* Duke law professor Christopher Schroeder is the leading candidate to head a U.S. Justice Department office on legal policy.

* WUNC's Laura Leslie highlights an interesting floor speech during the sex ed debate from Rep. Arthur Williams, whose wife is a nurse.

* Asheville Citizen-Times' Jordan Schrader highlights a few other moments from the "For Mature Audiences" discussion on the House floor.

* A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr re-opens a fight with liberal talk show host Rachel Maddow over the banking and veterans stories.

* Greensboro News-Record columnist Doug Clark says that despite cuts this year, Gov. Beverly Perdue's 2010-11 budget would be the biggest ever.

* Jordan Schrader lists the professions whose licensing fees would go from $50 to $200. It includes massage therapists, CPAs, embalmers and "the art of healing."

* Asheville blogger Ashvegas gives Perdue a shoutout for posting the entire line-item budget online. "I love this kind of detail." 

* Conservative advocate Francis De Luca argues that Perdue's plan "proposes no long term fixes for the problem of chronic overspending." 

* The parent company of the Winston-Salem Journal is closing its Washington bureau, which wrote, among many other things, this article last year.

* Asheville Citizen-Times Jordan Schrader reports that Gov. Beverly Perdue left a message Speaker Joe Hackney after seizing the rainy day funds. 

* Greensboro News-Record's Mark Binker finally gets a long-awaited ethics opinion on donations to the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.

* First Lady Michelle Obama visits Fort Bragg, meets with city council members, local civics and business leaders at a Fayetteville event. 

Gov. Beverly Perdue has given a preview of her budget.

Speaking at an economic roundtable at UNC-Asheville this morning, Perdue promised new tax breaks for businesses and more spending for worker training, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

Among the tax breaks:

* Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit from 5 to 6.5 percent. 

* Allowing small businesses to exempt some profits from taxes.

* Excluding initial stock investments in some startups from capital gains.

She also pledged to spend $50 million on sewer and water projects, $17 million on workforce preparedness, $7 million on "Main Street" projects in small towns, $5 million on green businesses and $2 million to a small business grant program. 

Perdue will formally present her budget Tuesday. 

Asheville reporter Jordan Schrader writes on his Capital Letters blog that Perdue did not say anything about "how she'll pay for it."

Another state political blogger has joined the scene.

Longtime political reporter Paul Woolverton of the Fayetteville Observer is writing a blog called The People's Business about the legislature and other issues.

So far, posts have highlighted a bill that would ban texting while driving, noted new electronic archives of House audio and dashed hopes about a Interstate 295 loop around Fayetteville.

Woolverton joins the growing ranks of reporter-bloggers in the capital press corps, including Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record, Jordan Schrader of the Asheville Citizen-Times, Barry Smith of the Burlington Times-News, Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer and Laura Leslie of WUNC radio.

Not to mention, yours truly, the Legion of Dome. 

* Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader notes that new sex ed bill leaves out some of the provisions that upset Christian conservatives in 2007.

* Conservative blogger Celtic wonders if the state's curriculum on the 1898 Wilmington riots will include the angle that riots were led by Democrats to overthrow Republicans.

* N&O launches e-mail newsletter on health care written by lobbyist with McGuire Woods; health care advocate and blogger Adam Searing objects to partnership.

* State Employees Association of N.C. to hold lobbying day at the legislature on Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the Bicentennial Mall.

* Burlington Times-News reporter Barry Smith notes that Republican leaders want better testing, merit pay for teachers, more voc ed and an end to the charter school cap.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie writes about a proposal to give parents the choice of letting their children learn abstinence-only or comprehensive sex ed.

* Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader notes a good line from schools Superintendent June Atkinson at the same press conference.

* Conservative Civitas think tank introduces a new legislative tracking feature— "Bad Bill of the Week" — and highlights Sen. Julia Boseman's private dick/peeping tom bill.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts says lobbyist Roger Bone was "an honest man who told legislators the truth."

* Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader spots Mike Easley at U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler's fundraiser.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie sees a lot of pink for Coach Kay Yow at the legislative building.

* Progressive commentator Molly Diggins wonders if North Carolina will push for tougher fuel efficiency standards.

* Democratic consultant Gary Pearce argues legislators will be cautious so they can control 2010 redistricting.

Here's another nugget of hope for Walter Dalton.

Noting that the lieutenant governor-elect will soon be sworn in as one of the 45 people in the No. 2 spot in the United States, Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader adds this not-so trivial trivia: 

Fun fact: 15 lieutenant governors have succeeded to the state's top job this decade. Two more are waiting in the wings for their governors to be confirmed to President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet.

As noted previously on Dome, lieutenant governors can find themselves suddenly powerful, or they can wait for years to no avail.

Though Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue and former governor-for-life Jim Hunt were both former lieutenants, the post has not been a great steppingstone in recent history. 

An Asheville reporter says Pat McCrory told him he opposed a minimum-wage increase earlier this year.

An article written by Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader on May 4 noted that the Republican gubernatorial nominee said he would "probably oppose" a minimum wage hike.

The article was cited in a TV ad attacking McCrory, who argued the ad was inaccurate.

On his Capital Letters blog, Schrader has posted the full quote from his interview with McCrory:

"For right now, I'd probably keep it the way it is. I think the market conditions, especially during recessionary times, must protect the jobs, not lose the jobs."

"I want to encourage employers to give summer jobs, not discourage them, especially to our at-risk youth."

Schrader writes that the ad "oversimplies his position" but is "reasonably accurate."