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Rep. Pricey Harrison has titled a few bills in her day.

The Greensboro Democrat, a prolific bill filer, said a good bill title can "put a positive spin on an issue."

She's co-sponsored a few good ones:

Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act: Would prohibit North Carolina's electric utilities from buying coal that comes from so-called "mountaintop removal" methods.

Access to Higher Education: Would prohibit state community colleges and universities from asking students whether they were illegal immigrants.

North Carolina Racial Justice Act: Allows racial discrimination to be taken into consideration when determining whether to impose the death penalty.

Still, she made a distinction between her college bill and, say, the Defense of Marriage Act.

"That was more about taking it out of a discussion of illegal immigration and making it what the bill is really about, which is access to higher education," she said. "The Defense of Marriage Act is a ban on gay marriages — kind of the exact opposite of what the title says."

More after the jump.

A bill to ban gay marriage in the state constitution cited the Civitas poll.

The House version of the Defense of Marriage Act this year includes among its clauses a reference to polling on the issue done by the conservative think tank.

Whereas, in statewide poll numbers released May 20, 2008, by the John William Pope Civitas Institute, 71% of North Carolina voters support the passage of a State Marriage Amendment, while 26% are opposed. Among African-American voters, support for the marriage amendment was at 86% ...

That whereas has since been undermined, however.

A survey by the Elon University Poll released today showed that 50 percent of North Carolinians oppose a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Hat Tip: Lisa Grafstein

Half of North Carolinians oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

In a survey by the Elon University Poll, 50 percent of respondents said that they oppose adding a ban on same-sex marriage to the state constitution, while 43 percent supported it.

They did not support same-sex marriage, however.

On a separate question, 44 percent said they opposed any legal recognition for same-sex couples, 28 percent supported civil unions or partnerships that stop short of full marriage rights and 21 percent support full marriage rights.

"Given the contention in opinions across these hot-button issues, state legislators face some tough decisions in the coming months," said pollster Hunter Bacot.

Two bills that would put a ban up to a vote have been buried in committees in the state legislature by Democratic leaders.

The live poll of 620 North Carolina residents was conducted March 15-19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

How should you title a bill on a controversial subject?

One strategy: Don't mention it.

Consider the following bill titles, all of which neatly pull the trick of sounding either positive or innocuous while avoiding mentioning their raison d'être:

The Healthy Youth Act: Puts most students in comprehensive sex ed classes, with an option for abstinence-only at parents' discretion.

Personal Protection in Restaurants: Allows people with concealed weapons permits to bring handguns into restaurants and bars.

Conform State Law to Lawrence v. Texas: Gets rid of state statutes, since found unconstitutional, that prohibit gay sex.

Repeal Ban G.S. 95-99: Allows state government employees to join a union and collectively negotiate their contracts.

Defense of Marriage: Puts a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in North Carolina up for a referendum.

Note the words "guns," "homosexuality," "sex education" or "unions" don't appear in any of the above, or any other bills filed this session, for that matter.

Doug Clark says the gay marriage ban is inaccurate.

The Greensboro News-Record columnist writes today that the preamble to the bill incorrectly argues that a 2008 case in the N.C. Court of Appeals could set a legal precedent for gay marriage.

That case, Mason v. Dwinell, involved a child visitation dispute over a lesbian couple who had conceived a child using artificial insemination and signed a parenting agreement. In her decision, Judge Martha Geer wrote that the fact the couple was gay was irrelevant.

The reference to Mason v. Dwinnell in this House bill could be intended to raise alarm. I suspect it also might be someone’s attempt to target Geer, who comes up for re-election next year. Portraying her as a California-liberal kind of judge could provide an avenue for attack by an aggressive conservative challenger (even though Geer was joined in her opinion by conservative Judge Sanford Steelman).

But as Geer and family law expert Suzanne Reynolds told Clark, there's no comparison with cases that have been used as legal "building blocks" to recognize gay marriage in other states. 

"It's not apples and oranges," Geer said. "It's apples and cows."

Which state bills have the most support?

Recent surveys by the Elon University Poll, the conservative Civitas Institute and the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling have shown broad agreement on a number of issues.

Below, the percentage in support and the corresponding bill:

H.B. 361: Defense of Marriage (76 percent, Civitas)

S.B. 155: Community College Can't Admit Illegal Aliens (74 percent, PPP)

H.B. 88: Healthy Youth Act (69 percent, PPP)

H.B. 2: Prohibit Smoking in Public & Work Places. (67 percent, Elon; 64 percent PPP)

S.B. 12: Ban Mobile Phone Use While Driving (66 percent, Elon)

H.B. 35: Independent Redistricting Commission (55 percent, Civitas)

Correction: A previous version of this post included S.B. 161, which would overturn the moratorium on the death penalty. Polling data is conflicted on this issue, so it has been removed from the list.

* House Speaker Joe Hackney refers anti-gay marriage bill to four committees, double the usual amount and likely a tactic to keep it from coming to the floor.

* House Republican Leader Paul Stam proposes allowing local governments to publish notices about public hearings electronically — instead of in the newspaper.

* Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican, says smoking ban creates "a Gestapo atmosphere," but the bill sails through a House Health committee.

* About 1 out of every 110 adults in North Carolina is in prison, according to new report. That's good compared to the South, but not the world.

An anti-gay marriage rally drew more than 1,000 people. 

The attendees, most of them from Baptist churches across the state, stood on the ice-covered lawn outside the legislative building in Raleigh to demand that state legislators give them a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, Yonat Shimron reports.

The rally, sponsored by a Winston-Salem group called Return America, featured two nationally acclaimed conservative Christian pundits who described a breakdown of society should gay couples be allowed to marry. They then urged those attending to knock on their legislator's doors and demand action.

"Let them feel the heat until they see the light," said David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, a ministry devoted to educating Americans about the country's moral and religious foundation.

The rally was a follow-up to a press conference last week in which Republican legislators re-introduced a bill that would allow North Carolina to hold a referendum on marriage. The bill has been sidetracked to a committee.

North Carolina does not allow same-sex marriage but advocates of a constitutional amendment say they want extra protections should a judge decide the current law is unconstitutional.

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 338: Stimulus Funds/Contractors Must Use E-Verify, Rep. Pat McElraft

H.B. 339: Taxpayer Transparency Act, Reps. McElraft, Pat Hurley, Curtis Blackwood and Hugh Blackwell

H.B. 344: Employers Must Use E-Verify Program, Reps. Wil Neumann and George Cleveland

H.B. 351: Party Change During Early Voting, Rep. Cary Allred

H.B. 361: Defense of Marriage, Reps. David Lewis, James Crawford, Pearl Burris-Floyd and Dewey Hill

H.B. 362: Access to Higher Education, Rep. Pricey Harrison, Paul Luebke, Rick Glazier and Verla Insko