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SENATE LEADERS TO PITCH TAX PLAN: The long-awaited plan to overhaul the state's tax system will debut Tuesday. Senate Republicans want to slash the personal income tax from the highest 7.75 percent rate to 4.5 percent over three years and drop the corporate income tax from 6.9 percent to 6 percent.

In a video previewing a 12:30 p.m. announcement, Senate leader Phil Berger called it a $1 billion tax cut -- the largest in state history. The question is how to pay for it and the details are less clear, but Berger said it will involved taxing a range of services from haircuts to auto mechanics. (More details below.)

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: Taxes won't take all the air from the N.C. General Assembly today. In committees, the governor's transportation plan gets a final hearing before going to the full House; a health committee considers a measure to limit what a doctor can do about sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and birth control without parental consent; and Senate lawmakers will consider (but not vote on) a proposal to allow armed guards in elementary schools who aren't necessarily law enforcement officers.

The controversial gun bill gets a third reading on the House floor and the Senate will consider a controversial state charter school bill similar to ALEC-sponsored legislation. (More on ALEC below.) Gov. Pat McCrory -- who promised to hold regular media availability -- will not take questions after the Council of State meeting at 9 a.m. today. It is normal practice but McCrory has shunned the media after the meetings just about every time since he took office. He lists no other public events on his calendar today.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. A big day in North Carolina politics ahead. Get the scoop below. Send news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com.***

Gov. Pat McCrory banged out a drum solo on stage at the Lincoln Theater in Raleigh on Thursday night, kicking off the inauguration festivities.

The mostly young crowd, some in suits, some in flannel, clapped along and a few started singing Queen's "We Will Rock You" to McCrory's bass line. "There we go," McCrory said.

The Republican governor, wearing a sport coat and no tie, seemed at ease at the event. When he left the stage, he listened to the music from in front of the stage, shunning the roped-off VIP section saved for him on the club's upper level.

BIG VOTE TODAY: North Carolina children as young as 5 may soon be able to receive their public school education online from for-profit companies. The State Board of Education plans to vote Thursday on a special application for virtual schools that want to run public charters and receive taxpayer money. Full story here.

INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES GET UNDERWAY: Thursday marks the beginning of the traditional inauguration festivities. Council of State officials will get feted at a reception at 6 p.m. at the Progress Energy Center. The event is hosted by the Junior League of Raleigh and five companies with business before the state will sponsor: Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, Cisco Systems, Duke Energy, Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians and the Hendrick Companies. It's just one of the few opportunities special interests will get to lobby the state's top officials this week.

***This is the Dome Morning Memo, a digest of the state's big political news with analysis the reads between the lines. Thanks for reading. Click below for more.***

Gov. Bev Perdue on Friday will sign official documents with the City of Raleigh to lease the Dix Hospital property for use as a public park.

The two parties negotiated the terms of the lease after the Council of State approved the controversial deal in a Dec. 4 vote. The signing ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the old Senate chambers at the Capitol. Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarland and the governor will take part.

UPDATED:Republican Pat McCrory is taking the oath of office Jan. 5, a week earlier than his predecessor and ahead of the traditional inauguration festivities.

But he won't hold a Council of State meeting currently scheduled for Jan. 8, the Office of State Budget and Management announced Thursday. The body of the state's top elected leaders meets monthly and handles administrative financial matters, such as property acquisitions. The council will likely meet for the first time with McCrory at the helm in February.

McCrory will spent that afternoon touring the state holding open houses ahead of the public inauguration festivities.

A month after his election, Gov.-elect Pat McCrory remains employed at a law firm that lobbies state government even as he establishes his administration and controls a $660,000 pot of taxpayer money.

His dual role creates a potential conflict that makes government watchdogs uncomfortable. Another ethical move McCrory should consider, they suggest, is putting his assets in a blind trust. Read full story here.

More political headlines:

--Legislators seeking to eliminate $2.4 billion the state of North Carolina owes the federal government to help pay jobless benefits are prepared to unveil a proposal they also say would put the state unemployment insurance program on firmer financial footing.

Gov.-elect Pat McCrory convened an informal Council of State meeting hours after the current panel met Tuesday to decide the Dix land lease deal.

At the meeting of the incoming Council of State, the Dix vote from earlier in the morning didn't get discussed, said McCrory spokesman Chris Walker. It was more of a get-to-know-everyone meeting, he said, in which all pledged to work together.

Through the spokesman, McCrory declined to comment on the Dix deal and wouldn't publicly support Republican Senate leader Phil Berger's efforts to find a legal way to block the lease to the City of Raleigh.

Moments after the Council of State approved the Dix deal, a Republican legislative leader pledged to undo it. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said he is evaluating legal options to terminate the lease.

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that a majority of the Council of State caved into political pressure at the expense of good sense,” he said in a statement issued by his office. "The Senate will begin evaluating legal options to terminate this ill-conceived lease and reclaim this land on behalf of its real owners: the people of North Carolina.”

The state still owns the land, regardless of what Berger suggested. And its unclear if other Republicans would support him. House Speaker Thom Tillis has not yet weighed in on the decision, nor has Gov.-elect Pat McCrory.

UPDATED: Led by Gov. Bev Perdue, North Carolina officials voted Tuesday to allow the city to develop a major park at the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus, in a lease that will cost Raleigh about $68 million over 75 years.

The Council of State approved the controversial deal by a 6-2 vote with one abstaining after a vigorous discussion about whether it is a good deal for the state. 

This story from earlier this morning sets up the Council of State vote on the Dorothea Dix Hospital grounds deal.

Columnist Barry Saunders misses Jesse Helms, because you always knew where he stood. Not so with Congressman Mike McIntyre.