Among all the conservative politicians at the N.C. General Assembly, it appears none are conservative enough to suit Civitas Action.

The non-profit voter education group, with has ties to the conservative John William Pope Civitas Institute, released its Conservative Effectiveness Rankings for the 2009 legislative session on Monday.

Rep. Dale Folwell, a Forsyth County Republican, snagged the title of the most conservative member of the N.C. House, with a 89.8 score on the 100-point scale developed by Civitas Action. At the other end of the spectrum, Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat from Orange County, was awarded a score of 0.

In the state Senate, Davie County Republican Sen. Andrew Brock was rated as the body's most conservative member, with a score of 79. Three Democrats, Sens. Ellie Kinnaird of Orange, Katie Dorsett of Guilford and Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe were all scored at the bottom, tying at 2.1 on the group's scale.

Civitas Action's scale is based on the elected officials' votes on bills and amendments the group identified as demonstrative of commitment to conservative ideals as "derived from free-market economic policies, limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement," according to the group's web site.

By that measure, the most conservative member of the state House got the equivalent of a B+, whole the most conservative senator got a C+.

UPDATE: Bill Holmes, spokesman for Speaker Hackney, points out that the Democratic leader didn't vote on 49 of the 50 bills Civitas Action graded. The speaker typically only votes to break a tie or at other points where his support is determinative, Holmes said. Sen. Vernon Malone, who died in April, also got a 0 score from the group due to his being "absent" when many of the bills came up.  

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House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat and UNC-Chapel Hill alum, will visit his old stomping grounds Monday to tell students how laws, policies and rules that govern the university are made.

Hackney and Roger Perry, immediate past chairman of the university's Board of Trustees, will talk to students enrolled in the course called Role of the University in American Life.

Dome wonders whether the lesson will cover special budget provisions and university booster PACs.

House Speaker Joe Hackney appointed former state marine fisheries director Preston Pate to the board of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund Friday.

Pate served as director of the Division of Marine Fisheries from 1997-2007. Before that he was assistant director of the state Division of Coastal Management. 

He replaces Southport businessman Robert Howard, who served on the board since 1996 and as chairman from 2001 to 2006. Howard's tenure as chair was marked by division on the board and the resignation of the organization's highly regarded director, Bill Holman. Other board members and Holman clashed with Howard over his advocacy for grants to wastewater projects in Southport and Brunswick County.

Hackney praised both Howard's and Pate's service to the state.

The trust fund provides grants to local governments, state agencies and conservation non-profits to buy land and take other steps to resolve water pollution problems. Founded in 1996, the fund has awarded nearly $951 million to more than 1,300 projects.

Sens. Julia Boseman and R.C. Soles Jr. spent the most of any competitive legislative candidate to win their seats.

Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, spent $871,500 in her race and Soles, a Columbus County Democrat, spent $839,500, according to an analysis of campaign spending by the Program on Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The list of top spenders did not include candidates who ran unopposed and therefore excludes spending by Senate Leader Marc Basnight, $1.3 million, or House Speaker Joe Hackney, $744,000.

The top spenders in the House were Randy Stewart, a Nash County Democrat ($382,000) and House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat ($354,000).

Democrats control the House and Senate and have powerful fundraising machines in place. On the Republican side in the House, top spenders were Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican ($232,000) and House Republican Leader Paul Stam, an Apex Republican ($196,000).

Among Senate Republicans, top campaign spenders were Sen. Neal Hunt, a Wake County Republican ($813,000) and Richard Gunn, an Alamance County Republican, who spent $386,000, but lost the race to Sen. Tony Foriest, a Democrat.

N.C. Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer couldn't resist poking fun at a gaffe House Speaker Joe Hackney made while trying to show he is knowledgable about issues related to Charlotte.

Hackney mistakenly referred to Charlotte's incomplete Interstate 485 as "495."

"Despite his selfless attention to Charlotte’s roads, Hackney struck an oratorical pothole when he didn’t know which road he was talking about, and had to be corrected by the audience," Fetzer said. "Speaker Hackney went to Charlotte to demonstrate his awareness of the Queen City’s needs and laid an egg. Let’s hope he didn’t take the wrong road home to Chapel Hill.

