls Sen. Katie Dorsett's request for $500,000 to go to the John Coltraine Music Hall in High Point one "of the most outrageous/controversial items."

Update: Worth noting - I would still quibble with some of the items counted as earmarks. More than $2 million in drug and alcohol treatment grants that would be administered by the department of corrections wouldn't count in my mind because that money isn't "earmarked" for any one particular nonprofit or company.

Republican leaders Skip Stam (of the House) and Phil Berger (of the Senate) held their weekly news conference, this week focusing on earmarks. Check that, they were really focusing on all proposed spending increases in the budget.

(You can click here to listen to the full presser.)

Here's why I say this wasn't really an earmark newser:

They presented a list of Senators and a total amount by their name. They only attributed funding to the Senator if they were the primary sponsor on the list and it didn't matter if the spending was a departmental request, salary bump, or local project.

(Click here for the news release and list they handed out.)

So, if we take the person at the top of their list, state Sen. Katie Dorsett, a Democrat, gets tagged with a $617,511,720 total. But the bulk of that - to the tune of $500,000 or so - is a request for employee and teacher pay raises.

If you think about earmarks in the classic federal sense, such as the ones detailed in this post, salary increases wouldn't qualify. Earmarks are traditionally thought of as pork and/or spending that would benefit a legislator's home area. Pay raises would be a benefit across the state.

That said, the larger point that Senators had requested $2 billion in spending increases is well taken. However, it's worth noting that the majority of that spending probably won't make it in the final version of the bill.

I asked Stam if he knew what the comparison was between the amount of new spending requested by the House and what made the final cut. He quipped:

"The Democrats this year in the House were constrained by the lack of money. But if get next year to a situation where the economy is doing better, they're instinctively, perhaps genetically, inclined to spend whatever money is there, where as Republicans will look more at priorities and only spend what is necessary."

He added, "I was kidding about the genetic part."

There was a second part to the Republicans thesis here. Not only were Democrats requesting a lot of spending, but it is sometimes hard to track exactly how some items get in the budget.

Now, the very fact that Republicans can file a spending request list shows there is some transparency. But, as Berger notes, there will be some items that show up that are never debated of filed under a bill and no one will be able to tell how they got there, at least not by way of a paper trail. And the budget process is run by the Democratic leadership in such a way that it produces the result they want. Of course, you could make an argument that doing that sort of thing is one of the spoils of power.

At any rate, here's a video slice of Berger talking about that point for those who don't want to wade through the audio posted up above:

I didn't spend much time around Jones Street today...I had a touch of the Obama-mania.

As it turns out, Monday night was kind of quiet, with the bulk of the time taken up honoring baseball teams and churches and what not.

For you raw milk fans, Rep. Pricey Harrison expects her bill disapproving the Ag Board's pet milk rule will be heard by the House Ag committee on Wednesday. A related bill, which would provide a mechanism by which it would be legal for humans to obtain and drink raw milk, will probably not get done this year, she said after session tonight.

From the "everyone's talking about it" file comes this story at the WECT site, which says Sen. Julia Boseman of Wilmington admitted in court to using marijuana. As the barkeep has commented, (last item) this one feels like it's going to get uglier before too long. (Star News has more.

One Tuesday's Senate floor calendar: The Jessica Lunsford Act. It had been in the Appropriations Committee and was moved to the floor by Sen. Tony Rand Monday night.

The Skip and Phil show (weekly presser by Skip Stam and Phil Berger, House and Senate Republican leaders) is due to return Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. with talk about "earmarks" according to one staffer who stopped by the press room to prod us all to stop by.

Final vote 104-10.

On to the Senate.

As they say (or used to) in the news biz: Get me rewrite! If tradition holds, they'll produce a bill substantially different from what the House put forward.

I'm told we'll likely see them roll out something in a week from Monday.

From today's paper: local projects in High Point, Greensboro and Rockingham County made out well in the budget.

The honorables passed the budget 102-12 Wednesday but the House has to vote again today before sending it on to the Senate, which will do their own thing before everyone sits down to do a compromise budget.

In action this morning, we're seeing more amendments.

Of note, Rep. Skip Stam's amendment that would have lead to a discussion on repealing local land transfer tax authority has been ruled out of order in four different ways, so it won't be heard.

The big debate of the morning so far has been whether the state should fork over another $1 million to the Johnson & Wales culinary school in Atlanta. The addition money would get the state up to $6 million on its $10 million commitment to the Charlotte school, made during the days of House Speaker Jim Black's reign.

More to come.

The House passed the budget on a 102-12 vote today. That's a tentative okay and the honorables will debate the bill again on Thursday before delivering a final verdict. The bill then heads to the Senate, which if it follows historical patters, will rework the thing pretty good before getting into final negotiations with the House.

For those following the Rockingham County horse complex saga, funding for that got trimmed back.

Rep. Nelson Cole had raided funds slated for the N.C. State Fairgrounds horse complex for the Rockingham project. He gave $900,000 of the $3.34 million he took back to the Wake County project, will keeping the rest for Rockingham.

My guess is that neither number is going to be the final amount in the budget, but both are not eligible for the final and most important draft.

... the House included the $2.7 million to renovate the polar bear exhibit. House members also included $600,000 to rebuild the African Pavilion.

Sorry kids: the $2.7 million for a permanent the children's zoo area got axed.

Today is a big lobby day at the General Assembly, with several groups coming down to press their agendas here at the legislature. Among those here today are folks who would like the state to curtail city's abilities to force annexations. Click here, here and here for background.

Among those up here are Michael Savicki, of the Cow Palace neighborhood outside Lexington in Davidson County. And yes, that's a model guillotine.

"We've been needing a symbol, in my opinion, to get national attention," Savicki said. If his group were able to generate enough negative press, he said, people would stop moving to the state and then legislators would be forced to deal more quickly with annexation issues.

You can listen to him explain things here:

Funny thing: the stop annexation folks are down here as the North Carolina League of Cities, whose members are on the other side of the issue. It has been interesting to watch the folks who are cross-agendas wander about the building tonight.

Apparently, the anti-annexation people are planning to protest outside a wine and cheese function the league is throwing for legislators tonight.

The House ran it's budget through the Finance and Appropriations committees Tuesday. Next stop is the House floor session that will begin at 2 p.m.

Update: You can click here to see the post-surgery bill. (Thanks to Mr. Cohen for the heads up.) Update: Click here for the updated money report.

On the floor, the honorables can run amendments to the bill, so if you tune into session you'll hear folks trying to make some more tweaks and tucks.

If you're interested in some Triad-centric highlights, you can check in on Rockingham's horse complex here or civil rights museum money here.

I'm not going to try to recount the entire day of slicing and dicing here. The AP's Gary Robertson has a good take on why Gov. Easley is unhappy with the House budget. Update: And Miss Laura has more on the day at the tavern.

I do have a couple bits of audio to share, though.

Rep. Pat Hurley, a Randolph County Republican, had set out to run an amendment that would restrict the growth of lottery commission salaries. Specifically, it would keep any lottery commission employee from getting paid more than the governor.

You may recall that lottery commission employees have been in line for a 5 percent race at a time when most state employees are looking at 1.5 percent. That idea got some unfavorable attention.

Click here to listen to Hurley pitch her amendment and some debate.

Rep. Bill Owens, a Democrat and Rules Chairman, and Rep. Alma Adams, an Appropriations Committee Chairman and Greensboro Democrat, combined to talk her out of the amendment.

"I've made my point and I think you see that," Hurley said.

Fair enough, but I'm not so sure that amendment wouldn't have passed the committee. Liberal Democrats and Republicans aren't enamored with the lottery and might have taken the opportunity to tweak the state's gambling enterprise.

Heck, Hurley didn't even have the best quote on the amendment. That came from Rep. Joe Kiser, a Republican and former sheriff who planted tongue firmly in cheek to quip:

"By paying these high salaries we're doing nothing but taking money away from the children."

Hurley brought it back later as a study of salary grades across state government. You can click here to listen to her fully back down.

My bet: someone else tries to run the lottery limitation bill Wednesday on the House floor.

If you live in Rockingham County, you've probably heard about the proposed horse park. (More here.)

Well, now the state House of Representatives are well aware of the project as well.

The House was working on its budget today, and the Appropriations Committee spent something like 10 hours today making tweaks and tucks. Our story begins at the end of this marathon when Rep. Nelson Cole brings in something like the 77th amendment of the day.

To listen while you read, click here to listen to the 10 minutes or so of committee discussion and vote.

As it was originally drafted, the budget included $3.34 million to build a horse barn at the Hunt Horse Complex at the state fair grounds in Raleigh.

Cole's amendment takes that money and moves it down I-40, up Rt. 29 and up to the "Upper Piedmont Agricultural Research Station."

The what now?

Regular readers will recall the ongoing tug-of-war involving Ag Commissioner, Steve Troxler, NC State and a cast of thousands. Those research stations are spread across the state, some managed by the Ag Department, some by the universities.

Well, the "Upper Piedmont Agricultural Research Station" is in Rockingham County, right next to Chinqa Penn.

Already, NCA&T conducts some research there.

Why mention A&T?

Glad you asked.

As it turns out, economic developers in Rockingham County have dreamed up a big horse show complex as a way to spur development in the area. At the same time, A&T's equestrian program has had designs on a new facility.

So the economic developers and the A&T folks realize they're working toward similar agendas.

Back to the Appropriations meeting.

