The House voted Wednesday require political appointees to report their fundraising activities.

The bill, which had sponsors from both parties, expands who must report fundraising and also closes a loophole that applied to the reporting required of the Board of Transportation. Members of that board were previously required to list their activities, but some appointees under former Gov. Mike Easley used a legal opinion to hide their fundraising activities.

Board members, including former member Louis Sewell of Jacksonville, had said he did no fundraising even though he was a big fundraiser in Easley's 2000 campaign.

Easley had obtained an attorney general's opinion that said fundraisers did not have to disclose their efforts unless they personally accepted contributions from individuals. That meant that typical fundraising activities such as holding receptions and soliciting people for contributions were not considered fundraising.

More after the jump.

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Former Gov. Mike Easley inducted more than 4,000 North Carolinians.

Between January 2001 and January 2009, the two-term Democratic governor added state residents into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine at a rate of nearly 10 a week, or more than one a day.

Notable recipients included former U.S. Attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, Broadway costumer designer William Ivey Long, architectural historian Catherine Bishir, Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts and painter Bob Timberlake.

A number of politicians also made the list: former state Sen. Aaron Plyler, former state Rep. Zeno Edwards Jr., former UNC system president Bill Friday, Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, former Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., former Wake County Commissioner Betty Ann Knudsen, Charlotte City Councilwoman Susan Burgess and former Wendell Mayor Lucius Jones.

A few on the list are not North Carolinians: civil rights advocate Coretta Scott King, actor Danny Glover and Navy aerobatic pilots the Blue Angels.

Also on the list: his in-laws, Ann and James Pipines, fundraiser Louis Sewell, and several members of his Cabinet. The list does not include Robert Lee Guy, however.

See anyone else interesting on the list? Post in the comments below or e-mail dome@newsobserver.com.

After the jump, the number given each year.

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GLADLY PAY TUESDAY? Call it the J. Wellington Wimpy budget. The N.C. Senate passed a $20 billion budget this week that doesn't say where $500 million in revenue would come from. Senate leaders said they'll work out the tax part later, much as the Popeye character promised to "gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

DUCKWORTH'S BACK ON: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr drew national attention for holding up the nomination of injured Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth as Veterans Affairs secretary. He said he had questions about her financial disclosure forms, but declined to give details. By mid-week, he said he would allow the nomination to go forward.

EARMARK TRANSPARENCY: In the bad old days, members of Congress secretly inserted earmarks in the budget. Now, they post the requests on their Web sites. If you can find them. And they don't all call them earmarks. And their methods of tallying up the requests differ so much it's difficult to compare to them, apples to apples. But it's a start.

IN OTHER NEWS: A fix to the State Health Plan narrowly passed the state Senate. ... Former Board of Transportation member Louis Sewell got an invite to the Executive Mansion from Gov. Beverly Perdue. ... Vice President Joe Biden dropped by Fort Bragg to welcome home troops. North Carolina's been pretty popular for executive branch visits since the state went for President Obama in November. ... The Senate budget would take oversight of state testing away from schools Superintendent June Atkinson, the latest in a tug-of-war between her and Gov. Perdue over education.

Gov. Beverly Perdue opened the doors of the Executive Mansion to some of her political supporters last week.

Among the invitees was a former Board of Transportation member who had made Perdue's path to the state's top job a bit more arduous, reports Dan Kane.

Louis W. Sewell Jr., a Perdue fundraiser, resigned from the board last fall after The News & Observer reported that in two instances Sewell had advocated for road projects near businesses that he or his son co-owned. He said in both cases he was not trying to enhance his property, but remedy road problems that were affecting general traffic.

Days after the report (and just before Sewell resigned), Perdue was unclear about whether she would attend a fundraiser Sewell was throwing on her behalf in Jacksonville.

When asked if she would reappoint Sewell to the board, Perdue said, "Lord have mercy. I'm trying to win the governor's race."

Sewell cancelled the fundraiser and resigned from the transportation board shortly after that.

Perdue has since changed board operations so that members can not approve road building contracts.

David Kochman, Perdue's communications director, declined to identify all of the roughly 25 people who attended the meeting on March 30. But he confirmed that Sewell and Lanny Wilson of Wilmington, another Board of Transportation member, were there.

More after the jump.

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Gov. Mike Easley says it's his job to be nice, and Dome can prove it.

When N.C. Board of Transportation member Louis Sewell resigned in September after the N&O reported that he had worked to bring state dollars to two transportation projects near property he or his son co-owned, Easley chided Sewell in a statement to the press, Dan Kane reports.

"He should have recused himself at the Board level with these projects as he did at the local level," Easley said. "Otherwise he has been an active board member and provided good service to the state of North Carolina."

But his letter to Sewell — an Easley fundraiser from Jacksonville — makes no mention of any missteps.

"Thank you for notifying me of your resignation as a member of the Board of Transportation effective immediately," Easley wrote. "On behalf of the citizens of North Carolina, I want to extend our gratitude for your leadership to our great state.

"We are fortunate in North Carolina to have so many citizens who are willing to offer their time and talent in service to our state."

A family feud may be brewing between two cousins who are former members of the state Board of Transportation — Louis Sewell and Tommy Pollard.

According to the Jacksonville Daily News, the N.C. Department of Transportation is removing a traffic light that Pollard got installed 20 years ago while he was on the board, Dan Kane reports. The light caused some controversy for Pollard because he owned property at the location. A state investigation cleared him of wrongdoing, but also suggested the board needed better conflict-of-interest rules.

Pollard wrote a letter to the Daily News protesting the light's removal, and in a Daily News story published on Monday, he suggested his cousin may have had something to do with it.

"Louis Sewell has the political power and clout even today to keep the stoplight's removal on the backburner if he wanted to," Pollard told The Daily News.

