Gov. Beverly Perdue signed another batch of bills Friday afternoon leaving five remaining unsigned bills on her desk.

The six remaining are:

HB 104: Clarifies which documents produced by lawmakers are exempt from the public records law. Would make requests by lawmakers sent to state agencies exempt from the public records law.

HB 945: The Studies Act of 2009 catalogues a host of items and issues to be studied while the legislature is out of session.

HB 1166: Insurance Law Changes. Makes several changes including a new requirement that to get a license, insurance agents must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check.

SB 947: Provides more opportunity for a homeowner to halt foreclosure if he or she can demonstrate they can pay what is owed.

HB 836: Makes technical corrections to the state budget.

HB 1329: Consolidates various state stautes regulating criminal record expunctions. 

Among the 40-plus Perdue signed Friday are:

SB 167: Prohibits tobacco products and cell phones in prisons. Makes it a crime to provide tobacco or cell phones to inmates.

HB 667: Allows wineries to sell wine during business hours.

SB 138: Bans the recreational use of salvia divinorum, an hallucinogenic herb. Still allows the mint-like plant to be used in landscaping.

SB 786: Authorizes capital projects on University of North Carolina system campuses. The projects have a funding stream to repay debt for the projects. List includes $21.8 million for a parking deck at N.C. State University, a $10 million renovation of the Carolina Inn at UNC-Chapel Hill, $35 million for a Partnership, Outreach and Research for Accelerated Learning Building at UNC-Charlotte.

SB 464: Requires statistics on race to be kept to help identify and prevent racial profiling by law enforcement. Also requires that a law enforcement officer ensure a child is in safe hands if the child's parent gets arrested. The last provision would have prevented a case last year in which three children were stranded on Interstate 85 in the middle of the night for eight hours when a sheriff's deputy arrested the children's mother, an illegal immigrant.

Correction: Perdue had six bills to sign, not five as we previously reported. Dome regrets the oversight. 

Gov. Beverly Perdue has signed 59 of 108 bills on her desk as of this morning.

Perdue has 49 more bills to go, reports Gerry Cohen, the legsislature's bill drafting director on his Drafting Musings blog. The legislature left the pile of bills for Perdue, who by law, has 30 days to sign or veto them. The state has no pocket veto, so if the bills aren't signed by Sept. 11, they become law.

Cohen is keeping a running tab of bills signed. 

The new laws increase state oversight for fireworks display operators, establish tougher rules for using handicapped parking placards, ensure sex offenders can't drive a school bus and allow magistrates to carry a gun in a courthouse.

Still to be signed are bills that would make online bullying a misdemeanor, ban recreational use of an hallicinogenic herb, and ban smoking and cell phones in prisons. 

Gov. Beverly Perdue's desk must look a little something like Dome's cluttered and paper-filled workstation.

The legislature wrapped up its session earlier this month leaving 108 bills for Perdue to sign into law. She has 30 days after the end of the session to sign the bills and as of Sunday, day 12, she has signed none, according to Gerry Cohen, the legislature's bill drafting director.

The bills cover a host of subjects: from licensing requirements for hair braiding, to a bill that would prohibit a sex offender from getting a license to drive a school bus to a bill banning a hallucinogenic herb. Cohen has posted a list of the bills on his Drafting Musings blog.

Perdue could sign the bills into law. She could veto them. If she doesn't act within 30 days, all the bills become law, according to Cohen because North Carolina has no pocket veto.

Update: Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Perdue, said the governor is reviewing the bills with her staff.

"We don't have a decision made on all of them yet as to whether she will sign them," Pearson said.

Perdue is likely to sign bills as they are reviewed, rather than all at once, so Dome's image of the governor running through a box of pens in a sign-a-thon isn't likely to come true. 

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: House and Senate Democrats adopted a $19 billion state budget. Only a few were willing to admit they were happy about the spending plan. The state's teacher lobby claimed a victory because it figured it could convince all of the state's school districts to keep all teacher jobs intact. Republicans were probably just a little happy that Democrats approved a $990 million tax increase (Can anyone say "Campaign issue?") North Carolina was probably happy to leave Connecticut and Pennsylvania as the only two states who haven't yet adopted a budget.

BABY PICTURES: John Edwards' ex-mistress, Rielle Hunter, had a family photo shoot scheduled in Raleigh on Thursday. Technically, it was a grand jury appearance, but Hunter brought her child along presumably because she couldn't find a sitter. The baby's father, whoever that may be, must not have been available.

GET OUT OF HERE: The Senate decided it had enough this week. The House wasn't ready to call it a session. In the last full week of legislating, lawmakers took key votes on a death penalty bill, a ban on a hallucinogenic herb and the Beach Plan.

The House gave final approval Wednesday to a ban on the recreational use of a mint-like herb that has hallucinogenic properties.

