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FIRST LADY BACKS BILL TO REGULATE PUPPY MILLS: Venturing into public policy for the first time as First Lady, Ann McCrory issued an open letter to lawmakers supporting House Bill 930 to establish standards for dog breeders. The bill is a weakened version of the original legislation which sought to crack down on puppy mills. "| am writing to thank you for your unanimous support of l-louse Bill 930. Passing legislation to establish basic standards of care for large commercial dog breeding facilities is a very important issue to me, and to people across our state," Ann McCrory wrote in the letter. "| especially wish to Representatives Saine, McGrady and Brown for their leadership on this issue. l hope you and other members of the General Assembly will continue to advocate for this bill, and other legislation establishing higher standards for Commercial breeders. These policies increase our quality of life in North Carolina and ensure better care for dogs across the state. You have my full support."

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: A House committee will consider a Taxpayer Bill of Rights measure, known as TABOR, that would restrict state spending. Its hugely controversial and produced varied results. Other legislative committees will consider trimming environmental regulations and altering rules governing midwifery. On the Senate floor, lawmakers will hear a bill to prevent undercover whistleblower operations at farms and processing plants. And in the House, a bill about cancer drugs that split Republicans faces another vote, as does the LEED certification bill. Gov. Pat McCrory lists no public events.

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House Speaker Thom Tillis and Rep. Earline Parmon of Winston-Salem are hosting an information session next month in Charlotte on the history of the state's eugenics program.

A task force appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue recommended last week that people sterilized under the state's eugenics program receive $50,000.

Tillis said he is interested in settting up a compensation plan.  A press release from his office said he is working with Parmon "to map out a strategy to create a working group that will discuss the best way to pursue a legislative solution to the eugenics problem."

The  Feb. 1 meeting at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center will include comments from the NAACP, the Locke Foundation, and legislators. A question-and-answer session will follow.

The state Eugenics Board approved sterilizing about 7,600 people between 1929 and 1974. The state estimates that about 1,500 to 2,000 are still alive.

Eugenics task force members and forced-sterilization victims paid tribute to Rep. Larry Womble as the champion behind the movement to win compensation for victims. 

Womble, 70, is hospitalized in critical condition in Winston-Salem after a two-car, head-on accident that killed the other driver, David Carmichael.

A police investigation determined that Womble crossed the center line of a Winston-Salem road at about 11 p.m. Friday night.

Rep. Earline Parmon, a friend of Womble's said he underwent another surgery this morning.

In addition to statements of support at the meeting, Dr. Laura Gerald, head of the task force considering compensation amounts for eugenics victims, and Charmaine Fuller Cooper, director of the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation, released prepared statements.

From Gerald: “Today marks the first time we have gathered as a Task Force without him in the room.  We send our prayers and well wishes to Rep. Womble and his family as he fights to recover from his injuries. We likewise extend condolences to the family of Mr. David Carmichael.”

From Cooper: "Rep. Womble has fought on behalf of eugenics victims for years and always states that he is not finished until justice is found. I am proud to know him. As the Task Force moves forward, the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation will continue to carry out the Governor’s directives to assist victims and asks the media and the public to persist in helping us to reach out to those affected by the state’s former Eugenics Board program.” 

State Rep. Larry Womble, critically injured in a car accident last week that killed another driver, is alert and responding to stimuli, according to a doctor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

The hospital held a news conference this afternoon where Dr. Russell M. Howerton and Rep. Earline Parmon spoke.

Howerton said Womble has several broken bones and will undergo "a series of treatments and procedures."

Womble, 70, is a Democrat from Winston-Salem serving his ninth term.

Womble was injured in a head on collision in the accident late Friday night that killed the other driver, 54-year-old David Allen Carmichael.

Parmon said the Womble and Carmichael families have been close for years, and this was a trying time for both families.

The N.C. Legislative Black Caucus denounced what they said was an attempt to repeal a law devised to ensure fairness in death penalty cases.

The law, called the Racial Justice Act, allows defendants and death row prisoners to challenge prosecutions on the grounds of racial bias. The law passed in 2009 largely along party lines.

Four Republican legislators filed a bill this week that would change the law so that people seeking relief would have to show that prosecutors intentionally used race as a discriminatory factor in seeking the death penalty or selecting a jury.

"Passing this repeal would be a giant step backwards for justice in North Carolina," said Sen. Floyd McKissick, a Durham Democrat.

Rep. Earline Parmon, a Winston-Salem Democrat who worked on the bias bill, called efforts to change it "a racist attack, an ungodly attack on the poor people of this state."

Not surprisingly, one of the bill sponsors strongly disagreed with that assessment. "Wow," said Rep. Justin Burr, an Albemarle Republican who proposed changes. "I think that's an outrageous comment, first of all."

Nearly all of the states death row prisoners have filed petitions for review under the law. Burr called the accusation of racism "absurd" because white defendants charged with killing white victims are using the law.

The changes are an attempt to make sure the burden of proof is put on the defendant and is not financial burden on the state, he said. The existing law is essentially is a death penalty moratorium, he said.
 