Cole's amendment sends the $3.34 million to A&T. The equine program gets to build a big barn and other horse-related items at the research station, which now looks a bit more relevant. To boot, Rockingham's "Horse Park of the South" gets a jump start.

"They will be a joint but separate venture," Cole said.

The Appropriations Committee passed the amendment on a voice vote.

Again, click here to listen to the 10 minutes or so of committee discussion and vote.

You might think that Wake County representatives might have an issue with the change.

You'd be right.

"That barn belongs at the Hunt Horse Complex," Rep. Grier Martin said after the meeting. While Rockingham County deserves its horse complex, he said, it shouldn't come at the Hunt Horse Complex's expense.

Martin and Cole left the meeting room and walked back over to the legislative building together. It seemed like they might try to reach some sort of détente.

Cole's take is that Wake County doesn't necessarily need more state investment.

"My question is, what do they need in Raleigh to generate economic development," Cole said. "We've got to rebuild our (Rockingham County's) economy ... All the prosperity in North Carolina is along the interstates."

In the mean time, at least for the moment, Rockingham County and the Triad can claim an odd sort of budget victory in what is definitely an odd sort of budget.

Immediate questions that need answering: What happens to land that the county has already bought for the complex? Will the Cole amendment survive tomorrow's House floor session or will Grier nab the money back? And what will happen when the Senate gets in the picture?

My friend Taft Wireback has been writing about problems with the state tire contract for a while now, including a proposal to fix the current system.

The bill in question comes in both House and Senate flavors, and it is the Senate version that looks like it might run first.

The Senate Commerce Committee heard the bill today but was on the verge of voting the thing down before Chairman R.C. Soles figured out it was about to die and ended the meeting. It would come back another day, he said.

Ralph Edelberg, an engineer with the Division of Purchasing and Contracts, helped cause the delay. He said the bill would restrict the division's ability to get contracts that various state agencies want.

Members of the committee were concerned that the bill's language would specifically exclude White's Tire Service, of Wilson, from bidding on the state tire contract because of the "bead-to-bead" process they use to repair process.

Sen. Tony Rand, the Senate majority leader, said that he thought the bill was suppose to open the state tire contract to more competition. But he complained that it looked like it went to the opposite direction, making it so at least one company could not compete.

"It looks to me like we're just flipping it, we're favoring the other side," Rand said.

That "other side" would be companies like BesTreads in Winston-Salem and Snider Tire of Greensboro.

Meanwhile, Sen. Katie Dorsett said he objection was that the state purchasing division had not been consulted on the crafting of the bill.

More to come on this one.

The original draft of the House budget released last night was remarkable for its lack of local projects. There was no money, leadership said, to pay for lots of small projects when there were big priorities - such as mental health and education - that needed tending and not a lot of money to go around.

But the house appropriations committee is hard at work this afternoon and a Greensboro project that was not in the original draft has made its return.

The International Civil Rights Museum would receive $245,000 from the state under an amendment put forward and won by Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat and one of the "big chairs" of the appropriations committee. Originally, the museum appeared nowhere in the House spending plan.

At this point in the game, the honorables can't create money with new taxes and they can't exchange money between different sections of the budget. So if there's a project one wants funded in the "General Government" section - as is the museum - one has to find money in that part of the budget. You can't, for example, take money from the natural and economic development section and shift it to education.

Adams found money used in the administration of the legislature and shifted it to the museum.

"I'm just trying to keep it alive so it will go to conference," Adams said.

The real game here for someone trying to fund a project is to make sure it is either in the governor's budget, the House budget or the Senate budget. All three, of course, would be best. But as long as it's in one, the item is alive. The civil rights museum was not in the governor's budget and the Senate has yet to take a whack at their spending plan.

Adams said she hoped the Senate would put funding into their budget. Either way, she said, the goal was to try to win as much as $1 million in state support for the museum this year.

Adams also said that Rep. Hugh Holliman - the House majority leader and someone who sits in on high-level budget discussions - had run and won an amendment that would put more money into the High Point Furniture Market. The original draft cut promotional aid to the market by 1 percent. Holliman's amendment would boost support by something close to $600,000, Adams said.

I had to scoot out of town unexpectedly this weekend - and let me tell you, the drive to Atlanta just stinks - and am just back in town. On my way back, friends let me know the House was getting ready to roll out its budget.

The budget bill and accompanying money report are posted online.

According to what House Speaker Joe Hackney told members Monday night, the House will run the bills through the Finance, Appropriations and other committees Tuesday. If Republicans don't pose procedural objections, the full House will debate the bill Wednesday and Thursday. After that, the Senate gets to take a crack at the bill.

The bill is likely to evolve over the next few days. There are always tweaks this way and that. But will less money available this year, expect the fights over the scraps in the next few days to get pretty darned heated.

Total spending is $21.3 billion. Republicans have called a presser to talk about the budget Tuesday morning, and I'm guessing they're going to say it spends too much.

After a quick run through the two documents, here are some things I noted:

• * Funding for the furniture market still takes a 1 percent cut to promotion budget.

• * A big facet of Gov. Mike Easley's mental health reform plans had been to consolidate the Local Management Entities that govern mental health services. The House budget bill would prohibit the governor and DHHS from doing this without scrutiny from the General Assembly.

• * UNCG gets a $42.7 million classroom building.

• * UNCG and NCA&T gets $1.85 million to plan for a joint data-processing center.

• * It will cost you more to get married and be born. The fee for a marriage license would go from $50 to $60 under the House plan. Newborn screening fees would go from $14 to $18.91.

From Gerry Cohen's bill drafting blog:

With filings today, the 4,962 total bills and 2,164 Senate bills filed in 2007-2008 are the highest since the 1913 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly saw 5,627 and 2,660 respectively. The House total of 2,798 bills filed in 2007-2008 was exceeded in the past century only by 2,967 in 1913 and 2,895 in 2005.

More here.

This confirms what anyone watching the bill filings must suspect.

What's really funny is we're in a session where there's supposed to be no money and we're supposed to get out of here faster than most years in recent history. Yet the honorables found more ways they'd like to spend money and more bills upon which they'd like to spend time.

There's a certain logic to some of this. By filing a bill, you can wave the flag for the home folks (or whatever constituency you're friendly with) and even if it goes nowhere, well, at least you filed a bill.

But one does wonder sometimes if what the honorables are thinking.

The paper this morning updated a few ongoing stories.

Legislators want the DOT to rethink how the agency does noise mitigation. This is especially key if the state builds a four-land highway outside your bedroom window.

This story covers more on Rep. Earl Jones' medical marijuana proposal. (Previously)

Finally, this story details how an odd sales tax ruling by the Department of Revenue could hurt the High Point furniture market. From the story:

But over the past few years, the Department of Revenue has decided that if someone buys a piece of furniture or even just a knickknack from a designer, all the services that designer provided to that customer should be taxed at the same rate.

That change threatens one of the fastest growing aspects of the furniture market in High Point, which hosts a semiannual trade show as well as a growing year-round trade.

"It is difficult in just working through this because if you sold a $10 lamp and $50,000 in design services you have to pay taxes on the whole $50,000...but that's our interpretation," Revenue Secretary Reginald Hinton told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.

Click here to listen to testimony from Brian Casey, with the market authority, and interior designer Susan Carson from Winston-Salem. And click here to listen to Sec. Reginald S. Hinton testify and committee discussion on this bill. (This second bit is way long, but if you're into this topic, there you go.)

I'm a little surprised this hasn't gotten more notice. From our friends at the Associated Press:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ North Carolina motorists could purchase a new license plate affixed with the words "Choose Life" in a measure approved by the state House Transportation Committee.

The panel on Wednesday backed the idea of the plate containing the anti-abortion phrase. More than 300 people would have to request the plate for it to be created.

Proceeds from the additional $25 required for each plate purchased would go to a special fund to benefit crisis pregnancy centers.

The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee.

Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina spokeswoman Paige Johnson said her group opposes the bill and believes legislative leaders won't support allocating money for centers that fail to provide information to women about all of their options if they are pregnant.

Click here for the bill itself, H932.

Sure, it's three weeks into the session, but the House Democrats rolled out their priorities for the session. No big surprises: education and drop-out prevention figure prominently, health care for kids and bolstering the mental health system do to.

Speaker Joe Hackney and Majority Leader Hugh Holliman stressed they were looking for money for key priorities and having to find cuts. When asked about the dozens and dozens of small appropriations bills that members were filing to lay claim to slivers of the budget pie, Holliman smiled.

"I would suggest to you that there will be very, very limited funds making it into the budget," he said.

Rep. Nelson Cole, a big wheel on transportation issues, acknowledged that there had been talk about a bond issues for building roads and such.

"That decision will not be made until we get close to the end of session," he said.

For you masochists out there, click here to listen to the 25 minute Q+A with us scruffy media types. (Audio link is repaired.)

The AP's take after the jump.

Sen. Stan Bingham has been away from the General Assembly for a couple weeks. One of his daughters got married, another was graduating law school.

Bingham is always good for a story, especially when returning from a road trip. And today, on the Senate floor was no different.

This one involves a missing license plate, a police officer, the lack of shirt and a thorough search of his vehicle.

Click here to listen in.

One quote: "You mean to tell me you're in the North Carolina Senate?"

I noted earlier a bill that would expand the General Assembly's police powers. Sen. Tony Rand, it's sponsor, told me today that the bill is designed to allow the General Assembly take care of itself when it hits the road. The road trip to Greensboro last week was part of the inspiration. Basically, Rand said it shouldn't be local government's responsibility to provide security when the General Assembly takes its show on the road.

