The strain of crossover week is hitting the Senate.

After a lengthy debate on an amendment to bill to change how antique cars are titled, Sen. David Hoyle raised for a question for sponsor Sen. Fletcher Hartsell.

"Senator Hartsell, would you put us all of out our misery as a bill sponsor and let's call to a question on the amendment?" he said. "This bill's got to go to the House. It's got a long way to go. I've got a long way to go today.

"Would you please put us out of our misery, call the question, let us vote and get on with it? Is that asking too much?"

Hartsell agreed.

"I have some problem with that, but I will shut up," he said. 

The amendment passed 31-14 and the bill was then unanimously passed. It now heads to the House.

* Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, a Cabarrus County Republican, lets out his inner Erin Brockovich in argument over Alcoa project on Yadkin River.

* NAACP praises Gov. Beverly Perdue for choosing first black district attorney in Eastern North Carolina; second currently serving in state.

* Liberal talk show host Keith Olbermann labels U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx "Worst Person in the World" for Matthew Shepard remarks.

* More signs of Senate '10: Americans United for Change criticizes Sen. Richard Burr in press release for voting against Obama's budget.

Which legislators have tobacco companies in their districts?

With the General Assembly again considering enacting a smoking ban in restaurants and workplaces, Dome decided to see who represents the tobacco firms.

Alternative Brands, Mocksville:
Rep. Julia Howard, Sen. Andrew Brock

Commonwealth Brands, Reidsville:
Rep. Nelson Cole, Sen. Phil Berger

Lorillard, Greensboro:
Rep. Maggie Jeffus, Sen. Don Vaughan

Philip Morris, Concord:
Rep. Jeff Barnhart, Sen. Fletcher Hartsell

Reynolds American, Winston-Salem:
Rep. Larry Womble, Sen. Linda Garrou

Reynolds American, Tobaccoville:
Rep. Dale Folwell, Sen. Pete Brunstetter

In the 2007 session, Reps. Howard, Jeffus, Barnhart and Womble voted for a smoking ban in public places, while Reps. Cole and Folwell voted against it.

"Which Republicans voted for the Democratic leadership in the legislature?" — Caller

Members of the state House of Representatives and Senate select their own leaders on the first day of session.

The majority, which is Democratic in both chambers this year, typically votes for one of its own, while the Republican minority puts forward its own candidate.

Still, legislators can cross over to vote for the other side.

This year, Republican Sens. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord and Richard Stevens of Cary both voted for Democratic Sen. Marc Basnight as president pro tem on the first roll call.

Before the votes were totaled, however, Republican Minority Leader Phil Berger, who was also running, moved to elect Basnight by acclamation — essentially a unanimous voice vote.

This next part is a little tricky. In order to prevent anyone from calling another vote in the future and toppling Basnight, his chief lieutenant, Sen. Tony Rand, asked for yet another vote, known as a "clincher."

Twelve of the 20 Senate Republicans voted for Basnight on that vote: Sens. Austin Allran, Stan Bingham, Harris Blake, Debbie Clary, Don East, James Forrester, Hartsell, Neal Hunt, David Rouzer, Bob Rucho, Stevens, and Jerry Tillman.

In the House no Republicans voted for Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat. House Republicans voted for the minority leader, Rep. Paul Stam.

Sen. Fletcher Hartsell
Concord Republican
Tenth Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? He said two studies that have come back from the Government Performance Audit that would reform the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the mental health system could provide some savings.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? "I don’t have any problems looking at tobacco taxes," he said.

— Rob Christensen 

SEANC gave $194,800 in North Carolina races this year.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina gave $89,300 to 53 state House candidates, $79,000 to 28 Senate candidates an $16,000 to four statewide candidates. Seventy-six recipients were Democrats, and nine were Republicans.

The largest donations went to House challenger Jimmy Garner and Sen. Floyd McKissick, who each received $8,000; and House challenger Betty Mangum and Sens. Fletcher Hartsell, Steve Goss, Ellie Kinnaird, who received $5,000 apiece.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, Lt. Gov.-elect Walter Dalton, agriculture commissioner candidate Ronnie Ansley and labor commissioner candidate Mary Fant Donnan, all Democrats, each received $4,000.

Fifty-five of the candidates were incumbents, 19 were challenging an incumbent and 11 were running for open seats. 

The state workers group also gave $4,000 to the state House Republican committee, $1,000 to the Senate Democratic committee and $500 to the House Democratic committee.

