Ken Lay | newsobserver.com projects

Perdue shot in name of prevention

Submitted by markjohnson on September 8, 2009 - 3:13pm.

Shirts stripped off, drugs, sharp implements and blood spilled -- and that was just among Gov. Beverly Perdue and her cabinet. All of this was in the name of flu prevention.

Perdue, seven of her cabinet secretaries and state schools Superintendent June Atkinson received their seasonal flu vaccinations in front of a news conference this afternoon to promote the annual shots.

Perdue emphasized flu prevention steps: frequent hand washing, coughing into sleeves and staying home when sick. She also explained that North Carolina's allotment of about 1 million vaccinations for the H1N1 flu virus are expected to be available around mid-October.

Before getting her seasonal flu shot, Perdue suggested the capital press corps be vaccinated with her administering the shots. As she and her cabinet began to get stuck, the press conference turned into something of a political celebrity burlesque show, with Transportation Secretary Gene Conti and Revenue Secretary Ken Lay taking off their shirts for their turn at the needle.

"Gene's over there undressing!" Perdue laughed. No washboard abs, though. Conti and Lay both had on undershirts.

Stimulus may cost state millions

Submitted by bniolet on February 19, 2009 - 8:19am.

The federal government's economic stimulus may siphon money out of North Carolina's treasury at the same time it is shoveling dollars in.

The plan signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday funnels $6.1 billion to the state for projects such as roads and schools. The federal tax breaks in the plan, however, may force state officials to offer parallel state tax cuts that would cost the state at least $760 million during the next two years.

"Everybody's talking about what we're going to get," said state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat and a co-chairman of the Senate committee on tax laws. "But nobody is talking about what we might be losing.

State lawmakers were banking on the federal government to provide money that would help close an estimated $2 billion gap in next year's budget. The stimulus package provides some of those dollars.

At the same time, state Revenue Department officials estimated that the cost of changing state tax laws to mirror the federal tax cuts in the stimulus plan would run $340 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and $420 million for the next year.

Those figures could grow. (N&O)