Sen. Phil Berger has filed a bill to prevent Community Colleges from admitting illegal immigrants. This appears to follow on the controversy from a couple weeks ago that had the AG and Gov. Easley playing tit-for-tat.

Sen. Katie Dorsett says state employees should get a 7 percent raise.

Sen. Kay Hagan wants to support soccer with a license plate. Rep. Brubaker and Hurley of Randolph County have offered up a Victory Junction Gang plate.

Rep. Alma Adams wants the state to put millions into preventing foreclosures.

And Rep. Pricey Harrison wants North Carolina companies to stop using coal mined through mountain-top removal. Click here to listen to her explain the thing.

Cross-posted from Inside Scoop.

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

Scoop has been writing about the back and forth between the county commissioner and the Guilford County legislative delegation over the sales tax.

Quick summary: The commissioners put a bunch of bonds on the May ballot that would have been paid back with a new 1/4 cent sales tax. That sales tax failed by a wide margin. So the commissioners asked the legislature to let them hold a referendum on a 1 penny sales tax, which is four times as much for those of your reaching for a pencil. The legislators have said "no" - and to be honest, a lot of them sort of giggled when they wondered out loud about the logic of going back to the voters in such a short time. At any rate, the commissioners are now blaming the legislature for the tax hikes that will come as a result of the bonds the commissioners put on the ballot.

Clear as mud? Good.

Well, former Guilford County Republican Party Chairman Marcus Kindley is apparently siding with the commissioners and sent members of the legislative delegation a nasty-gram recently. Kindley gave up his spot as county chairman to run for state chairman, a race he lost. (He also gave up his blog, the address for which was taken over by some non-family friendly folks. It's not safe for work, or really, anywhere.)

Here's Kindley's epistle to the legislative delegation, as provided by Rep. John Blust:

An Open Letter to the Guilford County Legislative Delegation

As a Guilford County taxpayer, Property Owner and Business Owner with over 60 associated persons; I wanted to inform you that I am considering organizing a 527 in order to inform the voters of Guilford County about our current tax situation.

In essence our delegation to the State of North Carolina has condemned those individuals in Guilford County who have worked hard, saved money, created jobs by building their businesses and purchased both office spaces and homes to rising property taxes from now as far as the eye can see! It is through their tax dollars that you have the ability to sit in a building in Raleigh, drive there on State and Federal Roads and FAIL the people you represent.

Property owners are asked to bear the burden of the bond issues passed in Guilford mainly for Schools. As a Municipal Bond Principal, licensed by the MSRB(Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board) the SEC and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Agency formerly the NASD) I DO understand accrual of interest, sinking funds, and paying back the funds borrowed. I also understand that we will be paying back much more than we have issued in bonds. To my knowledge none of you hold such a designation ( I have held mine for 21 years) and being elected to office does not make one intelligent in these various areas.

By not allowing a VOTE ( the very principal of American Democracy) on a 1 cent sales tax on the ballot in November you have CONDEMNED all those voters who work hard, play by the rules to be overwhelmed with an undue part of the burden for a future tax collections to repay the bonds you may have championed. ( We will research this)

You are being unfair. To let those who spend their money in Guilford County share in the funds collected to repay these bonds is only fair. And that will be the theme of our 527 advertisements.

As a business owner, former 3 term Chairman of the Guilford County Republican Party, and civic leader I know how to use PR to make our case.

We’ll ask children if they think it is fair for some to pay while others don’t, We’ll ask older citizens if they think it is fair for them to bear ALL of the cost while they live on Social Security. This will be a campaign rarely seen in Guilford County. Actually I should thank you for providing such a clear cut issue of UNFAIRNESS and UN-AMERICAN representation by our elected officials. It may be the beginning of the Guilford County Voter taking a closer look at how our Government works for them and wake them up to how much representation is lacking in Raleigh.


Sincerely,
Marcus Kindley
CEO
Intercarolina Financial Services
( A Full Service Brokerage Firm)

Sen. Robert Pittenger has resigned.

He is the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Sen. Walter Dalton, the Democratic nominee, has made no such move so far. He said after the Senate session that he had "too much work to do here."

Click here to listen to Senate President Pro Temp Marc Basnight wish him well and then Pittenger say a few words.

Pittenger will be at a bit of an advantage on fundraising for the moment, since state law limits what legislators can raise while the session is going.

The N.C. General Assembly has its own police force, which is responsible for patrolling the grounds and generally keeping the honorables safe. They are real cops, with badges, guns and arrest powers.

Sen. Tony Rand, the Senate majority leaders and a Fayetteville Democrat, wants to expand their powers.

Right now, a General Assembly police officer automatically has jurisdiction anywhere within the territory bounded by 440 in Wake County, essentially inside the beltline.

Rand has filed S 1957, which would expand that authority to all of Wake County.

It also would imbue the General Assembly police with police powers while on a variety of protective details, including "providing physical security for any special event sanctioned by the General Assembly being held outside of Wake county such as local, state, regional, or national meetings of legislative bodies or representative organizations in this State, while accompanying a member of the General Assembly to or from any event listed in this subdivision, or while assigned to protect any other dignitary as requested be either the Speaker or the House or the President Pro Tempore of the Senate."

I'll see if the opportunity arises to ask Sen. Rand about what this is all about later today.

Now that the Senate has done some gang legislation (whether Greensboro's mayor likes it or not) and the Guilford delegation has shot down Billy Yow's hopes of a 1-cent sales tax bump, they honorables are heading to Greensboro today.

My colleague J. Brian Ewing will handle coverage of the festivities. More background here.

With the gang of 170 out of town, those of us who cover the legislature will be using the day to get some real work done...or at least catch up on our Scrabulous matches.

The honorables are filing bills like they're going out of style. (What, you want more folksy sayings from my grandmother? Fine: They've filed more bills than Carter has pills.) At any rate, it's a lot to plow through.

Here are some of the more interesting filings from Guilford and Rockingham legislators:

• * The Guilford County delegation has filed a bill to change Greensboro's recall law. It would prevent a recall election from happening in the first six months or last six months of a council member's term in office.

  However, it also adds some other language that voters may or may not be comfy with:

  The grounds for recall must be for cause, misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, or a violation of the oath of office. A recall petition must be registered with the Guilford County Board of Elections before it is circulated for signatures; however, no recall petition may be registered within six months before a general election involving the members named in the petition.

  Not really sure how someone would litigate that first bit.

• * You already know Rep. Earl Jones (D-Greensboro) wants to "legalize it," and about the bill he filed then didn't. He also says cities and counties should be required to regulate dangerous critters.

• * Rep. Nelson Cole (D-Rockingham) says Wentworth should change back to electing all their council members every two years. He also wants to give the university system $5 million to build a horse park in Rockingham County.

• * Sen. Stan Bingham (R-Davidson and Guilford) wants to make it so drivers licenses for those under 21-years-old to be printed vertically. The idea is that it will be easy for bartenders and liquor store clerks to tell who can get served and who can't.

• * Rep. John Blust has filed a bill that tweaks how Summerfield's council fills vacancies.

• * If you were looking for Rep. Pricey Harrison's plastic bag bill, it's been given a bill number: H 2527. She's also filed a bill disapproving the raw milk rule.

The honorables are filing so many bills right now, there's no room on the racks outside the House Clerk's offices to fit them all. So it takes something really off to grab my attention.

H 2482 did just that. If you click on that link, you might not see anything amiss. After all, it's not unusual for legislators to seek funding for nonprofits.

In this case, the bill asks for $3 million to plow into the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro.

But if you looked at that same web page this afternoon, you would have seen this (click to enlarge):

If you take a look, that version of the bill information shows Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat is the second primary sponsor. That's not a position you get if you absent-mindedly sign the bill, but sort of gives you pride of place right behind the author.

And if you take a look at this page from the civil rights center, you'll see Jones is a member and officer of the board for the civil rights center.

I now direct your attention to G.S. 138A 37, which governs conflicts of interests by legislators:

Except as permitted under G.S. 138A 38, no legislator shall knowingly participate in a legislative action if the legislator, a member of the legislator's extended family, the legislator's client, a business with which the legislator is associated, or a nonprofit corporation or organization with which the legislator is associated, has an economic interest in, or may reasonably and foreseeably benefit from the action... (eds note: bold mine)

G.S. 138A 38 lays out exemptions.

When I asked around, Rep. Rick Glazier, who chairs the House ethics committee, said without knowing more about the facts of this particular case, he couldn't say whether one of those exemptions applied.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Davidson Democrat and the House majority leader, was less circumspect.

"I just think that's a conflict of interest and I would hope he would recuse himself from the issue," Holliman said.

Out of fairness, it's worth nothing that up through 2006, it was common practice for legislators to sponsor appropriations bills that directly benefited their organizations. Rep. Alma Adams used to regularly file one on behalf of her arts group in Greensboro, for example.

But the ethics tsunami that swept in after Speaker Jim Black was sent to the federal pen sought to address some of the blatant self-dealing. Of course, now legislators are usually bright enough just to get their friends to sponsor bills for the nonprofit in question.

At about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jones said he was not aware of any conflict. When reminded that he did not sign on to a similar bill filed in 2007, Jones recalled that was right after the state's ethics laws had undergone a major rewrite.

"At that time the rules had just come out and there was a big question mark about everything," Jones said. It may have been the uncertainty about the rules that caused him to beg off last year.

"I'll have to check on that," he said.

