Homeowners will get a little more breathing room before a possible foreclosure under a bill that Gov. Beverly Perdue signed this morning.

The legislation requires a court clerk to determine if a mortgage holder has been able to talk to the lender about working out a way to pay the loan. Mortgages are sold and resold so often that it can be time-consuming to identify the lender and reach a decision-maker with that company. The clerk also must determine if the lender has given the mortgage holder sufficient notice before trying to foreclose. The clerk can impose a 60-day waiting period before a foreclosure can proceed.

"This legislation allows time for loan modifications," said Attorney General Roy Cooper, who attended the bill signing in the capitol.

Perdue said the legislation, which also sets new rules for debt collectors, protects both homeowners and North Carolina's economy because of the ripple effect of foreclosure.

"It's bad for families. It's hard on the communities," Perdue said. "It's bad for businesses."

Last week House Speaker Joe Hackney defended his plans to spend some of the week at the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Philadelphia.

Hackney was one of 10 lawmakers, all Democrats, from the state to register for the summit. Four legislative staff members were registered to go, according to the legislature's controller's office. The state would pay registration, $499 to $625, depending on when the attendee registered. Members were to pay their other expenses.

But on Monday, many on the list to go were not in Philadelphia. Like Hackney, members may move back and forth or just go later in the week, officials said.

The members signed up to go are:

Senate: Dan Blue (D-Raleigh), Charlie Dannelly (D-Charlotte), Katie Dorsett (D-Greensboro), Tony Foriest (D-Graham), Ed Jones (D-Halifax County).

House: Rick Glazier (D-Fayetteville), Hackney (D-Orange County), Phillip Haire (D-Sylva), Larry Hall (D-Durham), Bill Owens (D-Elizabeth City) 

Previously: Expenses minimal for NCSL trip to New Orleans. 

The Military Veterans Caucus is the largest in the legislature.

The bipartisan caucus is made up of 64 "military veterans, those who represent a district with military interest, and others with a particular interest in military affairs," according to a press release from Speaker Joe Hackney's office.

This year, it includes 49 representatives and 15 senators.

That makes it bigger than the 30-member Legislative Black Caucus as well as the 43 women in the legislature.

The caucus' steering committee is made up of Democratic Sen. Bob Atwater, Republican Sens. Harry Brown and Pete Brunstetter, Democratic Reps. Larry Hall and Grier Martin and Republican Rep. Ric Killian.

Atwater served in the Air Force; Brunsetter, in the Navy; Hall, in the Marines. Martin and Killian are Army reservists and Brown's district includes Camp Lejeune.

The caucus will meet for the first time this session next week.

After the jump, the members.

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The N.C. House adopted a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to give or sell a cell phone to an inmate.

The bill is in response to reports that cell phones have been found in prisons, including twice on death row. An earlier version of the bill made passing cell phones to inmates a felony.

Lawmakers reduced the penalty because they didn't want to make it even tougher for prison guards who would already be fired to find another job, said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat.

Also sending a former guard to prison puts the guard in danger and makes it tougher for the state to deal with a dire shortage of prison beds, Sutton said.

The bill passed the House 117 to 0. It next goes to the Senate.

Rep. Dale Folwell filed legislation Wednesday that he said fixes a flaw in the State Health Plan that could allow for fraud against the state and municipalities that provide ambulance service.

The flaw: Plan members are cut a check for the cost of an ambulance ride when the provider's not part of the plan's network, Dan Kane reports.

The check is in the member's name, so if he or she pockets it, the ambulance service is out of the money. Each trip costs roughly $500.

At least 24 municipal services are not in the plan's network, including those serving Durham, Forsyth, Mecklenburg and Randolph counties, Folwell said.

He presented anecdotal evidence of ambulance riders failing to pay for the service. In one case, a public school retiree from Forsyth County requested 22 ambulance trips last year, collecting nearly $12,500 from the health plan. The county has yet to be reimbursed for the ambulance service.

