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EDWARDS REGROUPS: Former presidential contender John Edwards has reactivated his license to practice law and is setting out on the speaking circuit, the Associated Press reports. The former U.S. senator and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee is scheduled to appear June 6 at a private retreat in Orlando, Fla., for lawyer clients of the marketing firm PMP.

Edwards has remained largely out of public view since his acquittal in May 2012 on one charge of campaign finance fraud. A judge declared a mistrial on five other criminal counts after jurors couldn’t agree whether Edwards had illegally used campaign money to hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for president in 2008. An itinerary says Edwards will speak for about 45 minutes as part of a program titled “Historic Trials of the Century.” Edwards earned millions as a personal injury lawyer before entering politics.

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A week after Senate Republicans unveiled an ambitious -- yet controversial -- tax overhaul measure, the forthcoming legislation continues to take shape.

Among the ideas on the table: capping localities ability to add to the state sales tax at 1.5 percent instead of the current 2 percent. It's part of how lawmakers get the 6.5 percent combined state and local sales tax. (The state sales tax would go from the current 4.75 to 5 percent.) But any change is likely to unnerve local governments, given the restraint on their ability to raise revenue.

Sen. Bob Rucho, a Charlotte Republican, said localities won't lose money because the plan will create more economic growth for them, and thus more tax revenue. "We want to make sure municipalities and local governments are kept where they are," he said. "And any growth will come from economic opportunity."

See other ideas being considered for the bill below.

THE NAKED REALITY OF POLITICS: Much of politics is about money. But it's rare to see it so plainly stated in black and white: "We didn't give them money because we liked them," sweepstakes operator William George told the Associated Press. "We just knew they were powerful people up in Raleigh and they could get done what we wanted to get done. You give them your money and they're supposed to do what they say they're going to do." (More on the story below.)

TODAY IN POLITICS: The current State Board of Elections meets for the final time at 9 a.m. today before Gov. Pat McCrory's new appointees take office Wednesday. The board had planned to launch a formal investigation into the gambling money -- received by the governor, top GOP legislative leaders and some Democrats. But board members backed off the idea now that they are lame ducks.

AT THE STATEHOUSE: A House committee will consider a bill to limit pre-K programs, in part to children under the federal poverty line. The full House meets at 2 p.m. and will consider a controversial firearms bill to allow guns in restaurants and bars that serve alcohol. The UNC system is also opposed because it allows guns in cars on college campuses. The Senate will meet at 2 p.m. On its calendar is a measure to require a parent to report a child missing after 24 hours -- it is named after Caylee Anthony. Gov. Pat McCrory is attending two feel-good events Tuesday in Charlotte, first a YMCA prayer breakfast and then a Wells Fargo "Reading Above Par" event.

***More on the sweepstakes money, arrests at the legislature and Jamie Hahn death investigation below in today's Dome Morning Memo -- the place for North Carolina political news and analysis.***

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: A controversial voter ID measure gets a double billing Wednesday, appearing in a 1 p.m. House Election Committe meeting for discussion only and a 4 p.m. public hearing. A lawyer from the Indiana Secretary of State's Office and the N.C. NAACP's William Barber will present at the earlier meeting. The House will also unveil a major education bill at a 2 p.m. press conference, just hours after a Senate panel considers President Pro Tem Phil Berger's own overhaul plan at a 10 a.m.

Senate committees will also consider bills to increase the speed limit on some highways to 75 mph and provide tax money to the Carolina Panthers for stadium renovations. Gov. Pat McCrory will attend a private reception for the N.C. Homebuilders Association at 5 p.m. The group is advancing two controversial measures this session to limit local control of inspections and design standards for homes that are angering counties and cities. Wonder how Mayor Pat would have reacted to the legislation?

McCRORY'S FIRST 100 DAYS: The governor is nearing the 100-day mark of his term -- a benchmark that means little but will generate a media extravaganza. McCrory is sitting down with various media outlets this week, about 10 minutes at a time, to discuss his accomplishments. WRAL-TV is the first with an interview. Check it out here. 

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The state's personal and corporate income tax rates would gradually decrease under two major tax bills introduced Wednesday by leading Senate Republicans.

Under Senate bill 669, the personal income tax would fall to 4 percent by 2016 for most households and married couples making less than $12,500 would pay no income tax. The state's current rate is the top income bracket is 7.75 percent -- the highest in the Southeast.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, a possible U.S. Senate candidate in 2014, took the unusual step of signing on as a primary sponsor of the measure. A Berger spokeswoman said the bill is a placeholder for a larger plan expected in coming days that calls for the complete elimination of the personal income tax. She referred all other questions to Sen. Bob Rucho, a primary co-sponsor, who was not immediately available for comment.

The second measure, Senate bill 677, reduces the state's 6.9 percent corporate income tax rate to 6 percent after 2015. The legislation is scheduled for its first hearing Tuesday.

UPDATED: TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House and Senate convene this evening in the old legislative chambers at the Capitol to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the recovering of the N.C. Bill of Rights after a Union soldier took it during the Civil War. Gov. Pat McCrory will attend a reception for the event earlier in the day.

