House Republicans want Gov. Beverly Perdue to jump into budget negotiations.

Republicans sponsored a resolution "inviting" the governor to comment on the House and Senate budget proposals.

"It sends a message that in this time of severe crisis that more hands on deck, more minds toward the problem is the best possible solution," said Rep. Dale Folwell, a Winston-Salem Republican and co-sponsor of the resolution.

The document also takes one more shot at the House budget proposal.

"The House balanced its budget with a combination of regressive taxes and taxes that make North Carolina a more expensive place in which to live and work," the resolution states.

During the House budget debate, Republicans praised Perdue's budget proposal, particularly for her plan to only budget for jobs that are filled. The accounting maneuver would have made hundreds of millions available at the start of the year. It also, House Democrats pointed out, would have wiped out a big cushion for emergencies.

"I just don't believe the governor of our state would propose something nonsensical," said Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, said during the budget debate.

Perdue, of course, hasn't been bashful about what she believes should be done about the budget. Her statewide barnstorm for more taxes continues Monday with stops in Greenville and Wilmington.

* A wide-ranging federal investigation of former Gov. Mike Easley appears to be venturing into renovations of his Southport house and a marina lease that resulted in an ethics complaint against him.

* Greensboro News & Record blogger Mark Binker notes that the House Health Committee agenda for today included bills on colon hydrotherapy, medical marijuana and higher beer taxes.

* Binker also reports that Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican, is engaged.

* Roll Call reports that Sen. Richard Burr, who has said it is too early to poll the 2010 Senate race, releases some internal polling data on the race. 

The House Finance committee began what promises to be a long day of debating whether to pass $940 million in new taxes.

"Is there any part of this bill I'm going to like?" asked Rep. Curtis Blackwood, a Matthews Republican.

"There's nothing in any of this that anybody likes," said Rep. Pryor Gibson, a Wadesboro Democrat. "This is the least painful thing that we could come up with...There's no pride in this document."

Opponents found fault with the taxes. The taxes would hurt business and state residents. The budget cuts aren't as painful as Democrats have led on, and the tax package is unfair since Republicans weren't in on the discussion, opponents said.

"You made cuts to where you know enough people would scream," said Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican. 

Supporters of the tax countered that the package was the only way to fend off the  most hurtful cuts to education and social services.

"With this package, we restore the thigns that make North Caroilna great," said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat. 

Rep. Grier Martin says he's not running either.

The Raleigh Democrat, who turned down a recruiting campaign in 2008, told Dome that he's not considering a race against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

"My decision to decline a chance to run against Elizabeth Dole was also not to run in 2010," he said. 

Martin said he's declined both chances because he wants to spend more time with his six-year-old daughter, Sara, which he called "one of the best decisions" he's ever made.

Republican Rep. John Blust likes to taunt Martin, noting that he could have been a U.S. senator if he'd run.  

"John loves messing with me, and he's been kind enough to stop that lately," Martin said. "I tell him there are things that I'd rather be than a U.S. senator."

The House rejected a bill encouraging grocery stores to provide sanitizing wipes to customers to clean shopping cart handles.

Rep. Ed Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, said he filed the bill after learning that researchers determined shopping carts provided some of the most exposure to germs and were most risky for children under the age of six.

The legislation would have encouraged retailers to provide the wipes and instructed local health departments to promote their use.

The bill quickly drew derisive comments from House Republicans.

Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican, said the bill represented the "nanny state having fun."

"I think we're going to lead our society to the point where we're going to be so sterile, we'll all just have to live in a bubble," he said. "When I grew up, I think the saying was you had to eat a peck of dirt or you wouldn't be a healthy kid, and I believe that."

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State Rep. John Blust wants the world to know he's still proud of America.

The Greensboro Republican filed a resolution, entitled "Attacks on America," that would repudiate recent remarks by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at world forums.

Blust said he did not feel President Obama responded "vigorously" enough to their criticism of America.

"Many of these people doing the criticizing don't really have very good records of their own as far as human rights," he said. "We're still a great republic. We still have courts that enforce people's individual rights. We still provide aid all over the world."

The resolution calls for a copy to be sent to the president, each member of the state's Congressional delegation and the governors and legislative leaders of all 50 states. 

The resolution has 34 cosponsors, all Republicans. 

Tonight will see the N.C. General Assembly — the NCGA? — play its own version of the March Madness sweeping college basketball.

The game will be in Columbia, S.C.

Rep. Phil Haire, a Sylva Democrat, organized this year's lineup, a bipartisan squad known more for passing bills than basketballs.

House Chaplain Jim Harry accurately summarized the pre-game mood when he called upon a higher power to be with the North Carolina squad.

"Please remind them they're not 20-year-olds running up and down the court," Harry intoned.

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A bill filed this session would establish an independent commission to draw the state's district lines.

The goal would be to avoid the contentious and litigious debate that typically accompanies the required changes to the state's legislative districts, said Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a Lewisville Republican and senate sponsor of the bill. House and Senate Republicans said they believe the bill and others similar to it would curb gerrymandering.

"The big problem is it allows legislators to chose their voters and not vice versa," Brunstetter said.

The state constitution currently calls for the legislature to change districts after the federal decennial census. The idea is to have legislative districts reflect changes in population.

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Some recent House bills:

H.B. 512: Incentives for Energy Conservation, Reps. Hugh Holliman, Pricey Harrison and Paul Luebke

H.B. 516: Increase Revenues Without Raising Taxes, Rep. Paul Stam

H.B. 518: Lottery Name Changed, Reps. John Blust, Thom Tillis, Ruth Samuelson and Darrell McCormick

H.B. 539: Merge Smart Start/More at Four, Reps. Ray Rapp, Rick Glazier, Bob England and Marvin Lucas

H.B. 586: Expand Voter-Owned Elections, Reps. Glazier, Deborah Ross, Rapp and Grier Martin

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 370: Salary of Secretary-Health and Human Services, Rep. Verla Insko

H.B. 388: Campaign Disclosure, Reps. Beverly Earle, Earline Parmon, Marvin Lucas and Becky Carney

H.B. 390: Poultry Worker Protection, Reps. Earle and Insko

H.B. 397: Conscience Protection/Contraceptive Coverage, Rep. Mark Hilton

H.B. 399: U.S. Senate Vacancies, Rep. John Blust

H.B. 409: Annual Archeology Reports, Rep. Ronnie Sutton

H.B. 413: Limit Legislators to Four Consecutive Terms, Rep. Johnathan Rhyne