Treasurer Janet Cowell will not give bonuses this year.

Last year, the legislature gave the state treasurer the authority to give performance-based pay bonuses to the chief investment officer and four directors of the state pension plan.

But a sagging economy and sensitivity to other state workers led Cowell to put the program on hold this year, said spokeswoman Kerra Bolton.

The decision follows a similar move last week by the N.C. Banking Commission, which held $200,000 in performance bonuses it had budgeted.

Bolton said that the bonus program helps the state compete with private sector firms for people to make investments., noting that 11 of the 13 largest public pension plans have similar programs.

"This is important because high-performing investment professionals increase the chances for above benchmark performance, save systems substantial sums in external management fees, and help to insure the prudent investment and oversight of  public plan assets," she said in an e-mail to Dome.

State legislators and Gov. Mike Easley said Tuesday they've come up with a plan that could keep as many as 25,000 homeowners out of foreclosure in the next few years.

At a news conference, they promoted legislation that would give some borrowers more time to work with lenders before the foreclosure process begins, David Ingram reports. The legislation would require lenders to notify the N.C. Banking Commission before beginning foreclosure, allowing the commission to help arrange counseling, negotiations and legal advice.

"In a foreclosure, the one thing you can say is everybody loses," Easley said.

A House committee held a hearing on the legislation Tuesday morning. A limited number of borrowers would be eligible for the program, depending on the date that the loan began and other factors.

"They have to be owner-occupied homes," said state Rep. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat and the sponsor of the legislation. "This program is not aimed at speculators."

Industry representatives, consumer advocates and state regulators attended the news conference.

Banking Commissioner Joseph Smith said the program could be in effect by November. He said about 20 commission staff members will work on the program, using current funding.

A top Republican fund raiser from Winston-Salem has earned a potential ambassadorship to the Netherlands.

James Culbertson will be nominated by President Bush for the job, the White House announced today. Culbertson was a "Ranger" for Bush in 2004, putting him in the top tier of fund raisers in the president’s re-election race, Barb Barrett reports.

Culbertson has been involved in Republican politics for decades, first volunteering for the state GOP party in the early 1970s, then starting his own company, Financial Computing Inc., according to Texans for Public Justice, which tracks Texas politics.

He was a major fund raiser for Sen. Elizabeth Dole and led Bush's state fund-raising efforts in 2000 and 2004.

Culbertson also has served on the North Carolina Banking Commission.

He and his wife, Germaine Culbertson, have given about $37,000 to federal Republican candidates since 1994, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan group that tracks spending in politics.

Last year, Culbertson was the state campaign chairman for presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.

Culbertson has a bachelor's degree from the Citadel.