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Dave Richard, executive director of the ARC of North Carolina, will be the next director of mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services at the state Department of Health and Human Services.

He replaces acting director Jim Jarrard.

Richard has been at the ARC of NC for nearly 25 years. He starts his new job May 28.

"His extensive expertise in program implementation, public education, government affairs, and his deep understanding of individual and community needs will help us improve customer service as we seek to help every North Carolinian fulfill their potential," DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos said in a statement.

As ARC executive director, Richard was an outspoken critic of the Medicaid managed care system for mental health that now governs payments and treatment.

He said recently that he liked the plan for the statewide Medicaid waiver that Gov. Pat McCrory's administration is pursuing.

MORE ARRESTS EXPECTED AT LEGISLATURE: Activists fighting the Republican legislative agenda say they will return to the Legislative Building on Monday and more plan to be arrested. The civil disobiendence, led by the N.C. NAACP and other groups, is design to raise the public's awareness of the policies GOP-lawmakers are pushing this session. A demonstration a week ago led to 17 arrests.

McCRORY TO TOUT DRILLING IN TEXAS: From AP -- Gov. Pat McCrory is visiting an offshore energy trade conference in Texas to try to help build momentum for drilling off the coast of North Carolina and other states. McCrory says he'll participate Monday in a panel discussion with other governors at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. McCrory says the energy industry could create thousands of jobs and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and generate state revenues.

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OBAMA TO NAME MEL WATT AS HOUSING CHIEF: President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official told the Associated Press.  The president was expected to name Watt, a 20-year veteran of the House, on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

HOUSE, SENATE STILL APART ON TAX PLAN: Senate Republicans are expected to debut a comprehensive tax plan in coming days -- but don't expect the House to stand at their side. Rep. David Lewis, the lead House tax negotiator, said Tuesday they still haven't found complete agreement. "The two chambers are not yet on one accord," he said. Lewis said he's optimistic the two sides will still unify around a single plan. He wouldn't identify the sticking point but it is likely how to pay for the plan -- with the Senate wanting to tax dozens of new services and the House wanting a more modest approach.

***Click below to keep reading the Dome Morning Memo for more details on Watt's new post -- and what it means in North Carolina -- as well as more political news and analysis.***

A measure designed to limit access to firearms for mentally ill people won approval in a House committee Wednesday, but not without much debate about other provisions in the legislation to loosen the state's gun laws.

The mental health provisions are aimed at preventing another Newtown school shooting, the bill's supporters said. It requires local clerks of court to report to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System within 48 hours when a person is committed for a mental illness, admitted for substance abuse treatment and a danger, deemed mentally incompetent in court and three other conditions.

But most of the discussion in the House Judiciary Subcommittee A focused on a provision in House bill 937 to allow concealed handgun permit holders in restaurants and bars that serve alcohol unless the establishment posts a sign prohibiting it. It also allows concealed carry permit holder to have a handgun in a locked vehicle at a public college or university.

McCRORY TO ANNOUNCE MEDICAID SYSTEM OVERHAUL: Gov. Pat McCrory rejected a Medicaid expansion earlier this year saying the system was broken and Wednesday morning he is expected to describe how he plans to fix it. The Republican has talked frequently about the rising costs of the healthcare system for select low-income and disabled residents and issued a video preview Tuesday saying he would create a "partnership" that will help keep costs low. Check Dome later today for more details from the 10 a.m. press conference.

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A report to legislators from the state Department of Health and Human Services puts one-time start-up costs for a fourth state psychiatric hospital at $137.2 million. Yearly operating expenses would be about $78 million, with about $61.9 million paid by the state.

Legislators asked DHHS to determine the cost of building a state hospital for use by a dozen counties including Mecklenburg, Union and Davidson. A state hospital in this region would be the smallest, at 200 beds, the DHHS study says.

Legislators asked for the study because patients wait an average of more than two days in emergency rooms for openings in state hospitals. The state has 866 beds in its three psychiatric hospitals, and the hospitals are considered full.

The state is building two replacement psychiatric hospitals in Goldsboro and in Morganton. The new Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, set to open this year, will have 124 more beds, bringing its total to 314. The new Broughton Hospital in Morganton will have room for 85 additional beds.

Maximizing space at the new buildings and using the old John Umstead Hospital in Butner could add 271 beds in 2015, the report says.

FLAG FLAP PROMPTS McCRORY ABOUT-FACE: A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns. The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.

"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015." The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. More from AP here.

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Attorney General Roy Cooper on Tuesday urged that county sheriffs continue to be part of the safeguard of mental health checks when people are applying for concealed weapon permits.

A bill filed in the House last week would take that responsibility away from them, and let the federal instant criminal background check system catch applicants whose mental health records might disqualify them. Proponents of HB 310 say the sheriffs are inconsistent and arbitrary in how they check those records, if they do at all.

But Cooper said they provide a needed check. Sheriffs can request medical records, character affidavits, photographs and other information.

“Sheriffs checking mental health information before issuing concealed weapon permits is a common-sense safety measure that should remain the law,” Cooper said in a statement his office released. “Sheriffs know their communities and they should be able to do background checks on people who want to carry concealed weapons.”

2014 WATCH: National Democrats hit potential GOP candidates Tillis, Berger on Ryan budget. Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis are making enough moves toward challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Kay Hagain in 2014 that its attracting the attention of national Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is asking whether the two Republicans support Congressman Paul Ryan's budget plan. "Republicans in Washington are back with their Medicare-busting budget plan, but potential GOP Senate hopefuls Phil Berger and Thom Tillis have yet to tell North Carolinians where they stand," starts a statement from the DSCC set for release later Tuesday.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House will consider a bill to curtail local building design standards that local mayors want stopped dead in its tracks (more below) as well as a measure to limit tanning beds for those under age 18. House convenes at 1 p.m.; Senate convenes at 2 p.m. Gov. Pat McCrory will make a school safety announcement in Apex in the morning.

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On Wednesday, the General Assembly returns to Raleigh to begin the long session, which is expected to last about five months. In today's paper we take a comprehensive look at the people and the issues that will be making the news, and the laws, in the months ahead. From lawmakers to lobbyists -- and lawmakers turned lobbyists -- plus key staffers behind the scenes, and an army of competing interests, the statehouse on Jones Street is about to begin whistling like a kettle.