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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.***

WAS IT REALLY AN APOLOGY? Rep. Larry Pittman issued a letter of apology to House Speaker Thom Tillis. But did he apologize for what he said -- that the potential Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is thwarting gun legislation and other "constitutional conservative" measures -- or just the way he said it? Read it again: "While we do still have some disagreement about process, I have done damage to his reputation in a manner in which I did not consider at the time," Pittman wrote.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: Two major education bills in the legislature today: the House will consider a bill to limit pre-K enrollment and the Senate will hear a measure to overhaul how charter schools are regulated. The calendars are full of other measures, touching on everything from the environment to insurance.Gov. Pat McCrory will attend a National Day of Prayer service in Greenville at 12:15 p.m. and then tour the downtown Main Street minutes later. He also plans to attend the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame gala at 7 p.m.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. Keep reading below for more on the questions surrounding Mel Watt's confirmation and other North Carolina political news and analysis.***

The bill to end subsidies and the requirement that power companies develop alternative energy sources that is working its way through a divided GOP in the state House has an interesting future ahead of it -- especially with the governor's commerce secretary touting the next renewable energy conference.

Mitch Gillespie, a longtime Republican member of the House, has resigned effective Sunday. He's headed to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to become an assistant secretary under the new boss there, John Skvarla of Pinehurst.

Gillespie, who lives in Marion, took the lead on what is termed regulatory reform last session, with a special emphasis on environmental regulations that restrict development. He's been a developer and surveyor, and has received substantial campaign contributions from development and energy interests.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Gillespie submitted his letter of resignation on Friday. The General Assembly's website confirms the resignation.

Republican leaders in District 85 will select a replacement, which the new governor will sign off on as a formality.

The N.C. chapter of the Sierra Club has waded into unusual territory with today's endorsement of state appellate court Judge Sam Ervin IV for N.C. Supreme Court.

It's the first time the environmental organization has endorsed a candidiate running for the state's highest court.

On Wednesday, the first of three televised gubernatorial debates will be held between Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory. This is a key moment in particular for Dalton, the lieutenant governor, who trails the former Charlotte mayor in all the polls. The one-hour debate will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast across the state. Rob Christensen gives his 10 questions for the candidates.

More political headlines:

--North Carolina’s next governor could determine whether the broad changes that are remaking the state’s environmental landscape – both political and natural – continue or are reined in. But both candidates are mostly silent on the issue.

--Five weeks before Election Day, the best place to get a snapshot of the presidential race in North Carolina might well be up here in the mountain towns of Watauga County. Unlike the Republican-red counties surrounding it, Watauga has turned purple in its politics – just like North Carolina, still one of nine battleground states in the 2012 contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

No surprises here, but a leading environmental advocacy group has given low marks to the Republican-led General Assembly for the GOP’s second year in power.

Environment North Carolina drew up a scorecard measuring 12 contested votes in the senate and 10 in the house. It gave 102 lawmakers failing grades -- an improvement over last year’s 106 failing grades.

North Carolina is the eighth most polluted state in the country, as measured by toxic air emissions from coal-fired power plants, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The report says in 2010 North Carolina emitted more than 14.6 million pounds of chemicals into the air. The state was closer to the middle – 24^th place – among all states in industrial mercury air pollution from power plants, according to the environmental advocacy organization.

This is the last year of a much-maligned system that made parents angry, caused teachers to complain that they had to “teach to the test,” and kept principals up nights worried about showing improvement. The ABCs are gone after Thursday. In its place is a new measuring stick that emphasizes national standards and students’ readiness for college and work. Read more about the changes here.

More political news:

--Michelle Obama attended a campaign rally in Greensboro, previewing her role at the Democratic National Convention, and then attended a fundraiser in Raleigh in which she defended her husband's administration.

--Even in the wake of last month’s Colorado shooting rampage and a gunman’s spree last year that nearly killed former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, don’t expect Democrats to arrive in Charlotte armed with renewed calls for tougher gun laws. The issue is too risky.