* U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan signs on as cosponsor of Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's big prison-reform study commission bill.

* Red Oak is asking the legislature to raise the number of barrels a brewery can distribute on its own without a distributor.

* Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton announces creation of the Small Business Assistance Fund to give low-interest loans to small companies.

* A state bill to regulate child beauty pageants gets some love from Jezebel, a nationally known feminist blog.

A bill would study regulating child beauty pageants.

Rep. Annie Mobley, a Bertie County Democrat, introduced the bill to study pageants whose contestants are younger than 13.

The bill was highlighted by the conservative Civitas Institute's "Bad Bill of the Week" feature:

I am excited about the prospect of government forming the North Carolina Agency to Regulate Beauty Pageants for Girls Under Thirteen (they need to come up with a better acronym, though; NCARBPGUT isn’t catchy enough). Good thing there aren’t any real problems the government should be spending time or money on; like double-digit unemployment, a $3 billion budget deficit, or our state’s 70 percent graduation rate.

Speaking of acronyms, Executive Director Francis De Luca suggests calling the bill "Tots in a Regulatory Environment" — or TIARA.

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 661: City Managers on School Boards, Rep. Ray Warren

H.B. 677: Require a "First in Flight" Background, Reps. Lucy Allen, Lorene Coates, Nelson Cole and Becky Carney

H.B. 691: State Contracts/Slavery Profits, Reps. Larry Womble, Earl Jones, Annie Mobley and Earline Parmon

H.B. 708: Furlough of State Employees, Reps. Ray Rapp, Rick Glazier and Margaret Dickson

H.B. 711: Sales Tax Fairness Act, Reps. Winkie Wilkins and Dale Folwell

H.B. 724: Open Records Attorneys' Fees, Reps. George Cleveland and Curtis Blackwood

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 266: Use of Deadly Force/Public Web Site, Rep. Elmer Floyd

H.B. 269: Concealed Handgun Permit Valid in Parks, Reps. Mark Hilton, Justin Burr, George Cleveland and Jim Gulley

H.B. 270: Personal Protection in Restaurants, Reps. Hilton, Fred Steen, Burr and Cleveland

H.B. 275: Sex Offenders Can't be EMS Personnel, Reps. Carolyn Justus, Annie Mobley and Shirley Randleman

State Rep. Alma Adams will again chair the Legislative Black Caucus.

At a meeting on Dec. 4, the caucus unanimously re-elected the Greensboro Democrat to a second term as chairwoman, despite speculation that she may take a role in Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue's administration.

Sen. Malcolm Graham was also chosen as first vice chair; Rep. Earline Parmon, second vice chair; Rep. Annie Mobley, secretary; Sen. Tony Foriest, treasurer; Rep. Garland Pierce, caucus chaplain; and Sen. Floyd McKissick, parliamentarian.

According to a press release, the caucus' goal is to promote legislative policies "responsive to the needs of all North Carolinians, particularly African Americans." In recent years, it has played a role in passing the state's Earned Income Tax Credit, among other things.

In 2007, the caucus was criticized when it was revealed that relatives of five members received college scholarships from its foundation.

The caucus will now have 31 members, including newly elected Reps. Elmer Floyd of Fayetteville, Pearl Burris Floyd of Gaston County and Nick Mackey of Charlotte and Sen. Don Davis of Snow Hill. In 2007, it had just 28 members.

Burris Floyd will be the group's only Republican.

State lawmakers showed little interest today in avoiding another big prison construction bill this session.

In fact, they laughed when Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat, asked whether they would look at legislation that spends more on prevention and less on incarceration, reports Dan Kane.

"Is there anyone that thinks we're going to change our mode of operation?" Sutton asked, after lawmakers listened to a report of options to deal with a rapidly growing prison population.

Today, the state prison system is again out of space. Prisons Director Boyd Bennett said he has sent notice to county jails that they will have to hold convicted and sentenced inmates until a new 1,500 bed prison opens up in Columbus County at the end of summer.

The prison, though, is only a temporary fix. Projections show that the system could be 1,800 inmates over capacity by 2012.

Read more after the jump.

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Twenty-four legislators did not get paid for every day.

According to state records, 17 representatives and seven senators asked not to receive their $104 per diems for at least one day during the 2007 session.

Reps. Angela Bryant, William Current, Annie Mobley, Deborah Ross, John Blust, Bill Daughtridge, Laura Wiley, Ruth Samuelson, Pryor Gibson, David Lewis, Mitchell Setzer, Paul Stam, Jennifer Weiss, Martha Alexander, Pricey Harrison, Alice Bordsen and Paul Luebke did not receive pay for every day.

Luebke was the lowest, receiving pay for just 178 days.

Sens. William Purcell, Fred Smith, Clark Jenkins, Harris Blake, Tom Apodaca, Janet Cowell and Marc Basnight did not receive pay for all 191 days of session.

Basnight was the lowest, receiving pay for just 176 days.

Under state policy, legislators automatically receive pay for every day of session, regardless of whether they attend, unless they specifically ask not to be paid for that day. 

A gun rights group is targeting two House Democrats over a bill.

Grass Roots North Carolina is airing radio ads attacking Rep. Rep. Larry Hall of Durham and Rep. Rep. Annie Mobley of Ahoskie for sponsoring a bill on stolen guns.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor to fail to notify police within 48 hours after they "knew or reasonably should have known" of the theft.

Paul Valone, president of the advocacy group, said that the bill is "entirely wrongheaded."

"They should be going after the people who steal guns, not the victims of property crime," he said.

The ads, which can be heard here and here, are airing on sports radio in Durham and conservative talk radio in Elizabeth City.

The House passed a second reading of its two-year budget on a 68-51 party-line vote tonight. Here's a quick summary of the arguments for and against the bill. (Not direct quotes.)

Rep. Bill McGee: I don't like the certificates of participation. We have too much debt. What'll happen in the future? Rep. Deborah Ross: That's not a big deal. We have an excellent credit rating. Rep. Bill Owens: Don't vote against the budget just because you don't like two percent of it. Rep. Paul Stam: Yeah, but that two percent caused us to break our word on the "temporary taxes." Rep. Leo Daughtry: We didn't even get a chance to vote on them. Rep. William Wainwright: That money will be well spent on worthwhile programs. And the budget also provides a tax credit for adoption, an Earned Income Tax Credit and tax cuts for small businesses. Rep. Pricey Harrison: And lots of good conservation stuff too. Rep. John Blust: Come on. We would throw a CEO in jail for signing a financial statement this dishonest. Rep. Annie Mobley: Can't we all just get along?