McCRORY DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM TAINTED BURNS MONEY:From AP: North Carolina's governor says he had no contact with a campaign contributor who faces racketeering charges in Florida over illegal gambling. Gov. Pat McCrory said Friday he had never heard of Chase Egan Burns, the Oklahoma man accused this week of owning gambling parlors operated by Allied Veterans of the World. Prosecutors say the purported charity earned about $300 million from illegal gambling, with only about 2 percent actually going to veterans. McCrory's campaign has purged itself Wednesday of $8,000 in contributions made in October by Burns and his wife, sending the money to a Durham charity. "I wouldn't know him if I saw him," said McCrory, a Republican. "I think we got it (the checks) through the mail."

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LAWMAKERS THROW McCRORY A BONE: The first bill to Gov. Pat McCrory's desk is likely to be a measure to cut unemployment benefits for the jobless. The Republican supports the bill but don't be surprised if it's not the first one he signs. The House worked late Wednesday to pass another bill designed to create two paths for high school graduates: technical schools or college. McCrory campaigned on this issue and Democrats expect to him to make it the first bill he signs. "The word on the street is that the governor wants to have a press conference on this," Democratic state Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham said on the House floor in criticizing the speed at which it progressed. The bill was heard in committee and given initial approval in the House in the same day.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: State Auditor Beth Wood appears before lawmakers this morning to talk about a recent audit showing troubles in the Medicaid system -- a documents Republicans are using as justification to block a Medicaid expansion under the federal health care law. A Senate committee will consider a measure to block public access to records about concealed weapons holders. On the House floor, House Speaker Thom Tillis is limiting debate on a controversial measure to block Medicaid expansion to 30 minutes. Lawmakers want to leave early today, in part, because it's Valentine's Day. McCrory is hosting more lawmakers for breakfast and lists no other public events.

Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo -- the source for all the North Carolina political scuttlebutt. Much more below.

The political poker continued Thursday as the Senate debated a $20.1 billion budget approved along party lines. The budget now goes to the House. 

A day following a Democratic play to get Republicans to affirm their support  for what Democrats have dubbed the "tax cut for millionaires," Republican Sen. Bob Rucho challenged  Democrats to vote for the 3/4-cent sales tax increase that Gov. Bev Perdue proposed and Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton supported. 

The increase would allow Democrats to continue their "tax and spend" policies, Rucho said. 

On Wednesday, Democrats tried to get a vote to limit a new $3,500 tax cut to businesses with incomes of $100,000 or less, and use the revenue from excluding bigger and wealthier businesses for schools and eugenics compensation.  Republicans used a parliamentary maneuver to avoid the vote. 

Sen. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, said Rucho would rather tax everyday people rather the rich. 

"Apparently, Sen. Rucho thinks this is a good idea," Blue said. "You tax rank-and-file North Carolinians rather than taxing these millionaires that he excluded in the last session."

The tax increase proposal died in a unanimous vote. 

This all takes on added importance in an election year, with Republicans trying to tie Perdue to Dalton, the Democratic candidate for governor. 

Senate leader Phil Berger's office sent out this statement after the vote.

“It is clear the Perdue/Dalton tax plan is nothing more than an election year gimmick to allow Democrats to speak out of both sides of their mouth," Berger said. "The fact that every single member of the Senate voted against the tax hike shows what a bad idea it is.

Update: The House unanimously rejected the Senate version of the state budget. That means negotiating teams of House members and senators will get together to work out a compromise. 

Legislative leaders won't have to turn over the information their lawyers produced on redistricting right away, a three-judge panel said.

Last month, the judges decided in favor the Democrats and non-profits seeking redistricting information from the private lawyers House Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate leader Phil Berger, and  Senate redistricting Chairman Bob Rucho hired.

Legislators considering combining lobbyist reporting, campaign finance reporting and ethics under one agency heard from some of the people responsible for those jobs that that they didn't want their work taken away.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, whose office registers lobbyists and shares administration of the state lobbying law with the state Ethics Commission, told legislators today that her office should keep its responsibilities.

"Consolidation for the sake of consolidation should not be the highest value in the discussion," she said.

State Board of Elections Chairman Larry Leake said the campaign finance unit needs more employees but should stay where it is.

The Board of Elections handles not only state campaign and PAC reports, but supervises local boards of elections as they review county filings, he said.

But whatever happens ot campaign finance, he said, investigations should be in its own division.

Sen. Bob Rucho gigged Leake over the board's handling of an investigation into Gov. Bev Perdue's campaign flights, suggesting that the agency should concentrate on running elections since it didn't have enough time to completely investigate the flight complaint. 

The board, in a 3-2 party line vote in 2010, ended its investigation of Perdue campaign flights before holding hearings. Leake, a Democrat, told the agency's lead investigator to finish her work before interviewing Perdue's campaign manager because he wanted the report finished. 

"I know that your board was involved in a couple of episodes recently one of which you felt there wasn't enough time really to get an in-depth study of all the issues dealing with a particular complaint," said Rucho, a Mecklenburg County Republican.

Leake said administering elections is time-consuming, but "I believe that the fact that the campaign finance laws and the adminstration of elections and the folks running campaigns are so closely intertwined that it would be more efficient to keep that together."