Well, apparently he checked with someone who has a pretty clear ready on the statute.

He called about an hour later to say he had been given advice that sponsoring that bill would have been a conflict and a breach of the ethics act and that he called the House Clerk's office to remove his name.

A check of the bill jacket later this afternoon showed his named had been scratched out, and he no longer shows up as a sponsor online.

Still, this was a case that even if it didn't step over the letter of the law, certainly raised some very immediate red flags. One might be forgiven for asking Jones what exactly he was smoking.

A coda to all this: when told that Jones had removed his name, Glazier said the Greensboro legislator was likely out of any jeopardy. "That would seem to me to resolve any problems."

So Rep. Earl Jones wants to study medical marijuana. He filed H 2405 today.

The measure would not legalize marijuana for medicinal use. Rather, it seeks a legislative study, which is a way that legislators float ideas and round up support for an idea. Jones said he would hope to file a legalization bill in 2008.

He said he was hoping for a "joint" study committee, which really means that both House and Senate members would sit on it, but sounds far funnier than that in this context. Such bills usually get wrapped into one omnibus piece of legislation that governs all study bills at the end of session, so what he's really doing by filing the bill is asking leaders to stick this study in that package.

"It's a health and quality of life issues," Jones said. There is evidence, he said, that medical use of marijuana can help those with cancer and other diseases combat symptoms of their illness and/or treatment. "Once people get accurate information, they always support the right position."

But I'll let Jones tell you more himself.

Rep. Verla Insko was one of at least two legislators to speak to "The Coalition," a group of agencies and groups formed to push for better mental health and related funding. She seemed upbeat about the chances of some key bits of mental health funding.

(Yes, I know I need a tripod.)

The Guilford County legislative delegation met today. Even if the commissioners pass a resolution asking for the ability to put a one-cent sales tax on the November ballot, the delegation will not file such a bill.

All six members who were around to discuss the sales tax about 25 minutes ago expressed some level of skepticism. Rep. Maggie Jeffus was trying to see if she had approval to go forward and was explaining the procedure for getting the bill filed.

Rep. Pricey Harrison was the first person to speak up against it.

"I do not approve so I'll save you the time," Harrison said. "I'm just fundamentally opposed to these regressive taxes."

Sales taxes are said to be regressive because they take a higher percentage of income from poor families than they do from the wealth.

Rep. Earl Jones and Katie Dorsett also said they didn't understand why the commissioners would come back for such a tax referendum only weeks after one for a 1/4 cent failed.

Because this is the legislative short session - a kind of over-time period meant to tweak the budget and take care of urgent business - local bills that do not have the support of their entire legislative delegation are not eligible for consideration.

There are some real characters wandering about the General Assembly today - and not just the elected sort.

Yes, that's Sen. Tony Rand reading a book to school kids flanked by Little Red Riding Hood and some fairy-queen-magical looking critter. Not pictured: the Cat in the Hat.

The state association of library directors is lobbying for a $5 million appropriation down here today.

Also in the building: A coalition of big-city mayors pushing for anti-gang legislation. Those bills are on the Senate calendar this afternoon.

Background here.

Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson is not up here in Raleigh due to scheduling conflicts. However, she said on the phone that she's less than impressed with the effort to criminalize recruiting or belonging to a gang.

"But I think differently from a lot of people," Johnson said. In addition to being mayor, Johnson runs the nonprofit "One Step Further," which works to provide sentencing alternatives and helps youth offenders get back in the community.

"We could get a whole lot more out of trying to change person's behavior from negative to positive than out of putting everybody in jail," Johnson said. That puts her more in favor of the rehabilitation bill coming from the Senate than the punishment piece in the House bill.

More later.

North Carolina's state budget isn't in the same bad straits as states like Virginia. Part of that has to do with the fact that state budget writers were conservative in their budget estimates. And part of that has to do with the fact our economy seems to be doing a bit better here than the nation as a whole.

Click here to listen to a conversation about just that from the House Finance Committee this morning. The first person asking a question is Rep. Larry Womble.

Stories from today's paper

• * A wrap up on the school lunch issue.

• * Who wants to raise a sales tax? Billy does.

• * Road trip. The General Assembly is heading to Greensboro Thursday.

Today at the General Assembly: Mayors are coming to lobby on gangs, service providers are coming to lobby on mental health, librarians are coming to lobby for books and the House continues to assemble a budget.

Last year, the General Assembly set aside a pile of cash to build a nanotechnology school as a joint project between UNCG and NCA&T. (Background: here and here.)

This year the Guilford County delegation is coming back for funding ($2.9 million) to staff up the schools. (House and Senate bills.)

One would presume the legislature isn't going to build a spiffy building without hiring some folks to occupy it, but you never know.

Cross posted from Inside Scoop.

-=-=-=-=-=-

So earlier this month, about three-quarters of voters in Guilford County rejected a one-quarter-cent sales tax increase.

If you're Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow, what do you do?

That's right: ask the General Assembly to authorize a referendum on a full penny increase. You'll find that little nugget squirled away at the end of this coming Thursday's commissioners meeting agenda. You can read the proposed resolution here. (PDF)

I got wind of this from Rep. Maggie Jeffus, a Greensboro Democrat who chairs the Guilford County legislative delegation here at the General Assembly. I think she was a bit surprised to see this request show up, but agreed to look into running it.

In an e-mail, Sharron Kurtz, a lawyer for the county, sent Jeffus a copy of the resolution.

"Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow has requested that I forward to you a proposed resolution that will be presented to the Board for their consideration at their next meeting...The one cent would be committed exclusively for repayment of educational debt," Kurtz wrote.

There are a few problems right off the bat with doing this sort of thing down here. Drafting deadlines for legislation and rules governing what is or is not a "local bill" may be hard to get around.

But the biggie may be the requirement that all 10 members of the county legislative delegation sign off on this thing.

Several members expressed skepticism that they could bring themselves to back such a measure, even if the legislative voodoo can be done.

"I'm going to have to talk to several folks, because the voters just said 'no,'" said Rep. Laura Wiley, a High Point Republican.

Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham Republican who represents parts of Guilford County, was similarly skeptical.

"I'd like to see the request before I make too much of a commitment, but I'll tell you I believe the voters of Guilford County have spoken on the issue of whether their taxes ought to be raised," Berger said.

Gerald Witt is reporting out a story for tomorrow's paper, which I'm sure will include some comments from Mr. Yow.

For those interested in the school lunch story you can click here to listen to Cynthia Sevier, who heads Guilford County's school nutrition program, explain the problems she is having.

School nutrition programs have come to the General Assembly today, saying they need more money. (Click here for the online story on that.) Guilford County is among those looking at a potential shortfall.

Meanwhile, the Senate Rules Committee has moved the House gang prevention bill to the floor. It will be debated in the Senate when a certain Charlotte mayor who happens to be running for governor as a Republican and has made gangs a key part of his campaign platform is in town tomorrow.

When Pat McCrory comes to town, the honorables will be dealing a version of the bill that deals less with rehabilitation, a concern raised by Sen. Martin Nesbitt, whose Judiciary Committee worked on the bill last year.

"Our committee went in the direction of trying to save these young people and extract them from gangs," Nesbitt said.

There was some indication that the "extraction" issue might be taken up in a conference committee.

In case anyone hasn't been paying attention, McCrory is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue, who will likely preside over the Senate session tomorrow. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether McCrory now gets to declare victory for pushing an anti-gang bill through or whether he will be irked that the Senate is depriving him of the argument that the legislature isn't moving on the issue?

Instant Update: Before I even had a chance to cut and paste into MoveableType, who should walk into to the building by McCrory himself.

"I'd love to lose the political campaign issue of crime," McCrory said.

Click here to listen to more of his answer.

Update: But wait, there's more! After the Senate floor session today, the Rules Committee met yet again on Senate Bill 1358, which addresses the gang prevention side that Nesbitt was talking about.

When asked if this flurry of activity might have anything to do with Democrats trying to help a certain Lt. Governor, Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said:

"I would argue to you that everything we do in this building or within 400 yards around here has political implications."

Click here to listen to his full answer.

Two (unrelated) stories from today's paper:

• Greensboro Rep. Pricey Harrison wants to require stores to provide for plastic bag recycling.

• Local clergy were talking about the death penalty Monday night. Sen. Phil Berger was quoted about wanting to end the de facto moratorium on executions in North Carolina.

Berger will be talking about that very topic at a noon news conference today.

The dead tree edition of the paper carried a story today about a nascent effort to opt North Carolina out of the federal ID law.

You can read the legislation in question by clicking here.

As noted in the story, there are some civil liberties concerns with REAL ID: having a gigantic federal database with a lot of information about private citizens, etc...

But this feels to me to be a worry about money. Rep. Nelson Cole says the choice is simple: do the stuff to comply with REAL ID or pave roads. He'd rather pave roads.

North Carolina is not the first to kick up a fuss and you can get some good background on the federal program by clicking here.

If I were forced to read between the lines of what everyone was telling me last week, I'd say the states who are passing these sorts of measures are stalling for time. Recognizing that the Dept. of Homeland Security has already effectively delayed implementation of the program until the end of 2009, states are hoping that a new president and new Congress will tweak the rules to their liking or get rid of the thing entirely.

That said, I get the feeling that if Congress were to pony up $450 million or so to help states defray the cost of putting the systems in place, they'd have somewhere around 45 of 50 on board as soon as the checks were in the mail.

