Jim Hunt worried the Goodyear incentives would annoy Bridgestone.

The former governor told Gov. Mike Easley that he was concerned that the original bill would hurt the state's relationship with competitor Bridgestone Firestone, a Japanese company, according to Jack Betts' Sunday column in the Charlotte Observer.

Hunt worried that a bill favoring competitor Goodyear and snubbing Bridgestone Firestone would poison the state's relationship with Japanese economic interests. He made his views known to the governor.

As governor, Hunt pushed the state to recruit Japanese firms to North Carolina. He still lives in Wilson County, home of the Bridgestone plant.

Easley has often joked about how many times Hunt has called him, but it's usually on education or economic issues, not incentives, Betts writes.

Previously: Hunt's changes to governor's office led to showdown.

Update: A Hunt spokesman confirmed the former governor phoned Easley, but said he does not know the timing of the call.

A disabilities advocate has ranked the 2007 session.

On her new blog, Julie Leggett, policy coordinator for The Arc of North Carolina, highlighted bills that allow voter registration closer to Election Day, offer sign language in schools and colleges, declare October Disability History and Awareness Month, make it a felony to assault a disabled person in an institution and make it easier for the disabled to register a vehicle.

She also cited the failure of a bill that would require school administrators adopt policies to punish bullying and harassment. The bill would have protected students with "a mental, physical or sensory disability," among other characteristics, but it stalled over the question of including sexual orientation on the list.

In a related post, Leggett noted that the $5 million set aside in next year's budget for the Goodyear and Bridgestone incentives could have paid for a number of programs for the disabled.

She said voters need to ask legislators about the spending:

Which is the better investment -- creating a $60 million dollar grant program for multinational corporations or investing in people with disabilities that have been waiting a long time for just such a financial commitment?

Goodyear had a good two days.

In a two-day special session, the legislature wrote a bill that could give Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Firestone as much as $60 million in incentives.

The law leaves fuzzy the timing of the investments the companies are required to make.

It says they must invest $200 million within six years, but it doesn't say when that period begins. That will allow Bridgestone to count money it has already paid as part of a $250 million upgrade to its Wilson plant.

Sen. A.B. Swindell, a Wilson Democrat, said the company has a "proven track record."

"If we're going to do this, that's a pretty good place to do it," he said. (N&O)

Sen. Phil Berger, the Senate Republican leader, said the bill was unfair to smaller companies.

"The question is, what do we do next time when another company says, 'You know, our industry changed. We need to modernize our plant,' and so they come and they don't quite have 2,000 employees and they don't quite need to invest $200 million," he said. (Fay-O)

The compromise incentives bill will not have a lower jobs threshold.

At an Appropriations committee meeting this morning, Rep. Rick Glazier said the incentives would still require a company to have a minimum of 2,000 employees, reports Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Last night, legislative staffers said the compromise would lower the threshold to 1,500.

In addition, Glazier said the requirement for a $200 million investment would be backdated to 2006 to allow for improvements already begun at the Bridgestone Firestone plant in Wilson.

Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, said Gov. Mike Easley and House and Senate leaders support the compromise.

"In many ways, the bill is not a lot different than the bill we passed back in session," he said.

The legislature will meet this morning to discuss a compromise bill on Goodyear incentives.

The new proposal appears to address two concerns about the original bill cited by Gov. Mike Easley in his veto message. It ensures that Goodyear's rival, Bridgestone Firestone, can also benefit, and it has provisions to keep companies from cutting their workforce.

Still, many Republicans are not happy with the new bill.

Rep. Paul Stam, the House minority leader, said the new proposal is worse than the old one because it will cost the state more money. CEOs are going to decide today to hire lobbyists instead of engineers, he joked, because they'll realize how easy it is to get taxpayer money.

"How do we make money this year?" Stam said. "Forget about selling tires. Hire lobbyists."

The legislature reconvenes at 10 a.m. (N&O)

Legislative staffers have shared some details on the compromise bill.

According to Canaan Huie, House finance counsel for Speaker Joe Hackney, the new incentives bill would give cash rebates for additional sales and use taxes, worker training costs and/or state fees.

According to the formulas included in it, Goodyear would qualify for $24.5 million; Bridgestone Firestone, $22.5 million.

A total investment of $200 million over six years would be required.

In addition, the bill would:

* Provide of up to $60 million over a 10-year period to five companies. Once those five grants have been committed, the program would end. Goodyear and Bridgestone would have to apply, and a committee would approve the grants.

* Allow the company to lay off up to 20 percent of its workers. However, any cuts in workers would be directly tied to a reduction in that year's grant. If a company fell below 80 percent of its workforce, it wouldn't be eligible that year, but it could reapply once it rehired.

* Require a baseline employment of 1,500 workers and pay of 140 percent of the county's average — more than the 110 percent currently used for economic development grants.