A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Rep. Pricey Harrison asking N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield for its political-style activities. Now 20 lawmakers are asking the AG if the insurer stepped over the line in advocating against a federal health care bill. In addition to [...]
I wrote last week about the North Carolina Republican Party executive committee giving some thought to a resolution that would close the party's primaries to unaffiliated voters. Click here for that story.
[...]Full disclosure: This story involves at least one company that has been an advertiser in the News & Record - although this is probably not the kind of attention they want.
From a story in today's paper:
Southern Showcase Housing is one of several names under which Phoenix Housing Group of Greensboro [...]
This weekend I wrote about S 510, the food safety bill moving in the U.S. Senate. (Click here for that.) The Senate’s HELP Committee passed the bill yesterday. From the DesMoines Register:
[...]Sen. Kay Hagan held her regular Wednesday conference call with reporters this morning. The focus of her opening remarks was on jobs and the economy. She said that North Carolina's Employment Security Commission would be getting a $946,000 grant from the federal stimulus program. The grant will pay to catalogue [...]
As widely expected, Senate Democrats elected Sen. Martin Nesbitt their majority leader today.
[...]A second Republican has entered the race to replace Rep. Laura Wiley in House District 61. (Background here.)
Paul Norcross, 44, of High Point, told me on the phone today he would file to run, joining council member John Faircloth in the field of GOP contenders.
[...]SEANC, the state employees union, is once again picking a fight with Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Democrat and House majority leader from Lexington.
[...]Raleigh television station WRAL had a good watchdog story on the state motor fleet yesterday:
The state motor fleet is receipt-driven and gets no money from the state's general fund. Agencies pay a monthly fee for the cars based how much they drive, but the mileage scale only slides one way. There [...]
As Marlon Brando’s character said, “What have you got?”
Folks on the conservative end of the political spectrum will be doing a whole lot of protesting this coming Saturday, Nov. 14.
[...]From a story in today’s paper:
RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked the state’s attorney general and Department of Insurance to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s use of campaign-style tactics aimed at defeating controversial federal health insurance legislation.
[...]In 2008, Guilford County backed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with 58.78 percent of the vote. Sen. Kay Hagan, also a Democrat, won close to 62 percent of the vote. Greensboro contains the bulk of Guilford County's Democratic voters.
A year later, voters have given a majority on the nine-member Greensboro [...]
Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican, took less than a minute to speak on the floor of the House today about health care reform. He targeted the health insurance bill backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which would include a public option insurer – ie: a health insurance option provided [...]
The N.C. Council of State, a body made up of the 10 statewide elected officers, met this morning. For the initiated, this group mainly approves land sales, bond issuance, etc… But the monthly meeting has become a reliable place where one can get a quote from the Gov. Bev [...]
This just moved from the Associated Press just moved this:
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican congresswoman says people have more to fear from Democratic health care legislation than from terrorists.
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina made the comments in a speech on the House floor Monday.
[...]The N.C. Office of the State Auditor took a look at the Golden LEAF (Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation) nonprofit over the past year. Its report on the audit is at once harsh and kind of comforting.
[...]A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals heard arguments in a key video poker case today. You can click here to read my early brief on the proceedings.
[...]So my friend Laura Leslie over at the Tavern noticed a Facebook posting by state Sen. [...]
Staff writer Richard M Barron is riding heard on our Dell coverage for Thursday’s paper. In case you haven'r heard, Dell is shutting down its Winston-Salem plant and letting go of more than 900 workers. A cast of thousands are feeding him information.
' [...]Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Mecklenberg County Democrat, spoke to a Greensboro Bar Association function at the Elon University Law School Monday. The topic: North Carolina latest tax reform effort.
[...]House Speaker Joe Hackney has been making the rounds visiting various newspaper editorial board offices throughout the state this fall. I sat in when he arrived at the News & Record for his interview.
Much of what he talked about was a review of the legislative session, which readers of this [...]
Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro, has been doing weekly conference calls with North Carolina reporters for a while now, mostly on Wednesdays.
