The U.S. House of Representatives has set aside 30 minutes tonight for speeches in memory of former U.S. Rep. Bill Hefner, who died Sept. 2.

The special order speeches are scheduled from 7:30 to 8 p.m. tonight, after the last vote, and will be broadcast on C-SPAN, Barb Barrett reports. They are being organized by U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Biscoe Democrat, who also will be speaking.

Confirmed to speak tonight are U.S. Reps. Chet Edwards of Texas, along with Bob Etheridge, David Price and Brad Miller, all of North Carolina. Other members may speak as well.

What does North Carolina think? Depends on how you ask.

As a second example, consider the issue of whether the state legislature should broadcast its sessions on television.

Two polls by the conservative Civitas Institute got contradictory responses on this question based on their wording.

Question 1: "Do you think it is a worthwhile investment to spend $1 million in order to purchase the equipment needed to televise the North Carolina General Assembly sessions live to the public like C-SPAN?" 71 percent said no, 22 percent said yes.

Question 2: "Do you think sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly should be broadcast live on the Internet or television, like C-SPAN?" 75 percent said yes, 18 percent said no.

The first question is clearly frontloaded with information about the costs and uses a loaded phrase ("worthwhile investment") to frame the question as a matter of spending.

The second question makes no mention of costs, but compares it to an existing network (funded by cable companies, not the government) and allows for a potentially cheaper alternative of webcasting.

What does North Carolina think?

A January poll by the conservative Civitas Institute showed broad agreement on a couple other issues that are before the legislature.

Below, the percentage who agreed with a sentiment:

71: Do not view spending $1 million to broadcast legislature as a "worthwhile investment."

70: View a vehicle miles-driven tax unfavorably.

68: Support cutting existing programs (vs. raising taxes) to balance state budget.

50: Think state employees should pay higher premiums to keep State Health Plan afloat.

53: Oppose an endowment for gubernatorial campaigns that comes with "restrictions on free speech" policed by a board appointed by the governor.

The wording on parts of the poll is questionable, however. The questions about the endowment and broadcasting the legislature prime the pump with negative wording, and a later poll got opposite results on the latter.

The poll of 600 registered voters was conducted Jan. 19-22 by TelOpinion Research of Alexandria, Va. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

What does North Carolina think?

Recent polls by the conservative Civitas Institute show significant agreement on a number of issues that are before the legislature.

Below, the percentage who agreed with a sentiment:

76: Support a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. 

75: The legislature should be broadcast live on TV, like C-SPAN. 

73: Political candidates should fund their own campaigns instead of using public financing. 

59: Members of the legislature should stick with two-year terms. 

58: Hunting should not be allowed on Sundays in North Carolina.

55: The state should set up an independent redistricting commission. 

51: Oppose a constitutional amendment to let the governor appoint the schools superintendent.

The poll of 600 registered voters was conducted Feb. 16-19 by TelOpinion Research of Alexandria, Va. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Rev. William Barber II called for legislative committees to be televised.

The head of the state's NAACP said that too much of his group's agenda died in committee meetings that were not readily available to the public.

"We need to know what's happening in the committee meetings," he said. "If they can do it for the federal government on C-SPAN, we ought to be doing it in North Carolina. Bottom line: Open up this government."

The call comes two weeks after Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Graham called for webcams to broadcast the legislature online.

North Carolina already provides live audio for sessions in both houses, press conferences and all meetings in the Appropriations and Finance Committee rooms, but no video footage is available.

Barber said that he would also like to see streaming audio of all of the committees.