Congressman Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican, said he was "disappointed" North Carolina was making noise like it didn't want to play, but he understood the dilemma budget writers were in. Congressman Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, had this to say in an e-mail:

The concept of a national identification system with centralized repositories and tracking capabilities has always been controversial. I am wary of national security plans that may be exploited to undermine the rights of our citizens and could ultimately undermine privacy rights as well as the right to travel.

However, in order to make Real ID less burdensome, states should have more flexibility and funding to update their systems to meet objectives similar to those of Real ID. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should also consider allowing states reciprocity for people who have already been verified for certain federal identification cards. We must do everything we can to ensure the safety of our citizens against the threat of terrorism. But the states should not be forced to take on this responsibility alone.

I was trying to get a sense on Friday of how this bill might fair in the short session. It's very much the type of thing that could get squirled away in the budget, so it wouldn't have to run on its own. That's probably the nicest thing you can say about a piece of legislation right now, since most folks on Jones Street are still saying this session will run faster than a lard-slicked Slip 'n Slide. I didn't get the sense that it was on either the House or Senate leadership's radar as either a bill to kill or expedite.

Greensboro State Sen. Kay Hagan gave up her position as co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee today.

She will, according to the Senate President Pro Temp's office, remain in an "advisory capacity," although the exact title and role has yet to be fleshed out.

Leaving the same post is Sen. Walter Dalton, of Rutherford County.

Dalton is the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, Hagan is running for the U.S. Senate against Elizabeth Dole.

Hagan's appointment to the budget post in 2003 marked an ascendancy in influence for not only her, but the Guilford County delegation as a whole. Until then, the county and Triad delegations had a reputation as a mid-level crew overshadowed by more powerful groups from Charlotte and down east.

(Oddly enough: Replacing Hagan and Dalton will be Sen. Charlie Albertson, from Duplin County in the east, and Charles Dannelly from Charlotte.)

But today, in addition to Hagan, two House members - Reps. Alma Adams and Maggie Jeffus - from Guilford County sit on the House appropriations committee, a Senator - Katie Dorsett - is the Democratic whip in her chamber, and at least two other fairly junior legislators - Reps. Pricey Harrison and Earl Jones - can lay claim to committee chairmanships.

What this means for Hagan is a little unclear. Certainly she'll have less of the nuts and bolts work on the budget to do. Her "advisory" status probably gives her enough status to advocate for key items and license to be in the room during the highest levels of negotiations.

Hagan had already been handing off pieces of her legislative portfolio, such as the raw milk bill. But this is pretty much an indication that she's clearing her decks of most responsibilities in order to focus on the U.S. Senate race.

Click here to listen to Sen. Phil Berger explain why he has blocked the local bill on protest petitions.

Guilford County's legislative delegation to the General Assembly has decided not to run a bill that would restore protest petitions to Greensboro. That decision was reached during a legislative delegation meeting that wrapped up in the past hour.

Under rules for the legislative short session, legislators are prohibited from running bills that are controversial among their delegation. One objection is enough to stop a bill from being filed.

In the case of Greensboro, all legislators who represent a portion of the city must sign off on such a bill.

Sen. Phil Berger was the foremost "no" vote. His district covers all of Rockingham County and portions of Guilford County, including areas where the city has done satellite annexations.

Berger explained that without a resolution from City Council asking for the change, and with numerous people e-mailing him both in support and against the bill, the measure is better left until the legislature returns in 2009.

"I don't think anyone can say this is not controversial," Berger said.

Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, was going to file the bill but confirmed she could not do so under the rules.

More on this later.

Some honorables want to repeal the land transfer tax while others talked about other taxing issues on Wednesday.

The Guilford County legislative delegation, the 10 members who represent the county at the General Assembly, is due to get together Thursday. They are due to meet immediately after "the last house adjourns." Both the House and Senate are scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. and have extremely light calendars so figure this meeting is going to start sometime before 11 a.m. (I'd say 10:30 a.m., but there's a good chance one chamber or the other will dither around for a bit before adjourning.)

According to Rep. Maggie Jeffus, the chairman of the delegation, the assembled honorables will:

• * hear from DOT on the Urban Loop noise issue in the Kings Mill neighborhood.

• * discuss protest petitions. We may find out whether the 100 percent support to file a bill exists. Under the rules that govern the short session, a local bill can't be filed unless all legislators who represent the affected area sign on.

• * discuss others parts of the Greensboro City Council legislative agenda, including whether to put the city attorney under the supervision of the city council, rather than the manager.

I'll be keeping an eye on their doings.

Because the honorables can't resist the urge to write-up new laws when they come back to town, I've been trolling the bill filings. A few things of note:

• * Three members have filed a bill to repeal the sales and land transfer tax options given to counties last year.

• * Sen. Dorsett filled the bill to bring the General Assembly to Greensboro next week.

• * Market money.

• * Money for the zoo.

• * Nelson Cole says "Go team!"

With the legislature due to return today, the Skip and Phil show returned as well. That is Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam and Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican minority leaders in the House and Senate.

Their tradition last session was to hold a weekly news conference or two to comment on what was going on that week, basically getting the GOP spin on issues before us scruffy media types.

What's going on this week is the budget and both Berger and Stam say that Gov. Mike Easley's proposal falls short of the mark.

Click here to listen to Stam's take.

And Click here to listen to Berger's take.

The bigger news bulletin from the news conference might be the appearance of Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the Republican nominee for Governor. Most of the Senate lined up behind Senator Fred Smith during the primary, but today they were all playing nice together.

Click here to listen to McCrory's remarks, where he gets behind the GOP agenda and says he'll push for new gang legislation. The gang bill in question has passed the House but is awaiting hearing in the Senate. (There's also a Senate version of the bill, which seems to be a little less get-tough and a little more prevention oriented.)

Gov. Easley's budget provides money for tackling new problems, such as the mess in mental health care.

But it also would chip away at some long-standing issues that have flown kind of under the radar. One example: subsidized child care.

The state pays to subsidize child care for low income families so the parents can head to work. It's not only a social service, but something economic developers say is useful in creating a stable workforce.

Easley's budget would spend enough to remove 1,110 children from the waiting list, all of it in federal block grant funds. He didn't propose putting any state funding into it.

Just by way of comparison, there are somewhere north of 27,000 kids on waiting lists for subsidized spots.

As part of this story I mentioned that the governor has included three items for the N.C. Zoo in his proposed budget.

The Zoo in Asheboro is an agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and as such, it shouldn't be a big shock that the taxpayers would be called upon to invest in the thing. However, this is going to be a tight budget year and there will be people lobbying for holding the line on taxes and funding various programs for people critters.

So here was my question yesterday when Easley's budget advisor Dan Gerlach took the podium: with all the various interests competing for dollars, how do you sell expenditures on polar bears? (More on them in a second.)

"What we're getting at is the fact the zoo...our capitol people, our hard core number crunchers...I think it's safe to say they're mortified by what they saw at the zoo in terms of the amount of capitol construction and rebuilding that needs to happen," Gerlach said. "The place is, I'm not going to say falling apart, but it needs some help."

The zoo has about 500-acres of exhibits and it can take a lot to keep up with basic maintenance, just ask anyone who tried to go gawk at the animals last weekend.

And in fact, up until last year's budget, the state had not put any big expansion or renovation money into the zoo for 14 years. Last year the zoo got a barn to house some antelope and a shed for its grounds keeping tools - albeit a pretty large one. During those 14 years, the zoo was able to expand thanks largely to private donors. And the General Assembly did make with some smaller repair money.

This year, the governor included three items:

• * $2.7 million to expand the polar bear exhibit, with another $1.8 million coming from donations.
• * $2.7 million to build a permanent children's zoo exhibit, with another $1.8 million coming from donations. There is a temporary children's exhibit there now.
• * $600,000 to plan the replacement of the African pavilion, with another $400,000 coming from donations. It would cost more to fix the old building than to rebuild the whole thing.

Here's the deal with the polar bears, according to the zoo spokesman Rod Hackney:

The zoo had two polar bears up until recently when one died from liver problems. The zoo wants to get some more polar bears but there are none available from American zoos. There are polar bears to be had in Canada.

However, Canadian zoos have more stringent standards than American zoos when it comes to loaning or transferring polar bears. To meet those standards, the zoo would have to double the size of the polar bear exhibit and make some other tweaks. Most notably, the zoo would need to convert the polar bear's pool from a freshwater tank to a saltwater tank.

Polar bear fans will want to keep an eye on this item as the budget goes through the legislative wringer. Somehow I doubt the zoo is going to let the bear come down and lobby in person, in which case I'd bet he'd get his new exhibit pdq.

This picture is from the zoo website, where you can learn more about bears.

Click here for my newspaper story on Gov. Easley's tax and budget proposal.

For a different view, here's the Grand McClatchy Empire's take.

The honorables return to Raleigh at high noon today.

Oh, woe is us, the Jordan Lake Rules are at hand.

Eh, not so much.

I've written about these things before (here / here / here / here) but it for those coming late to the story:

The Haw River sweeps through the Triad, taking leftovers from storm water runoff, sewage plants, bits of farm fertilizer, etc... with it. At the end of its run, the Haw feeds into the southern end of Jordan Lake.

Jordan Lake, which serves as a water supply in the Triangle area, has problems with pollution in the form of too much nitrogen and phosphorus that cause algae blooms and other problems.

