Republican political pundit Mary Matalin has made a video for – are you ready? – PETA.

“You may be wondering what a meat-eating conservative Republican like me is doing in a PETA video,” Matalin says in the three-minute piece.

Well, yes, we are.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is sending the video to lawmakers in states considering so-called “ag-gag” bills, which are aimed at preventing undercover whistleblowers from exposing inhumane conditions. In North Carolina, Sen. Brent Jackson – a Republican farmer representing parts of Johnston, Duplin and Sampson counties – introduced SB648, which appears dead for the session.

Regardless, the video is being sent to North Carolina legislators. Similar bills have cropped up in other states, without much success, according to PETA.

Matalin’s video shows graphically violent clips of animal abuse. If you have the stomach for it, here it is.

Congressmen David Price and G.K. Butterfield will join with representatives of several government agencies to host a “marketplace'' workshop to help small businesses identify contracting opportunities with federal, state and local governments.

The day-long workshop will begin at 8 am on Wednesday May 29th at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham.

Apparently Edwin Peacock thinks Jack Hawke, a veteran GOP strateigst, has a touch with Charlotte mayors.

Peacock, a former Charlotte City Councilman, has hired Hawke to be his senior strategist in his campaign for Charlotte mayor. He is seeking to succeed Mayor Anthony Foxx who has been nominated by President Obama to be Transportation Secretary.

Hawke was chief strategist last year for the gubernatorial campaign of Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor. Peacock has hired much of the McCrory team, also hiring Russell Peck as his general consultant, and Bill Lee of Telopinion as his pollster.

A year ago, a little-noticed provision in the state budget initiated the creation of a computer database, to be overseen by the state controller, to be drawn from individual information of state residents collected by state agencies, Scott Mooneyham at The Insider reports. The provision didn't exactly explain the purpose of the database, except to state that it was meant to "reduce unnecessary information silos" and "leverage the data." A series of new provisions in the Senate's proposed budget would rework, add to, and may explain the purpose of something called "the enterprise-level business intelligence initiative."

The fallout from Rep. Robert Brawley's searing letter challenging House Speaker Thom Tillis continued Thursday. Brawley, who resigned his post as Finance Committee chairman under pressure, told his House colleagues in an email this morning that he wanted to settle his dispute with Tillis quietly but the speaker asked the letter to be read aloud to the full House.

He said he wrote the email to dispel suggestions that went too far by airing his grievances so vocally, as top GOP lawmakers contend. "I'm available for discussion and I do appreciate the good we have and will continue to accomplish but we need some fresh air also," he wrote in the email. (Read full email below.)

It’s nice that the governor and Raleigh’s mayor are getting all bipartisan over the Dix deal and all, but it still ain’t right.

That’s the message from Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger on Thursday, following Gov. Pat McCrory’s and Mayor Nancy McFarlane’s news conference earlier in the day.

“We appreciate that the governor and Raleigh mayor are attempting to make things right for the taxpayers of North Carolina and the state’s mentally ill,” Berger said in a statement his office released. “But it is difficult to understand why they are extending an unlawful leave.

“This proposed agreement delays doing the right thing until 2014 – why not do the right thing today?”

A group of manufacturers are asking Gov. Pat McCrory and the legislature to restore funding to the state's recycling office and Solid Waste Trust Fund.

The manufacturers said the cut may save money but would “result in serious blows to the manufacturing base of tomorrow.''

“It's easy to understand that recycling saves trees and landfill space,” the industry said in a statement. “But recycling is as much about the economy as it is the environment. The modern manufacturing base depends on today's reclyclables to make tomorrow's consumer goods,a nd in turn creates something else the economy sorely needs: jobs.''

The state Senate passed its $20.6 billion budget along party lines, moving the plan on to the House for consideration.

State Trooper Michael Potts, wounded in a shooting during a traffic stop in Durham earlier this year, on Thursday will take up the governor on that promise of a steak and lobster dinner at the mansion.

The private dinner with Potts and his family is scheduled for early Thursday evening, according to the schedule Gov. Pat McCrory’s office put out Thursday morning.

Potts was shot in the face, shoulder and both hands when he pulled over a car. A Vermont man was later arrested and is in jail.

McCrory announced at the end of March that he had invited the Potts family to dinner to say thanks for his service. McCrory visited the trooper in the hospital the night he was wounded.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced his support Thursday for the compromise version of a bill to renegotiate Raleigh’s lease on the Dorothea Dix property.

