Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry takes a lot of credit or saving the apprenticeship program housed in her department.

Berry was in Kannapolis on Monday to meet with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College leaders and to give a labor forecast, the Salisbury Post reports.

Berry, a Republican, told leaders the trades are the best thing for many young people and that she fought hard to retain control of the apprenticeship program, in which businesses take on and certify apprentices.

When Gov. Beverly Perdue wanted to give the apprenticeship program to the N.C. Community College System, Berry "threw my body over it" to keep the program in the labor department, she said.

Perdue, a Democrat, had proposed shifting all the functions of the program, which was created in the 1930s to the community colleges, since it fit better with the colleges' mission. The legislature kept the program in Berry's department, although it required it to become more self-sufficient. 

Gov. Beverly Perdue has proposed cutting 20 programs.

As part of her $21 billion budget, Perdue proposed eliminating funding for everything from an online cultural heritage program to the UNC Center for Alcohol Studies.

The biggest cut is closing two adult bed units at Broughton and Cherry state mental hospitals, which would save $6 million in recurring funds. The smallest is $17,194 for the History Bowl program.

Other major suggested cuts:

* The Support Our Students program in the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice: $5.9 million.

* Basic support case services in vocational rehabilitation at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services: $3.6 million.

* A Community Service Block Grant through the N.C. Community College System: $1.9 million.

* An apprenticeship program at the N.C. Department of Labor: $1.8 million.

* Eliminating a reserve for focus growth at the University of North Carolina system: $1.3 million.

State legislators have now asked for $94.7 million.

Seven more bills filed since Dome last checked have added another $1.4 million in spending, even as the state faces a $2 billion shortfall.

The largest request of the most recent batch is for $900,000 to expand social work programs at state colleges, a companion to a Senate bill already filed. The smallest is $25,000 to help community resource councils at state prisons.

Other spending bills would hire 10 new inspectors for the N.C. Department of Labor, give grants to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign and start a pilot program on international studies at two high schools.

Two others are companions to bills already filed funding an outdoor drama and provide support to people with dementia and their caregivers.

The bills also call for $11.6 million in spending next year.

Ongoing coverage of spending bills is available here.

A few more bills from the House today:

H.B. 84: No Bail for Certain Illegal Aliens, Reps. Justin Burr, Pearl Burris-Floyd

H.B. 87: DOL Enforcement Positions/Funds, Reps. Beverly Earle, Jennifer Weiss, Angela Bryant, Jean Farmer-Butterfield

H.B. 88: Healthy Youth Act, Reps. Bob England, Susan Fisher, Alma Adams, Winkie Wilkins

A bill filed Wednesday would take away some of Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry's authority.

The legislation would move the state's responsibility for enforcing workplace safety from the N.C. Department of Labor, overseen by Berry, to the N.C. Department of Commerce, which is run by a member of the governor's Cabinet.

Sen. Doug Berger, a Youngsville Democrat, said he sponsored the bill out of frustration with what he called Berry's "laissez-faire," "see-no-evil" and partisan approach to the office.

Specifically, he said he was upset she did not take stronger action to regulate the poultry industry after a Charlotte Observer series last year revealed problems with worker conditions.

He argued that voters would hold Gov. Beverly Perdue more accountable for problems with workplace safety enforcement than Berry, even though she faced a statewide election last November, because voters and the media paid little attention to the race.

"There's no question that most people in the state feel they can ride an elevator safely," he said, referring to photos of Berry on state elevator licenses. "She's done a good job on that, and that's why she was re-elected."

Even if a more active labor commissioner were elected later, Berger said he would support leaving the authority under the governor permanently.

Update: Berger and Berry have some history together. She defeated him in the 2000 labor commissioner race by two-tenths of one percent.

More information on those Senate bills is available.

Here are a few of the more interesting bills not already discussed on Dome: 

S.B. 6: Would temporarily stay on higher surcharges under the state's Beach Plan and increases in statewide insurance rate.