So on Friday, the Environmental Review Commission approved new rules that would help curb pollution in the Haw River arm. From a news release sent out by DENR:

The approved nutrient management strategy is comprised of 11 rules that define the strategy’s goals and set requirements for nutrient management, agriculture, wastewater discharges and storm water management for new and existing development and government entities. The rules also address buffer protection and mitigation for buffer impacts and provide criteria for trading nutrient reduction requirements among different sources of nutrients to achieve more cost effective options. The goals for reducing nutrients are based on nutrient loads entering Jordan Lake between 1997 and 2001.

That all sounds fine and dandy, but there's significant cost attached to accomplishing all of that. Ballpark estimates say the City of Greensboro will spend a minimum of $70 million just to upgrade sewage plants. And the city could be forced to tear into existing neighborhoods to create storm water controls and developers are none to happy about the idea of doing all this either.

So are these rules going into effect right away? No.

Next stop is the Rules Review Commission, which will knock things about and then almost certainly enough people will write protest letters to knock things back to the General Assembly.

And because of all the moving pieces involved, most folks don't think the legislature is going to get it back before 2009. And once it's back in the General Assembly, expect both sides to release all their various hounds for a big ol' legislative showdown. My guess is we're looking at 11-monhts minimum before we know what the outcome of this will be.

Last year I wrote a couple times (here and here) about a scrape over the state's agricultural research stations. From one story:

But a proposal by state senators to transfer management of the 18 research stations from the Department of Agriculture to N.C. State has sparked an argument involving land conservation, government efficiency and the state’s $20 billion budget.

The provision was eventually booted from the budget, but is now apparently under study by the legislature's professional research staff. In particular, a new division designed to root out waste has taken aim. From columnist Scott Mooneyham:

A draft report already prepared by the division recommends closing seven of the 18 stations, selling the land for an estimated $54.7 million and generating $3.9 million in annual savings. The remaining stations would be operated by N.C. State and N.C. A&T State universities. Currently, the state Department of Agriculture operates most the stations.

The seven stations that would be closed encompass nearly 6,900 acres and have 55 full-time employees.

One key finding in the report: Only a couple of other states operate more agriculture research stations than North Carolina; California and Texas have fewer.

[snip]

But the issue is bigger than just the consolidation of agricultural research stations.

These recommendations are really a test case for this notion that the legislature can set aside cronyism and turf protection and the pork barrel mentality. Will these analysts provide independent, objective assessments that are heeded by legislators, or will they ultimately serve up justification for the political whims of their political masters?

Click here to read the whole column.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Senate: ranked out of 50

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

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

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

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

House: ranked out of 119

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Closing arguments are today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All that makes sense in a simple sort of way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[snip]

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

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

It's pretty obvious why former Rep. Thomas Wright voted against his expulsion from the House Thursday. It may have been the one motive of his that wasn't questioned during speeches on the House floor.

But for the four others who voted not to expel Wright, that could be a tough vote to talk about in the upcoming election. But a quick check of SBOE filings shows that won't be much of a concern.

Rep. Earl Jones, of Greensboro, has no announced competition in the primary or general elections.

Reps. Earline Parmon, of Winston-Salem, has no announced competition in the primary or general elections.

Larry Womble, of Winston-Salem, has no announced competition in the primary or general elections.

Mary McAllister, of Fayetteville, faces Elmer Floyd in the primary. There is no registered Republican. Floyd has tried and failed to unseat McCallister three times.

That said, there are plenty of other honorables who voted to chuck Wright to the curb who don't have any competition to speak of. But the trend was worth noting.

Here are sounds and comments from the General Assembly session to expel Rep. Thomas Wright:

Wright did not have a lot to say after he was expelled today, letting his lawyers respond to questions from reporters. He did comment on one question about what he was hearing from people in his district. "They still support me...We'll let the people of the district make their decision soon." Click here to listen.

Previously: Rep. Maggie Jeffus.

One of Wright's defense lawyers, Irving Joyner of the North Carolina Central University Law School, called the House's action "a prime example of a rush to judgment. Click here to listen to some of his comments after the expulsion.

Rep. Laura Wiley of High Point sat on the special ethics committee that heard the bulk of the Wright case. "I think the seriousness and the evidence lead us to the only thing we could of done, which was expulsion," she said after the hearing. Click here to listen to more of her comments.

Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, said that getting rid of Wright only throws out one bad apple, but doesn't protect the entire barrel. "Until we stop having certain people be able to control the flow of bills at the expense of the entire body ... there's going to be abuse of that power." Click here to listen to more of his comments.

Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, pushed for censure rather than expulsion. Click here to listen to his comments, made after ethics committee chairman Rick Glazier, a Democrat, and co-chairman Paul Stam, a Republican, urged the chamber to reject Jones' motion. "It's wrong to just trump and veto the voters who are going to go to the polls (during) the May 6 primary and decide Rep. Wright's fate," he said.

Wright spoke for less than four minutes in his own defense. Click here to listen to his full comments.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Davidson County Democrat and the House Majority Leader, offered the last piece of debate on the expulsion motion before it was voted. "Every other power and authority granted to us by the people of the state rests on our ability to make sure that above all, the members of our body are fit to serve the public," Holliman said. Click here to listen to his full comments.

That's it from me for now. The lady of the tavern has promised more audio, and the Legion of Dome has put up a short video of the day's proceedings.

The vote on censuring rather than expelling Rep. Wright was 12-102. Rep. Earl Jones, Rep. Alma Adams, and Rep. Maggie Jeffus all voted in favor.

The vote to expell Wright was 109-5.

Rep. Earl Jones was the only member of the Guilford delegation to vote against expulsion. Reps. Earline Parmon of Winston-Salem, Larry Womble of Winston-Salem, Mary McAllister of Fayetteville and Wright himself were the other no votes.

Rep. Wright has stood up to speak to Rep. Jones' motion for censure rather than expulsion.

"I am innocent of the criminal charges before me, however, I need an opportunity to prove that. This less than the appropriate setting to do that," he said.

He says he can't speak his mind and fully defend himself on the House floor without compromising his criminal case.

"My voters will have a chance to make that decision in 60 days," Wright said, his voice cracking.

Rep. Earl Jones of Guilford County has carried through with his promise to offer a censure alternative. He is introducing it now.

Jones called expulsion a "serious, extreme" punishment. "It is not practical, just or fair to do so given the present circumstances," Jones said.

Jones argued, among other things, pointed out there is a court case ongoing and that Wright could be found not guilty. "If Rep. Wright is exonerated by the courts, is it fair or justice," for the House to expell him.

He further argued that expulsion disenfranchises voters in Wright's district.

Rep. Rick Glaizer, chairman of the ethics, disagrees.

"I don't know how we argue...how we tell the public that $180,000 is censure. You've got to do $250,000 before we expell you," Glaizer said, referring to the amount on money that Wright is said to have pocketed but not reported to the Board of Elections.

Jones came back to debate a second time.

"We shouldn't just be expelling members without a higher standard than clear and convincing evidence," Jones said. He continued later, "Beyond a reasonable doubt, is that too much to ask."

Two final notes (for tonight) on Thursday's special session called to discipline Thomas Wright:

• * I'm told that the Legislative Black Caucus, which is headed by Greensboro Rep. Alma Adams, decided not to take a position on expulsion. The caucus, you may remember, accused colleagues of rushing to judgment on Wright last year.

  It sounds to me like the caucus couldn't reach a consensus on what ought to be done and didn't want to put members in a position of having to answer why they didn't vote with the group. That means there are at least a few members in the group who feel strongly that Wright needs to be expelled.

• * I asked Greensboro Rep. Earl Jones if he stood by earlier comments that he would ask for censure not expulsion. He does.

  "The reasonable, practical and just thing to do is to censure him," Jones said. "We should respect the democratic process and the legal process." Jones said that voters in the May 6 primary will have the option of keeping Wright, and court proceedings are already under way.

  When asked if he thought he censure idea would fly, Jones said, "I don't know. This train is running pretty fast here."

  He did say party leaders assured him the rules for tomorrow's session would allow him to at least run the censure motion.

See you at 10 a.m. Thursday.

I'm catching up on my e-mail after a quick trip out of town to do some training (I can now fetch, roll over and shake paws on command) and just saw an e-mail from the House Speakers' office with the rules for tomorrow's session on board. For those not living and breathing Jones Street, this is the special session to consider whether to expel or otherwise punish Rep. Thomas Wright for various misdeeds, including soliciting donations for a nonprofit that didn't go into a nonprofit's bank account.

Of the most interest in the temporary rules governing this session:

(5) Adoption of a resolution to expel a member of the House of Representatives shall require an affirmative vote of twothirds of all the members of the House, notwithstanding any other provision of law.

That's quite a bit higher than the simple majority standard that I think a lot of us pundits were expecting.

"It's a serious matter so they wanted to set a high bar," said Bill Holmes, a spokesman for Speaker Joe Hackney. He said that the two-thirds standard will also avoid possible charges of undue partisanship. (One could imagine, for example, that if enough Democrats decided not to show for tomorrow's proceedings, Republicans might actually hold enough or nearly enough votes to win a simple majority vote.)

For those trying to do the math, if all 120 members show, 41 members would have to vote against expulsion to keep Wright in the House. Since Wright presumably gets a vote, the question is simple: does he have 40 colleagues who think he ought to keep serving?

He has at least one.

Reports earlier in the day said Rep. Earl Jones of Greensboro would offer a censure motion rather than back plans to expel Wright.

Either way, the ball gets rolling on all this at 10 a.m. in her post Tuesday, the barkeep rounded up the rumor report. I tend to agree with her, Wright is much more likely to burn his friends and neighbors rather than just tuck tail and resign at this point.