Today's came after the ten freshmen Democrats in the Senate took the floor and said in various ways that they supported doing something with health care.
[...]Virginia Foxx's Facebook page just sent me the following:
You are Cordially Invited to Attend a Luncheon Honoring Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, member-Committee on Rules, Featuring Special Guest Congressman Eric Cantor (VA-07) House Republican Whip
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 12:00p.m.-1:30p.m.
The following two groups aren’t connected in any way, except that I ran across information about them at roughly the same time.
First up, the Northern Guilford County Conservative Republican Club held its first meeting recently. The Northwest Observer carried a brief on the group last week:
[...]The U.S. House voted this week to deny any federal funding to ACORN, the national community organizing and housing group that has been at the center of much controversy. (Background here and here.)
That 345-75 vote came in the form of an amendment to a student aid bill, [...]
The Community College Board gave its blessing to a policy that would allow, under certain circumstances, illegal immigrants to attend community colleges in North Carolina. (Click here for the AP story.)
[...]My boss asked me (posts here and here) to look into what exactly ACORN has been up to in North Carolina. The group, for those not up to speed, has gotten in trouble elsewhere over video tapes that show ACORN employees dispensing dubious-to-illegal advice (New York Times).
Today's paper: "Students who cannot prove they’re legal citizens would be able to take courses at community colleges under a policy the State Board of Community Colleges is poised to adopt later this week." Click here for the full story.
[...]The Senate Finance Committee rolled out its long-awaited health care bill today. Once it is vetted by the full committee, it will be mashed together with the bill from the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where North Carolina Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr sit.
[...]Rep. Alma Adams will be honored by African American Caucus, an auxiliary group of the Democratic Party of North Carolina, during their first "Black and White Ball" this October.
Sponsorships for the event start at $1,000, according to this flier that was circulated to reporters along with notice of the [...]
Back about eight years ago, then-Gov. Mike Easley used some highway trust fund money to balance what was then a state budget in deficit. Some taxpayers took exception at that (and another related legislative action) and sued to have the court find that the governor can’t raid a fund set [...]
House Speaker Joe Hackney just sent out this statement: "After consultation with Sen. Basnight and with various members of the House of Representatives, we have agreed that the expense and time required for a veto session are not justified in this case. The issues addressed in House Bill 104 are [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue has vetoed House Bill 104, "AN ACT TO CLARIFY LEGISLATIVE CONFIDENTIALITY."
Update: Click here for my full story.
Among other things, the measure would put certain public records from the executive branch out of public view if they were requested by staffers at the state legislature.
I just heard from Don Vaughan that North Carolina’s Senate Democratic Caucus Committee will hold a fundraiser at his house in Greensboro on Oct. 15. The guest of honor will be U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, Vaughan said. Hagan spent 10 years as a state senator before winning election to [...]
The State Auditor today released a report saying that the Agriculture Department had improperly let an employee use a state vehicle for personal travel. Pat Jones, the deputy director of the department's pesticide section, drove the state-owned pick-up truck between Raleigh and his home in Reidsville "on an [...]
For those of you who were enjoying the Labor Day weekend, here’s a story I wrote for Sunday dipping back into the video poker issue.
GREENSBORO — Don’t call it video poker. Video slots is right out, too. Those are illegal in North Carolina.
That machine blipping away in the corner of [...]
Update: Click here for the prepared text of Obama's remarks.
-=-=-=-
Typically the biggest threat a politician poses when he addresses a school full of children is mangling the slang of the time trying to convince youngsters he’s down with the stuff they’re dealing with and ready to get all up' [...]
Gov. Perdue is getting ready to take a road trip. From a Dept. of Commerce release:
RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue and N.C. Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco will lead the state’s Asia business development trip in October. Business leaders and regional economic developers will join the two as they meet [...]
The liberal-leaning N.C. Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center put out a brief today arguing that the tax increases lawmakers enacted this summer were relatively modest and would not hurt the economy as some, mainly conservative, voices have claimed.
They argue that the tax increases are both small when compared [...]
