A poll conducted last month by the Raleigh-based Civitas Institute found that about four of five respondents supported stricter licensing requirements for older drivers.

The question, included in a multi-topic survey by the conservative-leaning think tank on July 14-17, asked: "Would you support or oppose a law requiring drivers to renew their license every three years beginning at age 75, and be required to take a new driver's test beginning at 85?"

The question reflected the provisions of a bill sponsored last session by Rep. Ric Killian, a Charlotte Republican, Thomas Goldsmith reports. The bill fell by the wayside in committee hearings following strong opposition from AARP and others.

And older respondents were almost as likely to support the changes, according to the poll. Seventy-three percent supported stricter regulations, compared to 79 percent among all those who answered.

The debate over older drivers has resurfaced after an 83-year-old driver killed a six-year-old girl this week.

E-mail Lesson #27: If you are going to forward a YouTube video, watch it first.

An administrative aide to state Rep. Laura Wiley learned the hard way, after she sent out a video critical of President Barack Obama featuring pictures of German SS officers at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp, Joe Neff reports.

The email, sent from a General Assembly e-mail account, eventually landed in the inbox of Adam Searing, the director of the Health Access Coalition at the N.C. Justice Policy Center.

Searing, an advocate for affordable and universal health care, said he was offended for professional and personal reasons.

"My great uncle on my mom's side — Everett Peterson — died on Omaha Beach on June 6th 1944 in Normandy fighting those guys in the photos," Searing said. "He didn't die so that 65 years later somebody could equate the evil he fought and defeated with a policy proposal to expand health coverage."

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A bill would set tougher standards for older drivers.

Rep. Ric Killian, a Charlotte Republican, filed a bill to require more frequent drivers license renewals for people 65 and older and mandate road tests for people older than 85.

He cited an academic study that shows the oldest drivers have more crashes per miles traveled than anyone except younger teen drivers.

The bill would require drivers older than 75 renew their licenses every three years instead of every five.

"There's clearly a connection between a person's age and their ability to operate a motor vehicle," he said.

The state office of AARP is ramping up opposition to the bill, asking its 66,000 active state members to call legislators about it. (N&O) 

A second poll shows support for mandated sick leave.

A survey for senior advocacy group AARP found that 79 percent of North Carolinians thought employers "should be required to provide a minimum number of paid sick days to full-time employees."

Eighteen percent said no and three percent said they didn't know.

The survey is being cited by a North Carolina coalition advocating for paid sick leave to rebut a recent poll by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling that showed little support for mandated sick leave.

The difference in the two polls could be attributed to methodology and question wording. The PPP poll referred to mandates and added the alternative that it be left up to employers and employees "on an individual basis."

The AARP survey of 800 North Carolina households was conducted by Alan Newman Research from Oct. 19 through Nov. 4, 2007. Responses were weighted to reflect gender and employed people over the age of 30.

It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

At least 61 groups, including organizations representing teachers, state employees, organized labor, African-Americans, retirees and children's advocates, have joined forces to lobby for a "balanced approach" to the budget crisis that includes spending cuts and tax increases.

"It is simply impossible to cut our way out of the budget crisis," Bob Jackson, executive director of the state branch of the AARP, a seniors organization, said Tuesday at a news conference in downtown Raleigh. "We can't cut our way out of this mess, and if we try, it will actually make our long-term problems worse."

Other speakers called for a modernization of North Carolina's tax system or for a major rethinking of state government, much like what occurred during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The coalition, called Together North Carolina, delivered letters to legislators, Gov. Beverly Perdue and other state officials. The group plans to lobby throughout the legislative session.

With Gov. Beverly Perdue and the legislature facing a deepening budget chasm, a large coalition of groups has formed to try to minimize the size of the budget cuts.

At least 61 groups, including organizations representing teachers, state employees, organized labor, African-Americans, retirees, and children’s advocates have joined forces to lobby for a "balanced approach" to the budget crisis that includes both budget cuts and tax increases, Rob Christensen reports.

"It is simply impossible to cut our way out of the budget crisis," said Bob Jackson, executive director of the state AARP, senior organization, at a news conference at the Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh. "We can't cut our way out of this mess and if we try it will actually make our long-term problems worse."

The coalition, Together North Carolina, delivered letters to the legislature, governor, lieutenant governor and Cabinet secretaries. The group plans to lobby throughout the legislative session.

Elaine Mejia, an analyst with the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, said that even with help of the federal budget stimulus passed by Congress, the state could be looking at 10 percent budget cuts.

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U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh held a news conference in Washington today to promote legislation that would allow home mortgages to be restructured in bankruptcy like other types of personal debt.

Miller appeared at the Capitol Visitors Center with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and representatives of a coalition of groups supporting the measure, including AARP, AFL-CIO, NAACP, Consumers Union and other civil rights, union and consumer groups.

The two said they would make passage of their bill, The Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act, the first priority of the new Congress, according to Miller's office.

Durbin introduced the bill in October 2007, and Miller introduced a similar bill. Miller's office said he and Durbin, both Democrats, tried over the past year to pass the proposal over the resistance of the Mortgage Bankers of America and Senate Republicans.

"Middle-class families have seen their life’s savings evaporate with the collapse in the value of their homes," Miller said at the press conference. "We are not going to stop the downward spiral of our economy until we stop the collapse of home values. And, we are not going to stop the collapse of home values until we get control of foreclosures."

One in 10 homeowners, or roughly 4.6 million, are either delinquent in their mortgage payments or are in the process of foreclosure, Miller's office said.