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HOUSE TO UNVEIL TAX PLAN OUTLINE:House Republicans plan to offer their own North Carolina tax overhaul plan Thursday that would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates and expand the sales tax to cover more services. The proposal's scope is much narrower than what Senate counterparts offered as GOP legislators try to fulfill a commitment to carry out tax reform this year.

The plan attempts to simplify income taxes and reduces the number of income tax brackets from three to one, according to the proposed legislation obtained by The Associated Press. House Republican leaders want to reduce slightly the combined state and local sales tax consumers in most counties pay from 6.75 percent to 6.65 percent. They also would subject the sales tax to a handful of new services such as automobile repairs and installations for personal property and warranty and service contracts, the bill says. In contrast, the Senate proposal unveiled last week would make the sales tax base one of the broadest in the country. More here.

NORQUIST TO BLESS SENATE TAX EFFORT: Americans for Tax Reform leader Grover Norquist will stand with Senate leader Phil Berger at a 9:30 a.m. press conference Thursday to talk about the Senate's tax rewrite. The visit is being coordinated by Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group that pushing hard for a major tax overhaul measure this session. Opposition groups already are framing the visit, saying Norquist will support a bill that could raise taxes on a majority of people in the long-term. A luncheon with tax activists outside the legislature will follow later in the day.

Good Morning! This Dome Morning Memo is (unofficially) brought to you by Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee -- which is much needed after the House worked near midnight to beat the crossover deadline on a bevy of controversial bills in a 10-hour session. If you went to bed early, click below for all the North Carolina political news and analysis.***

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The action starts early Tuesday and will likely stretch past 10 p.m. again. The House and Senate plan to convene a skeletal session just before 10 a.m. to read in committee reports, then recess until 2 p.m. House Speaker Thom Tillis said the session will go until 5:15 p.m. or so before a dinner recess for committee meetings. The chamber will reconvene at 7 p.m. and go late. The Senate isn't expected to stay as long but its calendar is getting crowded. Gov. Pat McCrory lists no public events.

McCRORY'S OFFICE WON'T RELEASE DAILY SCHEDULE ANYMORE: The governor's Communications Director Kim Genardo is changing the office's policy of releasing a daily calendar. Genardo said if there is no event scheduled, she won't send out a notice stating as much, meaning some days will have no notice to the governor's schedule. McCrory pledged to release a daily schedule during the gubernatorial campaign as he bashed his predecessor, Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, for taking a "secret" trip to Pennsylvania to study fracking rigs. Republicans jumped on McCrory's Democratic opponent for not pledging to do the same. “Everyone knew where I was as mayor,” McCrory said a year ago. “My records were open."

***A busy week means lots of news below in the Dome Morning Memo. Send more news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com. ****

Americans for Prosperity has released a poll showing broad support in North Carolina for tax reform.

The survey, conducted by the Tarrance Group of Alexandria, found that 68 percent of voters says the state's tax system needs to be reformed.

The poll found that 49 percent favor a tax proposal that lowers personal and corporate income taxes to a flat 5 percent, lowers the sales tax rate while broadening it to include services not now taxes, and eliminating all state income tax deductions.

The spin: "North Carolinians recognize that it's time to reform our outdated, depression-era tax code," said Dallas Woodhouse, state AFP director.

The poll of 500 registered likely voters was conducted April 8-10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus April 8-10.

Fox News regular Grover Norquist will headline a rally on the lawn behind the Legislative Building on May 16 to promote changes in the state tax code.

Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is working with Americans for Prosperity in promoting tax changes. His North Carolina trip will include stops in Greensboro, Huntersville and Kings Mountain over several days. The tour is part of AFP's campaign to promote a new tax code that AFP says will "tax less, tax fair, and tax simple."

State Senate leader Phil Berger released a plan Tuesday that puts a sales tax on more goods and services -such as prescription drugs, food, doctors' and lawyers' bills - and gradually cuts personal and corporate income taxes.

Dallas Woodhouse, AFP North Carolina state director, said his group has not yet endorsed the Senate plan, but probably will.

MORE ARRESTS EXPECTED AT LEGISLATURE: Activists fighting the Republican legislative agenda say they will return to the Legislative Building on Monday and more plan to be arrested. The civil disobiendence, led by the N.C. NAACP and other groups, is design to raise the public's awareness of the policies GOP-lawmakers are pushing this session. A demonstration a week ago led to 17 arrests.

