The expected Democratic illuminati are at the Obama town hall event.

Conspicuously not here: Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, one of the swing votes that brought President Barack Obama to Raleigh today. Her office cited a conflict, namely that the U.S. Senate is in session.

Here are some of the folks who are here (apologies to those we didn't recognize or spot).

* N.C. House: Reps. Deborah Ross, Pricey Harrison, Verla Insko.

* N.C. Senate: Sens. R.C. Soles, Bill Purcell, Dan Blue, Tony Rand, Charlie Albertson.

* Governors: Jim Hunt (a spokeswoman said Beverly Perdue will be here as well).

* Wake County Commission chairman Harold Webb.

* Democratic Party chairman David Young and John Crumpler, a Raleigh businessman and Obama fundraiser.

* Possible candidates for U.S. Senate against Sen. Richard Burr: N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and lawyer Cal Cunningham.

Update: Post now reflects that Hagan was not in Raleigh because she was working in Washington. 

The Senate approved legislation Monday night creating an official North Carolina Irish Potato Festival, however geographically quizzical that may seem.

The bill, which elevates the Albemarle Potato Festival to statewide status, adds to a seemingly endless list of festivals and designations the legislature has approved over the years for, among others, the official state: dance, wildflower, dog (Plott Hound, of course), reptile (turtle), shell, mammal, saltwater fish and stone.   

Sen. Charlie Albertson, the bill's sponsor, announced that the average American eats 142 pounds of potatos each year. Ketchup anyone?

The Senate's budget cuts some $2 billion in state spending.

Senators have picked some ways to save money. They're passing the rest of that decision to agency heads. So-called "management flexibility" lets people who run agencies decide what to do without. It also saves lawmakers from making the choice.

According to Sen. Charlie Albertson, a Duplin County Democrat and Senate budget writer, those cuts can be significant across categories of state spending.

* Health and Human Services: 6 percent

* Justice and Public Safety: 7 percent

* Natural and Economic Resources: 3 percent

* Education: 1.45 percent

The Senate's proposed $20.05 billion budget relies on an average of two more students in classrooms across the state.

Increasing class size to 20 students in K-3 and 22 in grades 4-12 would save $320 million annually, said Sen. Linda Garrou, the senate's senior budget writer and a Winston-Salem Democrat.

The class size proposal is likely to find favor among Republicans who have previously called for the change.

Garrou and her fellow appropriations committee co-chairs gave a peek at the Senate's budget Monday. The full document will be available online at 7 p.m. The details released so far highlight a document that differs from Gov. Beverly Perdue's budget in several key areas.

The budget would lay off as many as 712 state employees and eliminate some 900 vacant positions. Perdue's proposal would have sought to keep layoffs to a pool of fewer than 300 employees.

The leaders of state departments would have targets to meet in cuts. Officials could make the cuts in several ways including furloughs, said Sen. A.B. Swindell, a Nashville Democrat. Perdue said she avoided furloughs because she feared the message it would send to businesses and investors about the state's financial condition.

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Legislation in the House and Senate would allow private retailers to open Alcoholic Beverage Control stores.

But both the state ABC Commission and the association of local ABC Boards oppose the idea.

The bills, which would put several other and less controversial ABC system reforms into place, would allow what's called "agency stores." That's when a local ABC board contracts with a private retailer to operate an ABC store under the same rules and regulations as a store run by a board. Liquor stores are approved and operated by local boards, not the state.

"It would be a radical change for North Carolina," said Joe Wall, who heads the N.C. Association of ABC Boards. "It is privatization. It is the sale of spiritous liquor by private enterprise."

Mike Herring, administrator for the state ABC Commission, said the commission opposes agency stores.

Sen. Charlie Albertson, a Duplin County Democrat and chief sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said it was not intended to privatize the ABC system. There are some locations, though, where an agency store may be necessary, he said.

"This has a long way to go before the bill becomes law," Albertson said. "There will be some good debate."

A bill would protect state workers from being fired over their sexual orientation.

Sen. Charlie Albertson, a Duplin County Democrat, filed the bill, which would add sexual orientation to the other equal opportunity categories in state government: race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, age and disability.

It would also add a nondiscrimination policy for legislative personnel.

Erica Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the State Employees Association of N.C., said that it supports the bill, though it had not sought it.

"Although the nondiscrimination clauses aren't one of our top policy platform objectives, SEANC supports any bill that protects state employees and retains the most quality workers," she said.

Baldwin said, as far as she is aware, SEANC has not received any calls about workers being fired over their sexual orientation. 

* Rep. Ray Rapp files a bill that would give Gov. Beverly Perdue the authority to furlough state workers, which she says she won't do.

* Greensboro News-Record's Mark Binker thinks Civitas' polling on gay marriage may have "established a norm" by referring to other states.

* Bill to help members of the military renew their drivers licenses while deployed passes House. Idea came from Army reservist Rep. Ric Killian.

* Democratic consultant Gary Pearce highlights Sen. Charlie Albertson's bill to prevent sports teams from playing if school scores are low.

More state Senate bills of note:

S.B. 376: Honor Jim Long, Sen. Tony Foriest

S.B. 377: Low Academic Performance/No Sports, Sen. Charlie Albertson

S.B. 378: Counties May Fund Charter Schools, Sen. Eddie Goodall

S.B. 379: Remove Cap on the Number of Charter Schools, Sen. Goodall

S.B. 380: Collection of Mobile Phone Data/DMV Reports, Sen. Charlie Dannelly

A few more interesting Senate bills filed:

S.B. 158: Modify Felony Death by Vehicle Penalty, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 160: Students Under 16 May Attend Comm. College, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 161: Execution / Physician Assistance Authorized, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 164: Unauthorized Practice of Medicine / Felony, Sen. James Forrester

S.B. 167: No Smoking / Cell Phones on Prison Grounds, Sen. Charlie Albertson

The Senate leadership has chosen the budget writers.

Along with longtime budget co-chair Sen. Linda Garrou, Sens. Charlie Albertson, A.B. Swindell and Charlie Dannelly will co-chair the budget committee.

Albertson and Dannelly served on the budget committee for the first time last year.

In recent years, the budget committee has served as Senate leader Marc Basnight's finishing school for ambitious senators, prepping Gov. Beverly Perdue, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan for runs for higher office.

In a typical year, co-chairs enjoy the additional power of being able to put pet projects into the state budget and direct funding to their favorite causes.

This year, it may be more of a thankless job, as they struggle to fill a $2 billion gap.