"The Speaker should know his roads. And not just the ones that curve sharply to the left,” Fetzer said.

N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney blasted Republican legislators today for "trying to fight against us at every turn" during the last legislative session.

Speaking to the Charlotte Uptown Democratic Forum, the Chapel Hill Democrat outlined the difficulty of balancing a state budget that had a $4.6 billion shortfall, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports. The Democratic controlled General Assembly used a package of cuts and tax hikes and federal stimulus money to balance the budget.

"We did what we had to do to protect education and our universities," he said, adding that Republicans did nothing but ridicule Democratic proposals. "This session (they) were not serious about government ... It's a national trend."

Hackney also touched on matters closer to home.

"There's often a perception in Mecklenburg, I am told, that nobody cares about Mecklenburg," he said. "I can assure you I keep up with it. I know all about 495," he added, before someone corrected him that it's completion of the I-485 beltway that is a concern to Charlotteans.

"485, same thing," Hackney said quickly.

In an interview with his hometown paper, the Burlington Times News, Allred had few kind words for anyone associated with the incidents that led to his decision to quit his seat in the House.

Allred's political career was upturned one night when he was pulled over by a state Trooper for driving more than 100 miles an hour on Interstate 40. At the time, Allred flashed his legislative ID and told the trooper he was racing to go vote in the General Assembly. The trooper let Allred go. Later when the stop became public, Allred was cited. He pleaded guilty to the speeding charge, but apparently still believes he was in the right.

Police and emergency workers "break the speed limit for the public good," he said. "What I was trying to do was for the public good."

Allred, a Republican, said the only reason he got a speeding ticket at all is because House Republican leader Paul Stam overheard Allred talking about the stop.

Allred said he got the speeding and reckless driving ticket only because House Republican Leader Paul Stam of Wake County overheard him tell Deputy GOP Whip Fred Steen II of Rowan County about the trooper stopping him on the way to the April 27 session. Stam, whom Allred called a "self-righteous hypocrite," then "directly or indirectly" told House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange.

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Allen Rogers, an aide to House Speaker Joe Hackney, is working his last official day today, ending 41 years of state government service.

Rogers, 65, handles board and commission appointments for Hackney and is sort of retiring for the second time. He retired from the General Assembly Personnel Office, which he helped create, in 2003 and agreed to take the board and commission post under then-House Speaker Jim Black. The job was supposed to be part time.

"That lasted about two weeks," Rogers said, before he became full time. He remained in the post when Hackney took over as speaker in 2007.

In six years, Rogers has not taken any vacation time: "I really need a break," he said.

But he'll take on another task of some sort, he said. Work is his hobby.

Hackney and his staff will miss their soft spoken go-to guy, not to mention his always available dish of bite-sized candy bars.

State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said today that conditions are ripe for Republicans to win control of the North Carolina legislature next year for the first time since 1898.

Fetzer said the $1 billion in tax increases passed by the legislature combined with a spate of Democratic scandals in Raleigh, a backlash against Democratic health care proposals and historic mid-term election trends bode well for the GOP, reports Rob Christensen.

"We feel very confident that we going to have a Republican majority in the House and the Senate in 2010," Fetzer said at a news conference at state Republican headquarters.

Republicans need to pick up 10 seats in the 120-seat House, and six seats in the 50-seat Senate to win control.

But House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, said Democrats were well positioned to expand their majority in the House.

"We are very optimistic we are going to pick up some seats," Hackney said in an interview. "We think we will pick up seven and get to 75."

After moving around the state, Hackney said he believed there was a broad appreciation that the legislature had just gone through one of the most difficult budget sessions in modern times. Hackney said the Republicans had shown no leadership.

"They have not done anything to deserve consideration next time," Hackney said. "They wouldn't tax to balance the budget. And they wouldn't cut to balance the budget. They refused to participate. They wouldn't make any hard decisions."