State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler doesn't want department employees taking gifts from contractors, either.

The agriculture department intends to "comply with the spirit and intent" of the executive order Gov. Beverly Perdue signed Thursday, said Brian Long, a department spokesman.

The department is going to tell employees not to take gifts, but some of the details Perdue laid out in her order, such as getting everyone to certify in writing that they know about the ban, may present logistical problems and take time to accomplish, Long said.

"The intent of the order is certainly something we're going to comply with," Long said. "Certainly, we should not be taking gifts."

Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law a ban on texting while driving. 

The ban, which prohibits typing or reading texts or e-mails on a mobile phone while driving a car, goes into effect Dec. 1. Dome got the word, appropriately, in a text message from Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson. 

FYI — Gov just signed HB 9, No Texting While Driving. This msg 2 u was composed while I was behind my desk, not behind the wheel. Hope u r not driving now. :)

Dome wasn't.

The ban still allows drivers to use GPS devices. It also allows drivers to text while the car is parked. The law wouldn't stop drivers from looking up contacts to make a call.

Texting while driving a school bus is a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine. Texting while driving anything else is a less serious infraction punishable by a $100 fine.  

Gov. Beverly Perdue responded this afternoon to the lawsuit by state school superintendent June Atkinson. Perdue's press secretary, Chrissy Pearson issued this statement:

"North Carolina's children deserve nothing less than schools that work the right way -- to give them the education they need to succeed in a changing global workplace," Pearson said in the statement. "Gov. Perdue's focus for the public school system continues to be on providing the leadership needed to make that system work for our children."

Republican leaders of the House and Senate on Thursday said Gov. Beverly Perdue's budget didn't cut deep enough.

Sen. Phil Berger, of Eden, and Rep. Paul Stam, of Apex, said Perdue avoided taking obvious cuts that would amount to at least enough to avoid raising taxes on cigarettes and beer, as Perdue proposed.

"There are some fairly easy savings to look at," Berger said, highlighting GOP proposals to cut spending that would further reduce school class sizes or to use computer software to avoid improper payments to Medicaid providers.

Stam said Perdue made "phantom" cuts that really didn't reduce money being spent, such as eliminating unused salary money, or didn't cut nearly as deeply as expected, given Perdue's warnings of pain. The Republican leaders suggested the state be prepared to reduce workers' hours, order furloughs or impose layoffs, as the private sector is doing.