Gov. Beverly Perdue got some work done on the way.

In a state jet en route to Camp Lejeune for a speech by President Obama, the governor chatted with Speaker Joe Hackney.

"The speaker and I talked the whole way down," she said. "We had a long discussion about how you balance the bottom line. We've had several suggestions that were all painful, hard decisions about personnel and benefits and about the future of North Carolina."

Perdue said they plan to talk more about the budget on the way back this afternoon.

"It's nice to get the speaker isolated like that for 45 minutes," she said.

Perdue also responded to advocates who are concerned about a cut proposed by a state agency to a program that provides assistance to people with developmental disabilities.

"For those of you who don't recall, I ran for office in the late '80s because Craven County couldn't get the Community Alternatives Program for people who are very sick to keep them out of nursing homes, so that one is very important to me," she said.

Disability advocate Julie Leggett will speak on Oct. 30.

In commemoration of Disability History and Awareness Month, the policy coordinator for The Arc of North Carolina will speak at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Her speech is titled "Disability Access and Why It Matters." Leggett plans to give examples of changes in state law in North Carolina and their effects.

The event, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., is part of the Emerging Tar Heel Leaders and the UNC School of Law Disability Law Organization.

A disabilities advocate has ranked the 2007 session.

On her new blog, Julie Leggett, policy coordinator for The Arc of North Carolina, highlighted bills that allow voter registration closer to Election Day, offer sign language in schools and colleges, declare October Disability History and Awareness Month, make it a felony to assault a disabled person in an institution and make it easier for the disabled to register a vehicle.

She also cited the failure of a bill that would require school administrators adopt policies to punish bullying and harassment. The bill would have protected students with "a mental, physical or sensory disability," among other characteristics, but it stalled over the question of including sexual orientation on the list.

In a related post, Leggett noted that the $5 million set aside in next year's budget for the Goodyear and Bridgestone incentives could have paid for a number of programs for the disabled.

She said voters need to ask legislators about the spending:

Which is the better investment -- creating a $60 million dollar grant program for multinational corporations or investing in people with disabilities that have been waiting a long time for just such a financial commitment?