Gov. Beverly Perdue is not alone in China and certainly not in terms of elected officials from North Carolina, since 11 legislators are also there.

Senators Malcolm Graham (right with Alfred Liu, general manager of SAS' Beijing R&D) and Bob Rucho, of Charlotte; Floyd McKissick, of Durham; Joe Sam Queen, of Waynesville and Tony Foriest, of Graham, along with Representatives Lucy Allen, of Louisburg; Bill Owens, of Elizabeth City; Joe Tolson, of Pinetops; Jane Whilden of Asheville; Margaret Dickson, of Fayetteville and Wil Neumann, of Belmont are visiting as part of a program organized by the University of North Carolina’s Center for International Understanding. All are Democrats except for Rucho and Neumann, Republicans.

Graham said no tax dollars are being used to pay for the trip. Funding comes from Duke University as well as corporate sponsors AT&T, Longistics and SAS.

The group is participating in a few events during Perdue's trade trip, such as Wednesday's visit to a middle school, but also are making their own stops, such as SAS' Beijing R&D operation. Lawmakers are aiming to learn more about a country and culture with which North Carolina must compete for jobs and business.

"We don’t live in an isolated world anymore," Graham said. "We’re not just competing with South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. We’re competing in a worldwide economy."

House and Senate Democrats, who have a controlling majority in the legislature, have agreed to both taxes this week as part of a $980 million package to cope with the budget deficit facing North Carolina.

That would be coupled with cuts in state spending, but Democratic leaders say the tax increases are needed to avoid more devastating cuts to education and social services.

And that could come back to haunt Democrats. In competitive districts, Democrats are already predicting a difficult campaign season next year, when all 170 House and Senate seats are up for election.

"The package the House wants us to accept is raising everything," said Sen. Joe Sam Queen, a Waynesville Democrat who represents one of the state's few truly competitive legislative districts. Queen has not decided whether he will support the tax plan. But if he votes for it, he said, he can already envision the Republican television and radio commercials chastising him for increasing taxes.

"There will be more acrimony and rhetoric in this coming election than ever before," he said.

Republicans, long in the minority in the legislature, did not hesitate to start the debate.

"They found a way to impose a tax on everybody without consideration for your ability to pay," said Rep. Thom Tillis, a Mecklenburg County Republican. "They even found a way to tax taxes." (N&O)

The atmosphere was more Thunderdome than Under the Dome at the annual House vs. Senate milk-chugging for charity contest Wednesday.

Pages and legislative assistants hollered for their favorite chamber ("Go Senate! Come on House!) and specators jockeyed for a view of six distiguished public officeholders sucking on straws jammed into tiny plastic milk bottles.

Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican, was not above a little pre-chug smack talk.

"This is the sound of your defeat," he said to his Senate opponents as he silently popped off the plastic cap of one of his milk bottles.

The contest was sponsored by the state's dairy industry and the Department of Agriculture.

Reps. Lewis, Arthur Williams (D-Washington) and Roger West (R-Marble) challenged Sens. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville), Bob Atwater (D-Chapel Hill) and Andrew Brock (R-Mocksville).

It appeared to be a fair contest, although there were some rumblings about non-regulation straws and early chugging. The Senate team finished first, earning $200 for their favorite, as yet unnamed, charity. The House team will get $100 for charity.

(News & Observer photo by TAKAAKI IWABU).

* U.S. Rep. Howard Coble received an award from the American Conservative Union; his lifetime rating is 89.21 over 24 years.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen thinks state Sens. John Snow or Joe Sam Queen would make good candidates for Rep. Heath Shuler's seat.

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker says Gov. Beverly Perdue quashed a rumor that she would submit a do-over on the budget.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts gives state schools CEO Bill Harrison props for speaking out for a tax hike for education.

State lawmakers got their first look today at a brewing crisis in the Correction Department as projections indicate the state will not be able to build its way out of a surge in the inmate population over the decade.

The large print in the report delivered to lawmakers said it all: "The State faces a serious prison bed shortage in the next year, and a huge deficit in the long term," Dan Kane reports.

They learned:

* They can not build or expand space fast enough to house the roughly 2,300 additional inmates expected to arrive by the end of the next fiscal year;

* Counties do not have enough jail cells to house the projected backlog; and

* That adopting some sentence-reduction suggestions that have been offered in recent years also may not slow the growth soon enough.

More after the jump.

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Ten state legislators drive more than 500 miles to work.

