Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked for an investigation into Blue Cross and Blue Shield's campaign against the public option health care proposal.

Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, has asked the Attorney General and N.C. Department of Insurance to look into whether the insurer violated the state's do-not-call registry with a robocall and whether it is proper for the insurer to use premiums to pay for mailers, reports Mark Binker of the Greensboro News & Record.

"We are a fully taxed medical services and hospital corporation," Borman said, adding that the company paid $162 million in federal, state and local taxes last year.

However, the fact the company paid taxes does not make it a for-profit company, said Adam Searing, a health policy expert with liberal-leaning advocacy group The North Carolina Justice Center.

"They are a nonprofit organization," Searing said. "They are organized under a special part of the nonprofit corporation law in North Carolina. They have a nonprofit board."

N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin helped push the candidacy of newly-elected Rep. Chris Heagarty, of Raleigh.

In the days leading up to Saturday's vote for Heagarty, Goodwin signed on to a mail piece endorsing him (click the link below), as did two legislators, and the brochure was distributed to Democratic Party leaders in the 41st district. Ty Harrell resigned that seat in September amid a campaign finance investigation. Under the law, leaders from the outgoing lawmaker's party pick his or her successor.

Goodwin and Heagarty are both Democrats, as are Rep. Pricey Harrison, of Greensboro, and Rosa Gill, of Raleigh, who also appeared in the brochure. Goodwin was on the board of the N.C. Center for Voter Education for two of the seven years that Heagarty was director, and the two are good enough friends that they were at each other's weddings.

Heagarty also was aided by an endorsement from Wake County teachers.

Gov. Beverly Perdue signed a bill today that will increase inspections of high hazard coal ash ponds in North Carolina.

“Because of potential risk posed by the location of North Carolina’s coal ash ponds, we must provide greater oversight and more frequent inspections,” Perdue said in a statement. “This legislation will keep our citizens safer and our dams more secure.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified 12 coal ash dams in North Carolina, the most of any state in the country, reports Rob Christensen.

The issue drew attention because a dam burst in Tennessee last year, causing five million cubic yard of sludge containing many metals to escape.

Power companies dispose of their coal ash by mixing it with water and pumping it into ponds near their power plants.

Currently, power companies are only required to file reports every five years by private engineers on the structural conditions of the dams.

The new law, sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison, a leading environmentalist from Greensboro, and Sen. David Hoyle, a major voice for business from Gastonia, requires a state inspection every two years.

Gov. Beverly Perdue is pushing a bill that would increase oversight of coal ash ponds.

North Carolina is home to 12 potentially high-hazard ponds of the sludge byproduct of coal-fired electric plants, more than any other state. The EPA's high-hazard designation means people would probably die if a dam failed, not that the agency has found structural problems.

The bill would subject the dams that create coal ash ponds to direct inspection by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Because of where some of the ponds are located, greater safety oversight and more frequent inspections will help reduce potential risks,” Perdue said in a news release.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, would subject coal ash dams to the state's Dam Safety Act, which would more closely regulate the impoundments and would require a state inspection every two years.

Where does the State Energy Office belong?

The agency, which leads the state's efforts to provide information about sustainable energy, would move to the N.C. Department of Commerce under a state bill endorsed today by Gov. Beverly Perdue as part of a reform package.

State Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat and bill co-sponsor, admitted that might sound a little odd to some people, since Commerce typically handles business recruiting and development.

But she argued the office should focus on business.

"This office is largely a relic of the Arab oil embargo, when it was focused more on energy security," she said. "We seem to have now entered a new era where it's as much about economic development and homegrown energy options as trying to find alternatives to Mideast oil."

The office is currently part of the Department of Administration, a catch-all government agency that houses the state construction office, among other things.

Harrison opposed an earlier effort to move the office to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which she argued was designed to undermine it. She says the new proposal is a good-faith effort.

The legislature will again consider buying more efficient cars.

A proposal to wean state government off of gas-guzzlers has resurfaced and car dealers who helped kill it last time say they'll stay neutral.

The bill would require the state Department of Administration give preference to cars in the top 15 percent of their class for fuel economy. Police cars and ambulances would be exempt.

The N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, which opposed the bill last year, opposed a similar bill that would have mandated that the state buy more efficient cars, but it will remain neutral as long as the state only prefers them.

"It's just like night and day," said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat who sponsored the bill. (AC-T)

Rep. Pricey Harrison has titled a few bills in her day.

The Greensboro Democrat, a prolific bill filer, said a good bill title can "put a positive spin on an issue."

She's co-sponsored a few good ones:

Appalachian Mountains Preservation Act: Would prohibit North Carolina's electric utilities from buying coal that comes from so-called "mountaintop removal" methods.

Access to Higher Education: Would prohibit state community colleges and universities from asking students whether they were illegal immigrants.

North Carolina Racial Justice Act: Allows racial discrimination to be taken into consideration when determining whether to impose the death penalty.

Still, she made a distinction between her college bill and, say, the Defense of Marriage Act.

"That was more about taking it out of a discussion of illegal immigration and making it what the bill is really about, which is access to higher education," she said. "The Defense of Marriage Act is a ban on gay marriages — kind of the exact opposite of what the title says."

More after the jump.

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Several legislators have signed onto parts of Gov. Beverly Perdue's budget.

Three bills filed today at the legislature echo provisions of the $21 billion proposed budget unveiled by Perdue this morning:

H.B. 619: Earmarks $5 million for N.C. Green Business Fund, Reps. Pricey Harrison, Angela Bryant, Paul Luebke and Joe Tolson

H.B. 640: Increases per-cigarette tax rate to 5.5 cents, directs some revenue to mental health, Reps. Jennifer Weiss, Rick Glazier, Luebke and William Wainwright

S.B. 608: Directs $5 million for the One North Carolina small business fund, Sen. David Weinstein

Naturally, the sponsors hope to tap into momentum created by the governor's proposals, but given the amount of time it takes to write a bill, these weren't simply filed as a "me-too" effort.

The cigarette tax proposal also differs from Perdue's, which simply covers the general fund revenue shortfall.

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

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 433: Change Corporate Income Tax, Rep. Harold Brubaker

H.B. 442: Parental Involvement in School Discipline, Reps. Martha Alexander, Susan Fisher, Rick Glazier and Earline Parmon

H.B. 443: Increase Class Size in the Public Schools, Reps. Paul Stam and Laura Wiley

H.B. 453: Increase Cig. Tax/Proceeds to MHTF, Reps. Verla Insko, Beverly Earle and Alexander

H.B. 494: Superior Court Judge May Perform Marriage, Reps. William Wainwright, Dan Blue and Garland Pierce

H.B. 504: Tax Credit for Energy-Efficient Homes, Reps. Fisher, Pricey Harrison, Bruce Goforth and Ruth Samuelson