The billboard industry contributed a total of more than $160,000 to more than 30 legislative and statewide campaigns in North Carolina in the past four years, according to a new study by Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

In that time, the industry has been pushing a bill that would increase the area around billboards where companies can remove trees. The bill passed the Senate in past years, but stalled several times in the House. It recently received approval by a House committee.

"The billboard industry is not one of the 10 biggest spending special-interest groups, like the big banks, utilities, and developers - but it is one of the most persistent," Democracy North Carolina said in a press release.

The contributions came from industry representatives, such as business owners, as well as the industry's political action committee. The PAC contributed $95,750.

"If you are an active organization, then you want to help the people who are good representatives and senators," said Tony Adams, executive director of the N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association, who noted that his organization's contributions are substantially less than other PACs.

More after the jump.

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N.C.'S STATE: Something was rotten at N.C. State. After a series of articles in the N&O revealed the involvement of former Gov. Mike Easley in the hiring of his wife, the provost and the chancellor resigned and Mary Easley was fired. (The chairman of the board of trustees had already left.) Though an interim chancellor has already been named, the university is not out of the woods yet. Expect further turmoil.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: The N.C. Republican Party met in Raleigh to plan a comeback. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory was scheduled to outline his path to victory this morning, while delegates debated whether candidates should pledge loyalty to the state platform, whether primaries should be closed and — in what's turned out to be the nastiest race in years — who should be the party's new chairman.

SENATE BUZZ: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says he's not thinking about which Democrat might run against him next year. He's the only one, apparently. The chattering classes spent more time this week wondering whether Secretary of State Elaine Marshall or U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre might make another run for it, while Iraq veteran Cal Cunningham and Obama fundraiser Kenneth Lewis kept trying to build buzz.

IN OTHER NEWS: The fight over the state budget continued, with House Democratic budget writers calling for $784 million in new taxes. ... A House committee passed a bill to allow billboard companies to cut down more trees. ... Elon University police detective Dan Ingle was chosen by Alamance County Republicans to replace former Rep. Cary Allred.

Maybe there's an alternative to the trees vs. billboards argument environmentalists and sign owners have every year.

And maybe a group meeting under the auspices of the state Department of Transportation will find that Third Way, Lynn Bonner reports.

Over the past few years, environmental groups have successfully fought billboard owners' attempts to cut more trees around their signs so that people passing by have longer to read them.

They were tough fights that pitted billboard-loving senators against environmental groups, the DOT and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Last week, group representing billboard owners, environmental groups, local governments, petroleum marketers, restaurants and hotels began meeting to try to fashion compromises on tree rules, zoning issues and other billboard matters.

The group is using a facilitator and plans to meet twice a month to come up with new rules, said Ted Sherrod, a DOT roadside environmental engineer.

"I guess using the expertise from a facilitator will hopefully allow us to end up with a third alternative that’s better than what we've ended up with before," he said.

Gov. Mike Easley has vetoed nine bills.

As the first governor to use the veto in North Carolina history, he's taken on a hodgepodge of legislation in his two terms in office.

The vetoed bills would have:  

* Approved certain legislative appointments. 

* Changed mortgage lending laws.

* Changed teacher certification.

* Compensated billboard owners.

* Changed teacher certifications.

* Sold an airport site to Currituck County for a dollar.

* Granted access to state buildings to employees associations.

* Given incentives to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

* Allowed wider boats and trailers on state roads. 

Vetoes of the first eight bills were all sustained. The boats bill was vetoed Sunday, so the legislature has not yet acted on it. 

Gov. Mike Easley is widely expected to veto a bill to provide incentives to the Goodyear tire company.

If so, it would be the eighth veto he's made — as well as the eighth in North Carolina history, since he is the first governor to use the veto.

As this list shows, Easley has vetoed bills on a wide variety of issues: Making legislative appointments, changing mortgage lending laws, changing teacher certification, compensating billboard owners, changing teacher certifications, selling an airport site to Currituck County for a dollar and granting access to state buildings to employees associations.

Hat Tip: Denise Jones

Correction: An earlier version of the post incorrectly said that Easley was the first governor to have veto power. He is the first governor to use the veto.

Sen. Fred Smith missed more than 300 votes this session.

The Clayton Republican, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, was listed in a survey by the Greensboro News & Record as having missed about a quarter of the votes, or 318 out of 1,238.

Some were minor, such this bill to honor Independence High's football team, or this one to honor the founder of Peace College. Others were procedural moves on bills that he eventually voted on.

A few were high profile decisions, however. Smith missed votes to change billboard setbacks, divest state money from Sudan, allow judges to carry handguns and create a pilot program for publicly financed campaigns.

Two bills tie into his gubernatorial campaign theme of stopping illegal immigration. Smith missed votes on a bill that would help jailers determine the legal status of prisoners, and another that would require fingerprinting of drunk drivers who don't have valid ID.

He also missed a vote that ties to his theme of Democratic corruption. That bill will limit legal defense funds like the one created for disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black.

A complete list of his votes is online here. Missed votes are listed as "excused absence." The News & Record's spreadsheets: Senate and House.

Everyone has their own definition of a "do-nothing legislature."

On The Progressive Pulse, liberal blogger Andrea Verykoukis notes her frustration about several bills that didn't make it through the legislature.

Those include suspending executions for two years, creating anti-bullying policies in schools, penalizing people who fail to report lost or stolen guns and requiring permission for minors on social networking sites like MySpace.

On the other hand, Verykoukis says she's glad the legislature did nothing on extending the boundaries for billboard owners to cut trees, cutting tuition breaks for graduates of the N.C. School of Science and Math and holding a referendum to ban gay marriage.

It seems the only worse thing than legislators doing nothing is doing something you don't like.

A number of bills never made it past the legislature.

The bills would have:

Prohibited smoking in public spaces such as restaurants and workplaces.

Rolled back a law requiring most schools to open on or after Aug. 25.

Called for a public vote on banning same-sex marriage in the constitution.

Prohibited corporal punishment in schools.

Called for a public vote on amending the state constitution to bar governments from taking property for economic development purposes.

A full list after the jump.

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An energy bill that requires the state's electrial utilities to use more renewable resources jumped an important hurdle, moving out of the House Committee on Energy and Energy Efficiency.

Some environmentalists objected to the measure because it contains provisions that make it easier for utilities to build coal-burning and nuclear power plants.

The committee changed the bill to require Progress Energy and Duke Energy meet cost criteria to build nuclear and coal-burning plants, John Murawski reports.

A measure allowing billboard owners to cut more trees around their signs cleared the state Senate.

In exchange for more legal cutting, the bill raises penalties for illegal cutting and raises permit fees, reports Dan Kane.