In addition, SEANC gave $5,000 to the Alliance for North Carolina. 

The SEIU PAC spent $410,569 on North Carolina races in 2008.

The political action committee of the Service Employees International Union, which is affiliated with the State Employees Association of North Carolina, spent $323,069 on independent expenditures, including mailers and phone banks, and gave $83,500 to candidates, according to campaign finance reports.

The biggest expense was $147,279 spent on mailers opposing Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory. The union did not spend on any other statewide races.

The group also spent $100,568 on unsuccessful candidate Chuck Stone, who came in fourth out of five Democratic primary candidates for Democratic Sen. John Kerr's seat in May.

And it spent $40,510 opposing Republican Rep. Curtis Blackwood and supporting a primary challenger and $34,711 on opposing incumbent Republican Rep. Leo Daughtry and supporting a Democratic challenger.

Among direct contributions, the union gave to 33 Democratic candidates and three Republicans and donated another $4,000 to the N.C. Democratic Party.

SEIU donated to a dozen Democratic incumbents who were unopposed in either the primary or general elections, including $4,000 apiece to Senate president Marc Basnight and House Speaker Joe Hackney.

More after the jump.

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The 2008 legislative session is over, but a long-expected legislative report on problems with the state's mental health reforms has still not been made public.

The report, titled "Compromised controls and lack of focus hampered implementation of enhanced mental health services" was originally scheduled for discussion in May, reports Michael Biesecker. But it was cut from the agenda of a legislative oversight committee.

A chairman of the committee, Republican Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord, said in May the report was taken off the agenda because the committee didn't have time to talk about it. Hartsell said the committee would get the report back on its agenda by the "end of session, probably."

On Monday, Hartsell said the report has not been made public because it is not complete. He said he had not seen the report, but that he expects it back on the committee's agenda for discussion "sometime in August, probably."

A News & Observer series this year found that the state has wasted at least $400 million on a service of one of the enhanced mental health programs, called community support. The federal government is withholding more than $50 million in Medicaid payments to the state because of suspected abuses.

The House will consider studying the future of Yadkin River dams today.

A bill sponsored by Concord Republican Rep. Fletcher Hartsell would direct the state Environmental Review Commission to look into the renewal of a 50-year federal license on a hydroelectric power projects in Stanly County.

The dams were first licensed in the 1950s to allow Alcoa Inc. to generate power for a nearby aluminum plant. With the plant no longer in operation, the multinational company has been reselling the power on the open market.

"There's no benefit to the people of North Carolina," argued Bruce Thompson, a lobbyist working for the bill's passage. He estimated the company makes $45 million a year from reselling the power.

A provision to allow the state to study taking over the dams for a local power authority was inserted into the budget, then taken out.

The bill does not mention a takeover, instead directing the Environmental Review Commission to consider the "socioeconomic impacts" of the aluminum plant closure, the need for a "clean future water supply" and other water uses.

A spokesman for Alcoa said they do not oppose the study bill because it makes no mention of a takeover. 

"We recognize the growing importance of water issues in North Carolina, and welcome the opportunity to work with the state to protect its water interests along the Yadkin River," said Gene Ellis in a statement.

The commission's report would be turned into the legislature by Feb. 1.

How bipartisan has Sen. Kay Hagan been?

From 1999 to 2008, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 143 bills. Of them, 63 had no cosponsors, 36 had only Democratic cosponsors and 44 had Republican cosponsors.

Overall, her 366 cosponsors included 286 Democrats and 80 Republicans, for about a four-to-one ratio. She became more bipartisan during her time in the legislature, however, going from about a nine-to-one ratio of D-to-R cosponsors in the 1999-2000 session to about two-to-one in the current session.

The most frequent GOP cosponsors were Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County, who signed on to 14 bills; Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to 13; and Sen. Robert Shaw of Greensboro, who signed on to 10.

Sens. Hamilton Horton of Forsyth County and Richard Stevens of Wake County each cosponsored five bills; Sens. Virginia Foxx of Watauga County and John Garwood of Wilkes County, four; and Peter Brunstetter of Forsyth County and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County, three.

Sens. James Forrester, Jim Jacumin, Jerry Tillman, Austin Allran and Harry Brown cosponsored two apiece, while Sens. Don East, Andrew Brock, Eddie Goodall, Harris Blake, Kenneth Moore, Fred Smith and Tom Apodaca each cosponsored one.

Previously: Hagan's Republican cosponsors in 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2007-08 sessions.