S.B. 8: Would appropriate $10 million to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to hire people to work in community programs for the developmentally disabled.

S.B. 11: Would allow a district attorney or assistant D.A. who has a concealed handgun permit to carry a gun while on duty in the courthouse.

S.B. 12: Would make it an infraction with a $100 fine to use a cell phone while driving except during an emergency. 

S.B. 13: Would increase penalties for injuring a pregnant woman who is past her 20th week of pregnancy and include it as an aggravating factor in felony cases.

S.B. 14: Would transfer the functions of the Occupational Safety and Health division to a new commission not in the N.C. Department of Labor.

Sen. Doug Berger
Youngsville Democrat
Third Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget?  He said there could be savings in merging worker safety programs in the Industrial Commission and the state Department of Labor.

He also said there was a lot of duplication in education programs, such as anti-smoking efforts, in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? He said additional revenue could be found in removing the sales tax cap on the purchase of automobiles.

— Rob Christensen 

Cabinet members oversee more money than the Council of State.

A review of the 2007-08 budgets for the 10 appointed members of the governor's Cabinet show that they typically oversee larger budgets than the 10 statewide elected officials.

Only the departments of Public Instruction, Justice and Agriculture come close, and the superintendent of public instruction does not have similar authority over that department as a Cabinet official.

The smallest Cabinet budget was larger than all but three of the Council of State budgets.

Public Instruction: $9.5 billion

Justice: $121.7 million

Agriculture: $98.4 million

Treasurer: $38.5 million

Insurance: $36.2 million

Labor: $25.3 million

Auditor: $15.9 million

Secretary of State: $11.9 million

Governor: $6.7 million

Lieutenant Governor: $914,122

As before, the figures include money received from both state and federal sources. As a major player in the state budget, it goes without saying that the governor has more authority over state spending than these numbers indicate.

The revised numbers for 2008-09 are not yet available.

Harry Payne's name isn't on the ballot, but it might as well be.

The former two-term labor commissioner is at the center of the primary runoff between Mary Fant Donnan and John C. Brooks next Tuesday.

Donnan served as policy analyst and research director at the N.C. Department of Labor under Payne, and he endorsed her earlier this year. Brooks was defeated by Payne in the 1992 Democratic primary in an historic loss for an incumbent Council of State member.

Not surprisingly the two candidates have different views on Payne.

Donnan called him a mentor and said she "can't think of a more compassionate, wonderful person to work with." Brooks said Payne unfairly maligned his leadership in their race, which hinged on the death of 25 workers at a Hamlet chicken plant fire in 1990.

He said Payne's criticisms were "meaningless generalizations" that took advantage of the publicity given to the fire.

For his part, Payne said Donnan is "an exceptional listener" who would find new solutions to problems in the state's workplaces. He refrained from criticizing Brooks, saying only that the former labor commissioner was very gracious after losing the election.

"Oftentimes, when people leave office they don't make it that easy for the one coming in," he said. "He made it exceptionally easy."

Full Disclosure: Payne is married to N&O columnist Ruth Sheehan, who once watched Dome's black Lab on short notice.

The labor commissioner race is having its moment in the sun.

With Democratic candidates Mary Fant Donnan and John C. Brooks in a runoff next Tuesday for the right to face incumbent Republican Cherie Berry in November, the normally low-profile office is getting a little more attention than usual.

But what does the commissioner do?

As head of the N.C. Department of Labor, the commissioner is responsible for overseeing the health, safety and well-being of more than 4 million workers in the state, including enforcing federal regulations laid down by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The major divisions including Occupational Safety and Health, which enforces federal worker safety laws; Research and Policy, which compiles labor statistics; and Standards and Inspections, which inspects elevators, amusement park rides, and rock quarries, among other things.

The department also protects workers from discrimination based on genetic testing, service in the National Guard, or filing a workplace complaint, though complaints related to race, gender, etc., are handled by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The department was started in 1891, when the legislature created the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's been a full-blown agency since 1931.