McCrory said he wants to work with Raleigh to help create a destination park while ensuring that the state’s needs – such as an office complex on the Dix land – are still met. “We’re trying to work out our differences through dialogue and consensus,” McCrory said in a news conference with Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane.

McCrory is throwing his weight behind a substitute measure that passed the House judiciary committee bill Wednesday.

A NEW DIX DEAL: Gov. Pat McCrory and Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane will hold a joint news conference this morning to discuss the Dorothea Dix lease. A state House committee approved a new version of a bill Wednesday that would revoke Raleigh’s disputed lease on the Dorothea Dix property near downtown. The compromise bill comes with a sweetener that has the support of city leaders and the governor’s office.

But the question is whether the Senate will go along. Sen. Ralph Hise, a Spruce Pine Republican, said the Senate remains committed to its version of the bill. "As we've clearly seen, the lease was entered into by the state illegally, it is substantially different than what even the Council of State had approved, and it's in the bad interest of the state," he said. "If they need to start, we'll start from scratch. But you can't begin on a foundation that's that weak."

GOP LAWMAKERS REACT TO BRAWLEY LETTER: “If you have a disagreement, that's not how one handles it and I'm saddened," said Rep. Craig Horn, a Weddington Republican. "We don't need distractions." Other Republican lawmakers refused to talk about it. "I don't have anything to say," said House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes. Rep. Ruth Samuelson, a Charlotte Republican and top GOP leader, said she was surprised by the letter read on the floor. "I thought it was an inappropriate use of the floor by Rep. Brawley." If anything, Samuelson said, "I think it will help bring us together more because it doesn't represent the majority of the caucus."

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo -- congrats to the NCGA team on the big win against South Carolina last night. More North Carolina political news below. ***

RALEIGH -- A deep bench and powerful inside presence under the basket gave North Carolina lawmakers the advantage they needed to make a second half run and beat a squad of South Carolina legislators 35 -27 in a charity game Wednesday.

With the win at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina reclaimed the trophy from its southern rival and extended its series lead to 11-6 in an on-again, off-again competition that dates to 1979.

"It was a great game," said Rep. Burt Jones, a Rockingham Republican who coached the team and reveled in his post-game interview. "I think we played just a little bit better. ... We had a little run in the second half and pulled away."

The 6-foot, 5-inch center Rep. Chris Millis, a Hampstead Republican, scored big points for the bipartisan N.C. General Assembly team and swatted a few big South Carolina shots, easily winning the crowd's MVP nod. "Everybody played hard," he said, sounding just like a professional athlete. "It was a team win."

Gov. Pat McCrory made an appearance in the second half, playing good minutes but later clanked two free throws late in the game. "I've never been so nervous in my life," McCrory said at the line.

An umbrella group of anti-abortion centers in North Carolina would receive $250,000, under the budget the Senate approved Wednesday.

Sometimes known as crisis pregnancy centers, abortion-rights advocates claim they provide misleading information and coerce vulnerable young women. Representatives of the group, Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, told The N&O in 2011 that its centers work hard to provide factual, impartial help to teenagers and women who are conflicted about their pregnancies.

Amendments to the state budget were flying fast and furious leading up to the Senate’s approval on Wednesday.

One of them would have required any officeholder who fails to file a state economic disclosure form within 60 days could be removed from office immediately.

That proposal came from Sen. Gladys Robinson, a Democrat from Guilford County, but it didn’t get anywhere.

Rules Chairman Sen. Tom Apodaca, the Hendersonville Republican, had it tabled – but in a nice way.

“It has a lot of merit,” he said. “I just don’t think the budget is the place to put it. It needs to be discussed thoroughly and looked at. It’s a major policy change that’s probably needed.”

WASHINGTON - Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be U.S. Transportation Secretary, has so far had an easy confirmation hearing before the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Wednesday afternoon, The Charlotte Observer's Steve Harrison reports.

Foxx has discussed issues such as the furloughing of air-traffic controllers, tolling interstates and replacing old bridges. Senators from both parties have so far praised Foxx.

Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said the hearing was a “most amazing confirmation process.” He added he has heard nothing but “kind comments.”

The mayor was introduced by N.C. Democratic Senator Kay Hagan and Republican Senator Richard Burr.