More after the jump.

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* The Greensboro News-Record's Mark Binker cautions casual political fans not to expect too much too soon from the legislature.

* The House selects new Democratic whips: Reps. Larry Bell, Larry Hall, Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Deborah Ross and Bruce Goforth.

* More cutbacks in the field of journalism: UNC-TV will no longer pay political analysts who appear on its "Legislative Week in Review" show.

* Liberal blogger Andrea Verykoukis says the state's anti-sodomy law "has been used to persecute ... certain parties with certain proclivities" for centuries.

Hampton Dellinger, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, had a jazzy fundraiser over the weekend featuring saxophonist Branford Marsalis.

The event drew 145 people at Hopper's Piano Showroom in Raleigh. Among those who spoke at the event was Raleigh attorney Wade Smith, a former state Democratic Party chairman, Rob Christensen reports.

Others attending included Durham Mayor Bill Bell, Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller, and state Reps. Larry Hall, Ty Harrell and Deborah Ross. The event ended a a kick off fundraising swing for Dellinger, a Raleigh attorney and former legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley.

One of Dellinger's competitors, Winston-Salem City Councilman Dan Besse, had a meet-the candidate event in Chapel Hill on Sunday. The event was hosted by Dave Moreau, chairman of the N.C. Environmental Management Commission, and his wife Polly; Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton; and John Runkle, an environmental attorney.

State House members on Tuesday voted down legislation that would have penalized gun owners who did not report to police that their weapons had been lost or stolen.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Larry Hall and Paul Luebke, Durham Democrats, was intended to increase the reporting of stolen weapons. It would have charged a gun owner who knowingly failed to report a lost or stolen gun a citation for the first offense, and a misdemeanor for repeated offenses. Hall said the bill had the support of the N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, the N.C. Police Benevolent Association and police chiefs in Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh.

Several lawmakers spoke out against the bill, saying that it would not have increased the reporting of lost or stolen weapons and could have led to a criminal record for law abiding citizens.

"What we are doing is putting the responsible folks in jeopardy," said Rep. Pryor Gibson, an Anson County Democrat.

Lawmakers debated the bill for roughly an hour, at times emotionally.

Rep. Bill Daughtridge, a Rocky Mount Republican, said that if he lost a shotgun while sea hunting he would see no need to report it since it would be at the bottom of the sea.

But Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat, characterized that as the kind of irresponsible behavior the law is intended to correct.

"Well, you know what? I care if he's lost his gun," she said, "because I care if a 10-year-old child finds it and points it at his friend and blows his head off."

House members rejected the legislation by a 77 to 41 vote.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Rep. Gibson's home county.

A gun rights group is targeting two House Democrats over a bill.

Grass Roots North Carolina is airing radio ads attacking Rep. Rep. Larry Hall of Durham and Rep. Rep. Annie Mobley of Ahoskie for sponsoring a bill on stolen guns.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor to fail to notify police within 48 hours after they "knew or reasonably should have known" of the theft.

Paul Valone, president of the advocacy group, said that the bill is "entirely wrongheaded."

"They should be going after the people who steal guns, not the victims of property crime," he said.

The ads, which can be heard here and here, are airing on sports radio in Durham and conservative talk radio in Elizabeth City.

The N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation gives scholarships to minorities and sponsors education seminars. As a 501(c)(3), it does not have to disclose its contributions.

But the group is also closely associated with the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus, currently made up of eight state senators and 20 representatives, including Reps. Mickey Michaux and Larry Hall of Durham, and Sen. Vernon Malone and Reps. Linda Coleman and Dan Blue of Wake, all Democrats.

As The Greensboro News & Record reported Sunday, the arrangement means groups with an interest in upcoming legislation can give "virtually unlimited donations" to a cause dear to state lawmakers without disclosing them to the public.

Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat, has asked the N.C. State Ethics Commission for advice and ordered an audit of its finances.

Click here to read its most recent tax forms.