McCRORY TO TOUT DRILLING IN TEXAS: From AP -- Gov. Pat McCrory is visiting an offshore energy trade conference in Texas to try to help build momentum for drilling off the coast of North Carolina and other states. McCrory says he'll participate Monday in a panel discussion with other governors at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. McCrory says the energy industry could create thousands of jobs and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and generate state revenues.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. More North Carolina politics below. Send tips and news to dome@newsobserver.com. ***

OBAMA TO NAME MEL WATT AS HOUSING CHIEF: President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official told the Associated Press.  The president was expected to name Watt, a 20-year veteran of the House, on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

HOUSE, SENATE STILL APART ON TAX PLAN: Senate Republicans are expected to debut a comprehensive tax plan in coming days -- but don't expect the House to stand at their side. Rep. David Lewis, the lead House tax negotiator, said Tuesday they still haven't found complete agreement. "The two chambers are not yet on one accord," he said. Lewis said he's optimistic the two sides will still unify around a single plan. He wouldn't identify the sticking point but it is likely how to pay for the plan -- with the Senate wanting to tax dozens of new services and the House wanting a more modest approach.

***Click below to keep reading the Dome Morning Memo for more details on Watt's new post -- and what it means in North Carolina -- as well as more political news and analysis.***

Americans for Prosperity will spend $500,000 on a campaign to promote a new state tax code, the organization announced Tuesday.

AFP, a political advocacy group founded by the Koch brothers, has been prominent in issues advertising on the state and national levels. In North Carolina, it ran an ad campaign supporting the legislative Republicans' budget.

Legislators have not presented a specific tax proposal, but they've discussed taxing more services such as hair cuts and lawyers' fees, while eliminating or reducing corporate and personal income taxes.

About a dozen people at the news conference sported green football jerseys with the campaign slogan "back in the game," meaning that the state is competing effectively for jobs.

AFP has spent about $500,000 in Indiana on a campaign supporting tax code restructuring, said AFP national president Tim Phillips, who was in Raleigh on Tuesday.

"One of our goals is to let legislators know they will have someone who will have their back if they just do the right thing," Phillips said.

The ads will run in specific districts and identify legislators by name. In a later phase of the campaign, AFP will run ads in national and international publications promoting the state, said Dallas Woodhouse, AFP state director.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who spoke at the news conference, said he had not talked in detail with AFP about more extensive participation in its campaign, but said he would be willing to participate in its community meetings and appear in ads.

Americans for Prosperity is preparing a campaign to sell the public on the legislature's plan to change the tax code.

AFP representatives and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will announce the effort at a Tuesday news conference, said AFP state executive director Dallas Woodhouse. The legislature has not presented a detailed plan, though legislators have outlined general principles.

"Part of our job is to encourage them," to "go big" and "go bold," Woodhouse said. "The opportunity for reform will never be better than it is right now," he said.

AFP will fuel the campaign with a "significant amount of money," Woodhouse said, with the effort to include community meetings and advertising.

A role for Forest has not been defined, Woodhouse said, but "I do think he is going to agree to help us out on that. Right now, it's a broad vision rather than specific actions."

UPDATED

Forces are lining up for Wednesday’s two-hour hearing on Rep. Mike Hager’s bill that would end the state’s requirement that power companies use renewable energy and promote energy conservation. The Rutherfordton Republican’s bill, HB298, sets up a major showdown -- with national interest -- between environmentalists and those who oppose public support to bolster alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar.

Jessica Laurenz, the North Carolina director for America Votes, said she wrote and distributed the draft memo – not Blueprint North Carolina, a Raleigh group being blamed for crafting the plan to “eviscerate the (Republican) leadership and weaken their ability to govern.”

In an interview, Laurenz defended the memo saying “America Votes has not done anything wrong or out of the ordinary” and didn’t regret “strongly urging my colleagues to fight for what we believe in.”

The memo, leaked to reporters last week as a document originating from Blueprint, was first reported by The Charlotte Observer – an article which ran in this newspaper. The story was quickly pounced upon by Republicans. McCrory called the memo shameful.” House Speaker Thom Tillis used it as a fundraising appeal. The N.C. Republican Party registered complaints with the Internal Revenue Service and the state elections board, asking both to investigate Blueprint for political activity outside its charitable status.