Alcoa, the big aluminum company, is in the process of repermitting its power generating station on the Yadkin River. Its permit is due to expire this year and the company has applied to the FERC to renew.

Sen. Phil Berger, the Republican leader in the state Senate, says the state should oppose the renewal based on drought concerns. He copied us scruffy media types on a letter he sent to Gov. Mike Easley:

Dear Governor Easley,

I understand that Alcoa, Inc. has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for renewal of a license to generate electricity at facilities on the Yadkin River in Stanly County. If FERC approves the request, Alcoa’s electric power generation will allow it to divert water from the Yadkin River for its profit while providing no benefit to the people of North Carolina. Renewal will give Alcoa this control over North Carolina’s natural resource for a period of 50 years.

In 1958, when its current license was issued, Alcoa provided a number of jobs to North Carolina’s citizens; sadly, this is no longer the case. In 2002, Alcoa laid off hundreds of North Carolina workers and no longer provides employment for a substantial number of our people. If Alcoa is granted a new license, North Carolina’s precious and valuable water resources will be utilized for profits of an out-of-state corporation instead of being used for the people of North Carolina.

You have emphasized the need to preserve and protect North Carolina’s water resources, especially during the recent drought conditions; this is an opportunity for you to further those efforts in a tangible way. I hope you will take action to protect North Carolina’s citizens and their water resources by opposing Alcoa’s FERC application.

Sincerely,
Philip E. Berger

The Guilford County legislative delegation (The House and Senate members that represent some piece of the county) will hold two - count 'em two! - public hearings this Spring before heading back to Raleigh in May.

Hearing number 1 will be in High Point, Monday, April 14, 6 to 8 p.m. at the High Point City Council Chambers: 211 S. Hamilton Street.

Hearing number 2 will be Monday, April 21, 6 to 8 p.m. in Greensboro at the Melvin Municipal Building (what normal people call city hall) on Eugene Street. That meeting will be televised.

From a news release:

Both of the hearings are open to any citizen who would like to address the delegation. The hearing will provide an opportunity for the delegation to receive input from citizens about their concerns and issues, as well as provide opportunities to receive input from local municipalities and other entities representing Guilford County.

[snip]

Citizens are encouraged to come to either location to share their thoughts with their elected members of the North Carolina General Assembly. Speakers will be given limited time (3 minutes) and are asked to come early to sign up or contact Representative Jeffus' office. Please be prepared to give your name, address, telephone number and organization. Organizations and individuals who need additional information are asked to contact Representative Jeffus' office. Email address is maggiej@ncleg.net or telephone is (919) 733-5191.

For those who haven't been to one of these shindigs, it's a chance to lobby the legislative delegation (or as many of them as show up) about stuff you think they should work on in the coming legislative session. Invariably, various government, nonprofit and industry types will line up to speak about their pet projects du jour, but there has been a fair amount of input from regular citizens at past meetings.

From Speaker Hackney's office:

Raleigh _ Speaker Joe Hackney of the North Carolina House of Representatives has asked Gov. Mike Easley to call a special session of the General Assembly for 10 a.m., Thursday, March 20, to consider a resolution regarding the recommendations of the Select Committee to Investigate Alleged Misconduct and Other Matters Included in Indictments against Rep. Thomas Wright.

The select committee made its recommendations last week after four days of hearings.

Alright...I've got to go on the campaign trail and commit some journalism for a couple days ... y'all play nice.

I just sent this to our online editors:

Greensboro residents will be able to get an up-close look at their state government in action in May.

The North Carolina General Assembly will meet in Greensboro at NCA&T’s Harrison Auditorium on May 22 at 11 a.m.

Both the House and Senate will travel for the day’s session, according to their Principal Clerk’s offices.

They are tentatively scheduled to handle a resolution honor the city on its 200th anniversary, although they could vote on any other official business.

The session is being held to help celebrate Greensboro’s bicentennial.

Update: Click here for a short online news story.

-=-=-=-=-=

Back in 1971 Greensboro lost the protest petition. Now the voices that say residents should get it back are getting the attention of local legislators.

(Don't know what I'm talking about. Read up: here / here / here / here.)

Rep. Pricey Harrison said this morning she has requested a bill be drafted that would repeal Greensboro's exemption from protest petition law. At least four other members of Guilford County's legislative delegation (Reps. Earl Jones and Alma Adams and Sen. Katie Dorsett, all Greensboro Democrats and Greensboro Republican Rep. John Blust) are aware of the issue and disposed to look at it.

If the delegation does decide to move forward, it won't be easy necessarily.

"I've briefly looked at the law," Blust said. "I do want to find out why in the world was Greensboro exempted. It seems like something that should be applied evenly across the state."

The special House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Thomas Wright, D-New Hanover, voted 6 - 0 to recommend he be expelled. That recommendation now goes to the full House.

Previously today: here and here and here.

It fell to lawyer Bill Hart, who has served as the committee's de facto prosecutor, to make the case for kicking Wright out of the General Assembly.

He listed the 11 House members who had been expelled between 1757 and 1880 for offenses ranging from getting into a fight after a card game to fraud, larceny and "gross prevarication."

"I would submit to you that the conduct of Rep. Wright matches or exceeds the conduct in those cases," Hart said.

(Update: Click here to listen to some of Hart's arguments during the punishment phase of the hearing.)

The committee apparently agreed with .

Wright and his lawyers did not present a defense or argument during the punishment phase of the proceedings.

He told the Associated Press before the committee's dinner break: "I'm highly disappointed in my colleagues," Wright told reporters after the hearing. "This was a joke ... how dare they sit in judgment."

One of his lawyers called the proceedings a "charade."

Committee members did not let his absense stop their judgement.

"This man who was once a very good legislature ... somewhere, some time ago, lost his way," said Committee Chairman Rick Glaizer. He called Wright's alleged transgressions "breathtakingly massive...Rep. Wright holds public office because of his lies."

From Rep. Laura Wiley, a member of the committee: "No one is above the law, no matter what good they may be trying to accomplish...There is not excuse for deliberate flouting of the law that we ourselves make."

More to come.

Update: Click here to listen to Rep. Laura Wiley, a High Point Republican, giver her comments on the case before voting to recommend expelling Wright.

Update: The proceedings now go to the full House.

Wright has a court date on March 31, and House leaders have said they don't want to interfere with the operation of the courts. On the other hand, House leaders have seemed eager to move these proceedings forward. I would, frankly, be shocked not to see a special session sometime before the May primaries.

A spokesman for Speaker Joe Hackney said that the timing of any special session would depend on the schedules of members and the courts.

Previously, Gov. Mike Easley said that he would call the General Assembly back to work as soon as he received word from Hackney.

Update: For balance, Click here for the closing argument made by Prof. Irving Joyner, one of Wright's attorneys. The clip joins him as he argues that legislators are allowed to amend their campaign finance reports. (He doesn't mention that his client hasn't attempted to amend the reports that lead to part of his troubles.)

Final note: There are many reasons that the House has not voted to expel one of its members for over 128 years. Among them: most folks in elected life genuinely have an interest in serving the public. As I've written before, it would be a mistake to paint all legislators with the same brush.

Also, this is a drastic, serious step. Irrespective of what you think of Wright and what should happen with him, expelling him from the legislature essentially voids the votes of all those in his district who put him in office. For better or worse, he's who they elected and forcibly depriving someone of their elected representation is the most radical of steps in our democracy. No level of government takes such a step lightly.

Another reason you haven't seen this kind of proceeding for a while: most folks who come under the kind of pressure and scrutiny that Wright has faced simply resign. The most recent example of this is former House Speaker Jim Black. It's hard to fight a legal case and defend one's House seat and represent your constituents. Wright, by the way, is on the ballot in the May primary.

We'll look for clarity in the next few days about what the timelines might be and how exactly the House will handle this most somber business. Since it hasn't been done in 128 years, I'm guessing there's no ready-mix rulebook lying about that lays out how to go about this sort of thing.

If you need to catch up, I'm posting the AP's summary of what exactly it is Wright is alleged to have done wrong.

The committee is about to ponder what to do with Rep. Thomas Wright, a New Hanover County legislator, now that he has been found responsible for six counts of doing things that legislators ought not to do.

Previously today: here and here.

The committee is in recess until 6:30 p.m. Glaizer said that the committee will finish its work and recommend a punishment tonight.

Update: Until then click here to listen to Rep.Rick Glaizer talk about why Wright's solicitation of a fraudulent letter from a state employee in order to obtain a loan for a foundation that itself was not operating on the up-and-up is a bad thing.

The interim take from the Associated Press after the jump.

The committee investigating Thomas Wright is deliberating the counts lodged against the Wilmington-area legislator. First up was the charge that Wright purposefully evaded campaign finance laws.

The committee voted 6-0 to find clear and evidence exists to sustain the charge.

Comment by Rep. Rick Glaizer, the committee chairman: "The fraud in this count on the public is breathtakingly massive."

It doesn't much sound like the rest of them are going to go much better for him.

Update: They voted 6-0 that Wright stepped out of bounds by soliciting money from AstraZeneca for a charity and then putting it in his own bank account.

Comment from Rep. Laura Wiley: "I find the notion of being paid for sweat equity rather abhorrent." She said that lots of people work on foundations for little or no compensation. Wiley was riffing off a statement by Wright that he took the checks from the drug companies and others in exchange for "seat equity" he put in to building the Community Health Foundation.