After Dome learned that Rep. Roger West's 720-mile round trip from Marble to Raleigh is the longest commute, we wondered about the other legislators with long drives:

Sen. John Snow, Murphy, 706 miles
Sen. Joe Sam Queen, Waynesville, 552 miles
Sen. Tom Apodaca, Hendersonville, 550 miles
Sen. Martin Nesbitt, Asheville, 520 miles
Rep. David Guice, Brevard, 582 miles
Rep. Susan Fisher, Asheville, 500 miles
Rep. Bruce Goforth, Asheville, 500 miles
Rep. Carolyn Justus, Hendersonville, 550 miles
Rep. Phil Haire, Sylva, 590 miles

Not surprisingly, all 10 represent the mountains. 

Rep. Joe Sam Queen
Waynesville Democrat
Third Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? 1) He suggested cutting the Program Evaluation Division, a new entity within legislative services that evaluates state services. One of its reports had suggested cuts in agricultural research stations in Western North Carolina, an idea that Queen disagreed with.

"(The Program Evaluation Division) has about 10 staffers and that's one I could lop right off. I've found it to be already tainted."

2) ABC bonuses to teachers. "We need to revamp our ABC bonus program to focus on our high performing teachers." He said the way the program is structured, low performing teachers in highly rated schools are getting bonuses, while high performing teachers in low-rated schools are not.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? "I would be in favor of increasing our cigarette tax to the national average. Cigarettes are the No. 1 cause of rising health care costs." He said the revenues should in part go toward spending that ultimately saves money, such as preventive health care programs and improved probation services that would keep more people out of prison.

— Dan Kane

Which Senate Democrats are in Republican-leaning districts?

According to the N.C. Partisan Index, seven Democratic senators are in districts that lean Republican. No Republicans are in Democratic-leaning Senate districts.

The index was created this year by the conservative Civitas Institute, using results from the 2004 elections. Ratings were based on how the district voted in Council of State races when compared to state as a whole.

The blue fish swimming in red ponds are all on the N.C. Senate Republican Committee's wish list.

Below, the senators and their district ratings, from most Republican to least:

Sen. David Hoyle (R+11). Sen. Steve Goss (R+8). Sen. Joe Sam Queen (R+6). Sen. John Snow (R+6). Sen. Walter Dalton (R+3). Sen. Julia Boseman (R+2). Sen. Tony Foriest (R+2).

Senate Democrats plan to focus on defending vulnerable incumbents.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand told Dome that their strategy is to maintain the 31-19 margin that has kept Democrats in power in that chamber.

"We're always watching for opportunities," he said. "But we're mainly intent on protecting our incumbents and maintaining the margin that we have."

Rand disagreed with some of the Republicans' wish list. He said that "a very spirited race" among five Democrats in the 5th District would help the party select a "standard bearer."

"You have people who have never run before," he said. "The primary will serve to get name recognition and get their ideas out. I don't think that will be damaging."

He also thought that the presidential race, which has favored Republicans in the 47th District in the past, may not be much of a plus in the rematch between Sen. Joe Sam Queen and former Sen. Keith Presnell.

"I would say that this time, the equation favors us," he said. 

Republicans have high hopes in nine state Senate races.

Jim Blaine, director of the N.C. Senate Republican Committee, gave Dome a breakdown of the races he thinks the GOP will do well in, based on the filings so far.

Fifth: Rep. Louis Pate Jr., a Republican, faces the winner of a five-way Democratic primary for the open seat of retiring Democratic Sen. John Kerr.

Eighth: Former Wilmington Star-News reporter Bettie Fennell, a Republican, faces Democratic Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. in a district that is changing demographically.

Ninth: Wilmington attorney Michael Lee, a Republican, has filed to run against Democratic Sen. Julia Boseman, who has not yet filed for re-election.

24th: Commercial real estate broker Rick Gunn Jr., a Republican, squares off against Democratic Sen. Tony Foriest.

43rd: Realtor Kathy Harrington, wife of former Rep. Michael Harrington, faces Democratic Sen. David Hoyle in a district that leans Republican.

45th: Boone dentist Jerry Butler has signed up to face Democratic Sen. Steve Goss. Other Republicans may file in this race as well.

46th: State Rep. Debbie Clary, a Republican, faces either Phil Clark or Keith Melton for the seat of Democratic Sen. Walter Dalton, who is running for lieutenant governor.

47th: Former state Sen. Keith Presnell, a Republican, faces Democratic Sen. Joe Sam Queen in a seemingly never-ending grudge match.

50th: Republican Susan C. Pons, who works at a Christian training center, faces Democratic Sen. John Snow.