House Democrats today introduced an alternative to the Republican-written charter school expansion bill moving through the legislature. The Democrats' proposal would eliminate the 100-school cap while imposing academic standards and more stringent teacher certification requirements.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, called the GOP bill "a voucher wrapped up in a charter."

The House Democrats' bill differs significantly from the GOP Senate bill in key areas.

- Charters would need to have at least 65 students. The GOP proposal has no minimum enrollment.

-A new Charter School Commission would oversee and make recommendations to the State Board of Education. In the GOP bill, the State Board would need a three-fourths vote to veto a commission decision.

-Under the House Democrats' proposal, charters could not hire teachers whose certification had been revoked. Low-performing charters would have more stringent teacher certification requirements.

-School boards would not have to turn over as much money to charters as the GOP bill would require. District superintendents and school principals are complaining about the requirement that they split band and athletic booster club money, school lunch money, pre-school money and other funds with charters, even if charters don't have sports teams, provide lunch, or offer pre-school programs.

Rep. Earline Parmon, a Winston-Salem Democrat, said the Senate bill "sucks as much taxpayer money as possible out of traditional public schools with little or no oversight."

A House committee is scheduled to debate the Republican Senate bill tomorrow morning.

Eight legislators and a handful of state education officials are headed to Singapore in about a week to see what that country does right in math and science education.

The trip will be the second delegation to Singapore in the ten years that the Public School Forum of North Carolina and UNC’s Center for International Understanding have been sending lawmakers and policy shapers to look at other country’s schools, Mark Johnson reports.

The last three trips: Ireland, China and, now, Singapore, have all focused on nations where education and economic development are closely aligned, said John Dornan, the forum’s president.

"Out of nine countries we’ve not seen anybody do what Singapore has done," Dornan said.

Students in Singapore consistently score among the best students in the world in math and science.

The lawmakers headed overseas are Reps. Marvin Lucas of Cumberland county; Tricia Cotham of Charlotte; Tim Moore of Cleveland County; Earline Parmon of Winston-Salem and Sens. Debbie Clary of Cleveland County; John Snow of Cherokee County; Bob Atwater of Chatham County and Ed Jones of Halifax County.

State school board Chairman Bill Harrison and Scott Rawls, president of the N.C. Community College System also are going.

The trip is being funded primarily by a grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund with additional money from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline and SAS. A Glaxo official is joining the trip.

Rep. Earl Jones called a news conference Tuesday to announce his longshot effort to legalize and regulate video gambling has new endorsements.

The Black Caucus and the State Employees Association of North Carolina support the bill, which would take for the state 20 cents for every dollar spent on video poker machines. Dropping video gambling machines in bars, convenience stores and other establishments across the state could raise nearly $500 million in new revenue, Jones said.

And perhaps anticpating arguments about proliferating gambling across the state, Jones repeatedly stated his opinion that video gaming is no different than the lottery.

"Gambling activity is gambling activity, whether you're talking about a video lottery or a scratch-off ticket," said Jones, a Greensboro Democrat.

Dana Cope, present of SEANC, which represents 55,000 public employees, said the new revenue would allow the state to continue to provide needed services.

"North Carolina's government made this decision. We as a public made this decision when we voted to support the lottery in North Carolina," Cope said. "This is just the natural progression to regulate this industry to get that revenue income into the coffers of the state."

Video poker machines have left a legacy of corruption in the state. William Thevaos, president of the Entertainment Group of North Carolina, said the fact that the industry wants regulation and taxation shows that things will be different.

"We want to be taxed. We want to be legal," Thevaos said. "We want to create a new industry and we want to work with the state."

More after the jump.

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 661: City Managers on School Boards, Rep. Ray Warren

H.B. 677: Require a "First in Flight" Background, Reps. Lucy Allen, Lorene Coates, Nelson Cole and Becky Carney

H.B. 691: State Contracts/Slavery Profits, Reps. Larry Womble, Earl Jones, Annie Mobley and Earline Parmon

H.B. 708: Furlough of State Employees, Reps. Ray Rapp, Rick Glazier and Margaret Dickson

H.B. 711: Sales Tax Fairness Act, Reps. Winkie Wilkins and Dale Folwell

H.B. 724: Open Records Attorneys' Fees, Reps. George Cleveland and Curtis Blackwood

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 433: Change Corporate Income Tax, Rep. Harold Brubaker

H.B. 442: Parental Involvement in School Discipline, Reps. Martha Alexander, Susan Fisher, Rick Glazier and Earline Parmon

H.B. 443: Increase Class Size in the Public Schools, Reps. Paul Stam and Laura Wiley

H.B. 453: Increase Cig. Tax/Proceeds to MHTF, Reps. Verla Insko, Beverly Earle and Alexander

H.B. 494: Superior Court Judge May Perform Marriage, Reps. William Wainwright, Dan Blue and Garland Pierce

H.B. 504: Tax Credit for Energy-Efficient Homes, Reps. Fisher, Pricey Harrison, Bruce Goforth and Ruth Samuelson