Sewell told the paper he did not push for the light's removal, but he did pass along complaints about the light to the DOT.

The DOT told the paper that the light is being removed after a study in October showed it wasn't warranted. Earlier this year, the DOT had spent about $40,000 to upgrade it, the paper reported.

Sewell resigned from the board in September after The News & Observer reported that he had steered state transportation money for two projects near land that he or a son co-owns.

Pollard told the Daily News that he informed Sewell in the summer that he was backing Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory for governor. At a recent campaign event, Pollard boasted raising $50,000 for McCrory's campaign.

Sewell has been a longtime Democratic fundraiser, even though he is a registered Republican. He backed the winner in the race, Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, a New Bern Democrat.

Sewell told the Daily News that he was not happy with Pollard's decision to support McCrory.

Senate leader Marc Basnight said he has told Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue that Transportation Board member Lanny Wilson would be a good pick for transportation secretary.

Wilson would be no stranger to Perdue. He is one of a handful of board members who were also fundraisers for her gubernatorial campaign. Two other transportation board members who raised money for Perdue resigned during the campaign. Thomas Betts pressured a city official to raise money for Perdue and Louis Sewell steered roadwork to commercial properties in Jacksonville that he or his son co-owned.

Perdue pledged to use executive orders to take much of the specific road-building decisions away from transportation board members, who are appointed by the governor.

Basnight said that Wilson's fundraising activities wouldn't raise any problems with him running the transportation department.

"I wish she would appoint him. I asked her to," Basnight told reporters Thursday. "I think Lanny would be outstanding.

"He never wants anything for himself. Never has. He's a fundraiser because he cares. And there's not a governor in this country that I'm aware of who will not appoint people who raise money for them," Basnight said. "I would not shy from it. Now she may well do that. She never did listen to me."

Efforts to reach Wilson Thursday afternoon failed. A message to a Perdue spokesman was not immediately returned.

More reasons for Basnight's support and why he wouldn't change the board after the jump.

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The Republican Governors Association is running an ad linking Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor, to corruption and scandal.

What the ad says: Announcer: "Bev Perdue took thousands of dollars from political fat cats who needed her.

"A sweetheart deal to rest home owners, costing millions. A slush fund costing millions more.

"Perdue's insider friends, corruption, conflicts of interest. One in jail. Two resigned from a state board. Even Democrat Richard Moore says 'Status Quo Bev' is..."

Moore: "So typical of someone who has led the go-along, get-along club in Raleigh for 20 years."

The ad flashes newspaper headlines and words such as "conflict of interest" over shots of shadowy figures engaged in various activities. The ad concludes with a statement made by Richard Moore at a debate during the Democratic primary for governor.

The background: Although the ad isn't specific, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association said the sweetheart deal claim refers to the 1999 state budget, which included $3.7 million to pay for a rate increase for rest homes. Draft copies of that budget disappeared, apparently because they didn't contain the provision, lobbyists for the industry told The News & Observer. Perdue was a chief senate budget-writer then.

The industry said the increase reflected the acutal cost of running the homes.

Three years earlier, Perdue's campaign received $19,000 from a rest home operator and his family members. Prosecutors charged the operator with trying to circumvent the state's contribution limit by giving donations in others' names. Perdue's campaign returned the money and a prosecutor said there was no evidence that Perdue knowingly accepted illegal contributions. The prosecutor made similar findings about the governor, lieutenant governor and another senator.

The "slush fund" claim refers to the fiscal 1997 and 1998 state budgets. Editorial writers criticized Democratic and Republican legislative leaders over a provision that allowed them to spend $21.3 million on building renovations and other pet projects not approved by the full legislature. Critics called it a "slush fund." Perdue defended it as a way to pay for projects when the legislature wasn't in session. Spending would still need approval from a committee.

Former Speaker of the House Jim Black is serving a five year sentence after he pleaded guilty to taking thousands in cash payments from chiropractors interested in issues before the legislature.

Two Perdue fundraisers have quit the state Board of Transportation this year. Thomas Betts quit after he was found to have pressured a city official in Roanoke Rapids to raise money for Perdue's campaign. She said she was not aware of how he was trying to raise money. Louis W. Sewell Jr. quit the transportation board after revelations that he steered road work to areas near property he or his son co-owned.

During a debate in the primary, Moore, the state Treasurer, made the statement about Perdue when she challenged him to explain why Roanoke Rapids was allowed to borrow money for a theater project featuring country music performer Randy Parton. After the primary, Moore endorsed Perdue in an e-mail, although he has done little else publicly to help her campaign.

Is it accurate? Not entirely. It's true that two men with ties to Perdue have quit the transportation board. Other than belonging to the same political party, Perdue had no strong ties to Black. The legislature, including Perdue as a budget writer, did give a rate increase to rest home operators.

It's a stretch to blame Perdue alone for the pet projects included in the budgets. Republican and Democratic leaders in the legislature were responsible for the provision.

Pat McCrory wants investigative grand juries to investigate political corruption.

The Charlotte mayor and Republican nominee for governor released a slate of proposals designed to curb corruption. McCrory's announcement sought to tie recent scandals that have involved prominent Democrats to Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor.

McCrory said in the news release that federal prosecutors have had more success in bringing corruption charges because they can force witnesses to testify to grand juries.

"We must clean up our own state government and not continue to depend on federal courts to do our work," McCrory said in a news release.

In state courts, grand juries typically hear evidence presented by law enforcement officials and decide whether to a case should proceed. McCrory's proposal would give state and Wake County prosecutors the ability to call grand juries that could investigate allegations of corruption.

Attorney General Roy Cooper has supported allowing investigative grand juries and proposals to allow them have died in the legislature.

More proposals after the jump.

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