Gov. Beverly Perdue will lead one of the Obama administration's five regional discussions on health reform.

Perdue, who was a hospital administrator and health consultant before entering politics, will lead a discussion in Greensboro on March 31st. Other sites will be in California, Iowa, Michigan and Vermont, Rob Christensen reports.

The announcement came on the day that President Obama held a health summit in Washington.

Details of the event will be announced later.

North Carolina legislators' salaries are far below their counterparts.

A comparison of base salaries in the 23 state legislatures that the National Conference of State Legislatures considers comparable to North Carolina shows their pay is at the bottom.

State lawmakers here have a base salary of $13,951 per year. Only Nebraska ($12,000), South Carolina ($10,400) and Texas ($7,200) give less, while Alabama and Kentucky do not have an annual salary.

The median is $24,012, the amount Alaska pays. The highest is $48,708 in Hawaii.

The NCSL divides legislatures into three categories based on the time they spend on the job, their staff size and their pay.

North Carolina falls into the middle category, where legislators spend more than two-thirds of their time on political work and have a medium-sized staff, but do not make enough to be full-time politicians.

California's full-time legislators are the highest-paid, with $116,208 as a base salary. South Dakota legislators have the lowest pay, at $12,000 over a two-year term, although 11 other states pay only by the day or week.

Salvia divinorum is not banned outright in California.

Dome previously reported that the hallucinogenic herb is a Schedule I drug in that state.

Several readers pointed out that is incorrect. Although that was proposed in a 2007 bill, it was amended in the state legislature.

Since Jan. 1, it has been a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and no more than six months in jail, to sell Salvia to someone under the age of 18.

Dome regrets the error.

Lots can be learned from the Center for Responsive Politics' new report on Congress' newest members.

The Washington-based non-profit website offers online campaign databases about every member of Congress, breaking down donations and expenditures and ferreting out details about industry and lobbyist support, Barb Barrett reports.

The group released data today on North Carolina's newest senator, Kay Hagan, who was sworn in Tuesday.

Among the tidbits:

* The website ActBlue was Hagan's top donor. Donations linked to the Democratic website amounted to $1.2 million among Hagan's itemized donations.

* Nearly 40 percent of Hagan's financial support came from out of state. Two states rang up more than $500,000 for her: North Carolina and California. Within North Carolina, her top geographical support came from the Triad — not surprising since Hagan is from Greensboro.

* Hagan received $10,000 each from political action committees representing such groups as steelworkers, airline pilots, teachers, firefighters and Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu, Tom Carper, Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin.

Details on Hagan (and all the other new House and Senate members) are available here.

Don't expect a state referendum on gay marriage anytime soon.

Ian Palmquist, executive director of the gay rights group Equality N.C., said that he is cautiously optimistic that the leadership of the state House and Senate will remain the same in the coming year, preventing a referendum from being put on the ballot.

After California voters added a gay marriage ban to their state constitution in a recent election, gays and lesbians nationally have mobilized to protest similar measures, holding rallies in North Carolina this weekend.

State Republicans have long called for a referendum here, although a state law from 1871 defines marriage as between "a male and female person" and a second law from 1996 specifically invalidates same-sex unions.

The state House and Senate would have to approve putting a referendum on the ballot by three-fifths margins. (The governor usually has no say.) Saying a referendum is unnecessary, Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate have blocked it from coming to a vote.

Palmquist said he's happy that North Carolina has avoided a referendum.

"You're essentially putting the rights of a minority up to a popular vote without any other checks and balances on it," he said. "That's not what constitutions are for."

A constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage has repeatedly died in the legislature.

At least ten bills by sponsored by Republicans and sometimes co-sponsored by Democrats have been introduced in the state House and Senate in recent years.

All would call for a statewide referendum on adding wording to Article 14 of the state constitution defining marriage as "the union of one man and one woman at one time."

Gay marriage is already illegal in North Carolina. A state law passed in 1871 defines marriage as a union between man and woman, while another passed in 1996 deems same-sex marriages invalid.

However, state Republicans argue that the laws — unlike a constitutional amendment — could be overturned by a state judge. That has happened in California, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

After the jump, the bills that have died in committee.

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