Former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker and his team of government relations lawyers and consultants are moving to a new law firm today.

The Wicker crew is slated to set up shop with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, where Wicker will join as a partner. Wicker is leaving Columbus, Ohio-based Schottenstein Zox & Dunn, for which he had opened a Raleigh office in early 2008.

The four other members of his government relations team will be joining him, including Peter Hans, a former uberstrategist for Republicans and current vice chairman of the UNC Board of Governors.

Wicker, a Democrat, served as lieutenant governor from 1993 to 2001. Nelson Mullins is home to two of the capital’s best known lobbyists, Zeb Alley and George Teague.

How much would veterans' bills cost?

Patrick Buffkin, a legislative analyst with Nelson Mullins in Raleigh, said the veterans groups he works with are being careful to push for bills that don't have a high price tag.

The three top priorities — studying traumatic brain injury, extending a tax exemption on military pensions and creating a Cabinet-level veterans post — are not expensive, though the exemption would cut some state income tax revenue.

"The Veterans Council sets their agenda not based on just what they want but also what is feasible," he said. "We understand that the state's facing a serious budget crunch. We've looked for ideas that will make a difference in veterans' lives, but also not cost a lot of money."

The other bills being pushed by legislators are also relatively minor, he said.

In recent years, he said the N.C. Veterans Council has gotten funding set aside for two new veterans nursing homes, helped raise the homestead tax exemption for disabled veterans and reserved a position for a veteran on the State Personnel Commission.