The legislature in 2004 stepped into a fight between local school boards, the tourism industry, and parents by deciding that public schools on traditional schedules should not start before Aug. 25.

The House now revisits the debate each session, hearing arguments that members could have memorized by now, Lynn Bonner reports.

School districts had been setting opening dates in mid and early August, which tourism businesses said hurt their profits and cut into sources of teen labor. Parents complain about children riding in hot buses, having to miss family reunions, and losing wages from summer jobs.

School boards say they need to be able to start early so high school students can take exams before winter break. Having a schedule where the fall semester bleeds into mid-January makes it hard for high school students who want to take community college courses.

The House Education committee revisited the issue this week, endorsing a bill that would let schools start the second Monday in August.  The House Commerce committee gets to talk about it next.

More after the jump.

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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

Some interesting recent House bills:

H.B. 223: No High School Graduation Project Required, Reps. Jimmy Love and Angela Bryant

H.B. 232: Scholarship Loan for Rural Social Workers, Reps. Larry Bell, Rick Glazier, Marvin Lucas, Marian McLawhorn

H.B. 257: No Seizure of Lawful Firearms in Emergency, Reps. George Cleveland, Mark Hilton, Tim Moore and Laura Wiley

Rep. Marvin Lucas isn't sure if he's going to vote for his own bill.

When the Cumberland County Democrat first filed House Bill 359 in February of 2007, it was entitled a bill to "Restore Flexibility to School Calendar."

As it was then written, the bill would give local school boards back the power to start and end the school year when they wanted. A previous bill, backed by the tourism industry, had set the start date as no earlier than Aug. 25.

Lucas, a former teacher and principal, said that means some school districts hold finals after the winter break, which is not ideal for students.

The bill passed the House in April of 2007, but when it came back from the Senate this week all mentions of school calendars had been stripped. The new title: "An Act to Promote American Citizenship Efforts by Encouraging Voting by Eligible High School Students."

"It's been gutted," Lucas said. "It no longer bears any resemblance to the one we sent over."

He said he'll have to read the bill to see what's in it before he decides whether to vote to concur with the Senate version this afternoon.

Four state Democrats want the legislature to honor John McCain.

But not that John McCain.

State Reps. Jean Farmer-Butterfield of Wilson, Joe Tolson of Pinetops, Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake and Martha Alexander of Charlotte filed a bill to honor Dr. John L. McCain, a Wilson County physician who died in 2005.

Dr. McCain has at least one thing in common with his namesake. Like the Republican presidential candidate, he served in the Navy, although it was during World War II, not the Vietnam War. 

Unlike the other McCain, he was once appointed to a national advisory board by President Jimmy Carter. 

A group of Democrat and Republican lawmakers at a news conference today pushed for a tax credit for the parents of special needs children that gives them the option of placing them in a private school with appropriate services.

House Minority Leader Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, called the legislation a "win-win situation," Dan Kane reports. He and the other advocates say that it would cost the state about $2.5 million in credits, but save counties about $6 million in educational expenses.

"The public schools lose nothing from this bill," Stam said. "They will have more money for fewer students."

The conference also featured a Charlotte couple who said their seven-year-old son would greatly benefit from the tax credit because the public school system has not been able to adequately provide for his needs.

Brandon Petruk has a condition that has rendered him nearly incapable of speech and unable to be comfortable among large groups of children, said his parents, Leslie and Trevor Petruk. They said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools still placed him in a full classroom with teachers who did not use sign language and his skills regressed.

"It was horrible," Leslie Petruk said.

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FAYETTEVILLE—A number of prominent local Democrats are on the guest list.

Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne is at the Barack Obama event, although he took pains to say that he is neutral in the presidential race, Rob Christensen reports.

The mayor of nearby Spring Lake, Ethel Clark, is also here, as it state Rep. Rick Glazier.

No word on Clark's thoughts, but Glazier said he is backing Obama.

"I've supported him for some time," he told Dome. "He has the capacity to bridge partisan and economic groups."

Also expected are state Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, namesake of the student center where Obama is speaking, and Reps. Margaret Dickson of Fayetteville and Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake.

Not on the guest list: Three kids from Mebane.

Tina Salvatore, 18; Emily Mason, 17; and Joseph Byrd, 21, got up at 2:45 a.m., grabbed some sandwich meat and bread and drove three hours, thinking it was a public event.

Wearing homemade Obama T-shirts outside, they said they would listen to the speech on loudspeakers set up by Fayetteville Tech.

After that, they said they might go to the beach. 

House Speaker Joe Hackney has appointed the six-member committee that will look into allegations against Rep. Thomas Wright.

According to an announcement from Hackney's office, the committee will have the same House members as the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, which is also looking into Wright.

The two committees are needed because of the nature of the allegations and the relevant laws in place at the time. (For more on that, visit the Tavern.)

Rep. Rick Glazier will chair the committee and House Minority Leader Paul Stam will be vice chair.

The other members are: Reps. Marvin Lucas, Bill McGee, Edith Warren and Laura Wiley.

Glazier, Lucas and Warren are Democrats; Stam, McGee, and Wiley are Republicans.

Supporters argued incentives would help smaller businesses too.

Rep. Marvin Lucas, a Cumberland County Democrat whose district is home to the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant, said that the incentives will help the spin-off companies that work with them.

"The many food vendors that benefit from large operations will benefit," he said. "Yard maintenance companies will benefit. Janitorial operations will benefit. Small mechanical operations will benefit."

Rep. Margaret Highsmith Dickson, a Fayetteville Democrat, said the loss of Goodyear jobs could hurt convenience store owners, appliance salesmen and real estate agents. She noted her brother-in-law sells cars in Harnett County.

"He called me over the weekend to express his concern about what the failure to support Goodyear will mean to him and to his quality of life," she said.

Rep. Arthur Williams, a Washington Democrat, reminded his colleagues that natural rubber from Malaysia and Indonesia comes through the ports in Wilmington and Morehead City for Goodyear.

"Let's keep the jobs in North Carolina in rubber in Morehead City," he said.