For state Rep. Nelson Dollar, the construction vehicles parked in front of statues and monuments on the Capitol's lawn had ruined enough field trips.

So Dollar got his fellow lawmakers to do something about it.

The Cary Republican sponsored a bill that would let state maintenance vehicles park on the streets around the Capitol for free as long as they stayed off the building's lawn. On Thursday, the bill got final approval from the Senate.

"I just wanted it so school children and other visitors to the Capitol could see the vistas," Capitol said.

In the past, trucks were ticketed for parking too long in metered and free spots. The bill is a compromise between the Department of Administration, which own the trucks, and the city of Raleigh, which is planning on installing more parking meters along the streets.

"It was just to make sure that, no matter what, these people would still be able to work and park," Dollar said.

The heads of the departments of Insurance and Administration are teaming up their staffs to save money and speed up construction projects.

State officials project the new arrangement could save $1.4 million on every $100 million in construction.

About 15 experts from the Insurance Department's plan review office will move into the state construction office so that the two agencies can more efficiently review construction plans funded by new federal stimulus money, said Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. He signed a memorandum of understanding this morning with the Department of Administration's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin McLaughlin, whose department includes the construction office.

As commissioner, Goodwin also serves as state fire marshal. He said the plan accelerates the construction work, which aids the slumping economy, but also ensures the safety of new construction.

"Our people need jobs," Goodwin said, "and to work and do business in buildings that are safe."

State Department of Justice employees had an uncomfortable day without air conditioning, phones or Internet access after a ruptured pipe flooded the sub-basement of the Old Education Building in downtown Raleigh late Wednesday.

The power was restored before the work day began, but the air conditioning didn't come back on until early afternoon, said Jill Lucas, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, which manages state buildings.

Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said phone and Internet service was still an issue at the end of the work day.

She went home after several hours to check email.

"I have a laptop I take back and forth to work," Talley said. "It's convenient at a time like this."

A state auditor's review has found that the N.C. Department of Administration was not re-certifying businesses as minority-owned and women-owned, a status that gives them a better chance of winning state contracts.

A deputy director in the department's Historically Underutilized Business Office confirmed that roughly 20 businesses had lost the designation because of a computer glitch, the review said.

The review also found 60 vendors doing business with the state that qualified for HUB status but did not have it, Dan Kane reports.

Another five had the designation but shouldn't have, the review said. They had been "inactivated" by the HUB office, or had not been listed on the office's web site as HUB businesses.

More after the jump.

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