A lobbyist friend took pains to remind me yesterday that I hadn’t blogged in a while - this morning's posts not withstanding. After the honorables headed out of town, I headed out for a vacation and then to the annual conference for Capitolbeat – no relation to this blog.
But [...]
So ... whose feet are these?
I’ll wait. Give up?
Lt. Gov Walter Dalton strode out of his office on his Blunt Street barefoot Wednesday to help raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, a nonprofit that gives new shoes to those in needs. In particular, he was praising FinishLine for helping the [...]
As my friends at the AP (click here) and UNC Radio (click here) reported, Gov. Bev Perdue did the meet and greet thing with her BRAC panel Tuesday.
[...]Readers: Capital Beat will be silent for a couple weeks to allow your humble correspondent a vacation.
I'll get back to posting the week of Aug. 24.
In the meantime, check the links over on the right-hand side of the page for more blogs dedicated to state government coverage.
' [...]
Like many capitol reporters, I wrote an end-of-session wrap-up for tomorrow's paper. I'll post a link when I get it.
Of course, like many reporters, I have more things to say than space allows. So here's some online only content for you internet readers:
Lingering effects
Even as they headed home for the year,' [...]
When she was asked about the idea of reforming North Carolina’s tax code earlier this year, Gov. Bev Perdue was skeptical that the General Assembly could take on the task and settle the current year budget.
Now that the $19 million budget and legislative session is out the way, Perdue called [...]
Bill drafting maven Gerry Cohen gives notice by e-mail and by way of his blog this evening of the work (at least in raw numbers) that the General Assembly has accomplished this year:
[...]From an online news story:
Workers trying to file claims for unemployment benefits have not been able to do so Sunday or today because of two separate computer problems at the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.
Both an Internet-based application run by the commission itself and a phone-based system run by a [...]
This is just a short reminder of the General Assembly's end of session plans.
The House is due to meet this evening for votes. (Calendar PDF here.) In most cases, they'll have the option of agreeing with a Senate bill or delaying action until May of next year. That's because' [...]
The Greater Greensboro Republican Women's clulb just sent this along:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Senator Richard Burr to Headline Annual Wine and Cheese Extravaganza
Senator US Richard Burr will speak to conservatives along with Virginia Foxx (District 5) and Howard Coble (District 6) at the annual Wine and Cheese Extravaganza event, sponsored by [...]
From this weekend's papers:
RALEIGH — When lawmakers finish their annual session this week, they will be taking home a big piece of homework: tax reform.
North Carolina’s tax code hasn’t undergone a comprehensive rewrite in decades and no longer fits with the state’s rapidly changing economy. As a result, mercurial swings [...]
Following up on my story regarding developers’ efforts to change the Jordan Lake rules: environmental groups have dropped their opposition.
“We don’t love it,” said Elizabeth Ouzts of Environment North Carolina.
[...]The end of the legislative session is nigh. However, in a manner that might just be fitting for this session, the honorables are doing it in curious fashion.
Senators are hot to trot, or at least get out of Raleigh, and have declared they will leave on Friday.
“If there’s something pressing, [...]
These are a couple of local (to Guilford County) items from yesterday. First up, a change to the Jordan Lake Rules:
RALEIGH — A pending change would weaken the newly minted Jordan Lake water quality rules before they have a chance to take effect, environmental advocates said this week.
[...]From TPM:
Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August -- instead, he's making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform -- and at least part of the reason is this: His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least [...]
So last week, Rep. Nelson Cole, a Reidsville Democrat, and Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, were talking smack about the finance package that is part of the state budget.
“I think there’s a consensus among the group that unless something is done to get some relief from those taxes, [...]
Reading through the budget bill last night, (conference report is linked toward the bottom - would be edition 7) I ran across this graph on page 218:
[...]From today's budget story, starting in the middle with Gov. Bev Perdue:
Perdue said she plans to sign the compromise measure this week but is not happy with the final product. In particular, she said that local mental health agencies will take a harsh cut.
“We’re talking to them to see how [...]