Update: Committee votes 6-0 to find that Wright solicited money from Anheuser-Busch and put it into his own account.

Update: Committee votes 6-0 to find that Wright solicited money from AT&T and put it into his own account.

Three more counts to go.

The prosecution in the legislative hearing trying to determine if Rep. Thomas Wright did something unethical wrapped up its case about 20 minutes ago. It was a pretty standard summation of the evidence.

Irving Joyner, a lawyer for Wright, is now presenting his closing. He started by suggesting that the proceeding might have been unfair.

"I recognize the hill that I have to climb. and I know that I'm trying to walk up a slippery slope," he said.

He said that since it was the committee itself that found probable cause for a hearing, they had already determined his client was probably guilty. Now, he said, the same committee sits in judgment, preparing to make a recommendation to the full House.

He's now trying to punch some holes in the prosecution's case.

Update: Click here for the AP story from today.

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

The AP reported this from the legislative ethics hearings on Rep. Thomas Wright this morning:

An attorney for Rep. Thomas Wright says a state House ethics panel that could recommend the chamber kick the lawmaker out of office is racially biased.

Attorney Douglas Harris told the panel on Monday that Wright is being treated differently than a white House member who was the subject of a joint House-Senate ethics allegation last year. Wright is black.

The committee chairman, Rep. Rick Glazier, allowed the hearing to go forward. But he told Harris his motion to halt the hearing would be considered if put in writing.

The committee is considering whether Wright participated in actions unbecoming a lawmaker. The New Hanover County Democrat is accused of misusing or failing to report more than $340,000 in campaign donations, loans and charitable money.

Along with the House investigation, state prosecutors have charged Wright with criminal fraud and obstruction of justice charges.

I was listening in and there were two quotes that capture the tone that doesn't quite come through there.

The chairman of the panel at work, Rep. Rick Glaizer, had just gotten through instructing Harrison "not to go there," in bringing up prior ethics cases.

"What we have here is a white man being treated one way, and a black man being treated another," Harris said, referring to a prior complaint that was brought against Rep. Pryor Gibson, who is white, and the current hearing regarding Wright, who is Black.

Yeah, he went there.

Harris added later, "I object to my client being treated in a 'Jim Crow' manner in 2008."

For those not listening live, you can click here to listen to a fuller take.

Harris, I should note, is a Greensboro attorney. His client is from New Hanover County down east.

The hearings are scheduled to go on through Tuesday.

Those who might need some refreshing as to what's alleged, might check out some of these prior posts or just click here to listen to the first part of an opening statement by the committee council.

Two years ago, the General Assembly outlawed video poker. So when I heard about folks running "video slot machines" getting arrested I assumed they were just running old vid poker machines outside the law. It was not unusual in the old days of video poker for an ambitious operator to have a back room where a bunch of unregistered machines operated above legal limits.

But as it turned out, I was only partially right. For the lede of a story in Sunday's paper, I watched one player at a convenience store up on Lawndale Drive, and there was no back room involved:

According to companies that distribute the machines and software, he's playing a sweepstakes, a premium offered in exchange for buying a couple dollars' worth of long-distance service. Guilford County prosecutors agree and have dropped at least one case related to these video slot machines.

But prosecutors in Rockingham County and state Alcohol Law Enforcement officers disagree, saying the machines are illegal and their owners should be prosecuted.

"They appear to fall squarely under the prohibition of a slot machine in the North Carolina statutes," said Alan Fields, the ALE supervisor for the region including Guilford County.

Two weeks ago, ALE agents raided several businesses in Rockingham County, charging 10 people with owning illegal slot machines or allowing their operation.

Some of those Rockingham County machines were little more than desktop computers with specialized software and a reader that can scan a prepaid phone card.

Others were retrofitted video poker machines.

Click here to read the full story.

This is, I imagine, a confusing environment for folks to operate in. One county lets you run the machines with impunity while the next county over, one can be busted for running them.

Florida's legislature is about take a swing at these things, and one wonders whether it will get on the radar of honorables here in North Carolina.

Greensboro Rep. Alma Adams' office sent notice a couple days ago that she has received yet another award. This is the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists, a predominately African American organization founded in 1935.

She'll take home the hardware March 21 during a lunch time ceremony at the Koury Center in Greensboro.

PBDE is the acronym for Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, a category of flame retardant used in a whole bunch of stuff, including the computer I'm using to enter this blog post and the couch I'm sitting on right at the moment.

According to researchers, it's also found in household dust, drier lint, human hands and accumulates in fish and humans. Oh, and it has apparently been linked to thyroid issues and may affect neurological development.

I have a story coming for Sunday's paper about some Greensboro-are legislators - Rep. Pricey Harrison Sen. Stan Bingham and Sen. Katie Dorsett - who plan to offer some legislation to ban it's use in North Carolina.

Click here to read the newspaper story.

Wikipedia has a pretty good primer of PBDEs, although it's fairly technical stuff so source elsewhere as well.

A few more things: There are three main varieties of PBDEs, all named for their chemical makeup. The penta and octa varieties are no longer manufactured in the United State, but the deca variety is. The problem with deca is that it can be broken down by sunlight and the metabolism of certain critters (definitely fish, maybe humans, possibly bacteria) into its more toxic cousins.

Washington and Maine have passed laws restricting the use of the deca form of PBDE.

If North Carolina is going to pass a ban, or anything approaching it, the legislation will have to proposed by the ERC, one of the myriad of committees that meets during the interim between legislative session. The rules that govern the legislative short session that begins in May don't allow legislators to introduce bills willy nilly like they can at the start of long sessions, which start in odd number years.

Harrison said that her impression is that the ERC is leaning toward doing so, although they have yet to hear from folks like the manufacturers of PBDEs, which is supposed to happen in March.

Some companies such as Dell have announced they are phasing out use of the chemical. But given the fights that went down in Maine and Washington, I'd expect some pushback here as well.

One more bit of oddness connected to this. The furniture industry, tobacco industry, chemical industry and a whole bunch of government regulators have been fighting over flammability standards for years. The debate initially had to do with whether it makes more sense to make a fire-safe cigarette or fire-safe furniture. (Really.)

This story by the Washington Post provides good outline of that debate.

PBDEs factor in because they are, in fact, really good at stopping fires. The problem is they have to be present in such quantities that they pose all the health problems, accumulate in the environment, etc...

True fact: PBDEs have been found in polar bears.

I've been asked more than once by various folks either we scruffy media types as a group or I in particular have paid so much attention to the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus and its foundation.

After all, the question usually goes, they weren't doing anything illegal.

Well, someone else may have found me a better answer than the one I've been giving, or at least an independent one. Chris Fitzsimon writes a regular column over at N.C. Policy Watch. (Disclaimer for my right-of-center friends, he's very much a progressive.)

He took up his pen writing about the sad tale of Rep. Thomas Wright, who looks to be on the fast track to expulsion.

But as with almost all such sagas, there's a larger lesson to be learned should anyone be paying attention. Fitzsimon writes:

Wright solicited money for the nonprofit from corporations who may have seen the contribution as a way to curry favor with a member of the General Assembly who could be helpful to their legislative interests.

That wasn’t necessary illegal. The problem in Wright’s case was that he was soliciting money for a nonprofit that really existed in name only and then putting the contribution in his personal checking account.

The nonprofit itself was the problem in this case, not the solicitation. It is still legal for legislators to ask lobbyists and corporations to donate to a nonprofit, even though both are now prohibited from making contributions to legislators’ political campaigns.

Last session, the reform community pushed for legislation to restrict lawmakers from soliciting money for nonprofits, but the effort failed. There was also discussion of at least making the solicitation and donations public like most campaign contributions, but that didn’t go anywhere either.

The recent attention to Wright’s case may have made lawmakers a little reluctant to ask lobbyists for charitable contributions, but we don’t know because none of that is public. (Eds note: bold mine.)

No one doubts that political contributions buy at least access to elected officials, if not influence. The same logic seems to apply when a lawmakers asks lobbyists for help with a favorite charity. It is about financial resources playing a role in the relationship and ought to be banned.

Sound familiar?

Rep. Alama Adams has racked up another couple of awards for her word down here on Jones Street. From the releases:

• * The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) has selected Representative Alma Adams as recipient of the 2008 "Excellence & Equity Award" for her long-term dedication, commitment, and energy toward the goal of molding North Carolina into a more equitable state and community.

  Full release here.

• * The General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc. has selected Rep. Alma Adams as one of three recipients to receive the 2008 "Distinguished Service Award," for visionary leadership to the State of North Carolina. The award is also presented to honorees based upon their contribution to the citizens of North Carolina in their endeavors of missions to others.

  Full release here.

I stopped into the Wright hearings for a little while today. They were really just getting going.

Neither Wright nor his lawyers were in the room and you can expect to see more than one shot of his empty chair on the evening news tonight.

A cast of thousands (okay, maybe 20-plus reporters) is covering the affair, including my friends at Dome and the Tavern. Because Wright is about 200 miles short of local for our paper, we're going to take the Associated Press story for tomorrow's paper.

Of local note: Rep. Laura Wiley, a High Point Republican, is one of six committee members who will recommend what steps the full House should take.

Wright's lawyer is Douglas Harris of Greensboro. A quick check of our archives shows that Harris has handled several murder cases in and near Greensboro but I don't know a lot about him other than that.

If you're really keen on following this, you can listen in online. Go to this link and choose "Appropriations Committee Room (Rm 643)."