North Carolina would join 14 other states that have regulated Salvia divinorum. The bill, which now goes to Gov. Beverly Perdue for her signature, does allow for the possession of the herb in gardens and on landscapes. The herb's recreational use is increasing across the nation.

"It is cheap, easy to get and in most states perfectly legal," said Rep. Bob England, a Rutherford County Democrat and a physician. "It is regarded as the world's most hallucinogenic herb.

The bill makes illicit possession of salvia a minor crime, an infraction. A third offense would be a misdemeanor.

The legislature moved one step closer today to banning Salvia Divinorum, a legal hallucinogenic herb that studies show is gaining popularity.

A House committee unanimously approved a bill to ban the plant, which comes from Mexico and also is used in landscaping and decoration.

"It is cheap, it is easy to get, and in many states, like North Carolina, it is completely legal," said Sen. Bill Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat and the bill's sponsor.

The bill would make it unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver or possess the herb for reasons other than decoration. The first offense would punished by a minimum $25 fine, with tougher sanctions for repeat offenders.

"I'm not interested in putting people in jail over this," Purcell said.

The Senate voted in May to ban the substance. The bill must be approved by one more committee before it reaches the House floor. At least 14 other states have regulated the plant.

The Senate moved to ban a legal hallucinogenic herb, Salvia divinorum Thursday, hoping to get ahead of a potential drug problem.

Senators voted 45 to 0 to make the substance illegal, following 14 other states that have cracked down on the herb. It has provided college students with a cheap and legal thrill for years.

The bill would make it illegal to manufacture, sell, deliver or possess salvia. The first offense would be an infraction, punishable by a minimum $25 fine.

Salvia is a member of the mint family and was used in religious rituals by the Mazatecs Indians of Mexico. It showed up in the United States in the mid-1990s as Magic Mint or Purple Sticky and can be found in head shops in Raleigh and Chapel Hill for as cheap as $14.

The herb may have been undone by online videos showing people smoking Salvia and dissolving into fits of laughter and hallucination.

Do you want to "friend" a bill in the General Assembly?

You can't exactly do that, but you can join a group for or against a piece of state legislation, another step in the evolution of online politics.

Here's a running list of Facebook groups on state bills:

* Support NC House bill 223, ditch the graduation project: Supports this bill to end the high school graduation project. 8,257 members.

* I Oppose NC Senate Bill 272: Opposes this bill for a referendum to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. 6,635 members.

* North Carolina State Sovereignty Movement: Supports this resolution to declare North Carolina a sovereign state under the 10th Amendment. 849 members. 

* Ban Smoking in N.C.'s Public Places: 717 members. I'M FOR A SMOKE-FREE NORTH CAROLINA: 107 members. NC FOR Smoking Ban in Resturants (sic) and Bars: 92 members. All support this smoking ban bill.

* I support NC Senate Bill 272: 703 members. I support NC Senate Bill 272 - Defense of Marriage: 64 members. Say yes to NC Senate Bill 272: Defense of Marriage: 5 members. All support gay marriage ban referendum.

* Davie's Law / Humane Euthanasia in NC Shelters: Supports this bill to end gas chambers at state animal shelters. 577 members.

* Support Sunday ABC Sales in NC! Supports this bill to end prohibition on Sunday sales of liquor. 491 members.

* Prevent School Violence North Carolina: Supports this bill to reduce bullying in school. 461 members.

* Oppose the NC Smoking Ban: Opposes the smoking ban. 121 members.

* Pass the NC Racial Justice Act: Supports this bill to allow courts to review death sentences for racial bias. 100 members.

* NC Citizens Against Anti-Competition Bills HB1252 and S1004: Opposes bills that would prevent municipal Internet providers. 49 members.

* I oppose NC Senate Bill 138 (Salvia Ban): Opposes this bill to make a hallucinogenic mint a Schedule I drug. 49 members.

Are we missing one? E-mail dome@newsobserver.com.

Salvia divinorum is not banned outright in California.

Dome previously reported that the hallucinogenic herb is a Schedule I drug in that state.

Several readers pointed out that is incorrect. Although that was proposed in a 2007 bill, it was amended in the state legislature.

Since Jan. 1, it has been a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and no more than six months in jail, to sell Salvia to someone under the age of 18.

Dome regrets the error.

North Carolina's drug schedules generally mimic the federal rules.

However, there are some differences.

The federal government has five classifications, ranging from heroin and LSD in Schedule I to over-the-counter cough syrup in Schedule V. North Carolina has an additional class, Schedule VI, which includes marijuana and some prescription drugs.

The use and effects of the drug are supposed to determine which schedule it goes into.

At the federal level, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration determine which substances are in the different schedules.

In North Carolina, the make-up of each schedule is written into state law or determined by the Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, whose members are appointed.

Only a handful of drugs have been added administratively, however. (See Schedules I, II, III, IV, V and VI.) Most are listed in state law. (See Schedules I, II, III, IV, V and VI.)

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated cocaine's classification. It is a Schedule II drug.

Previously: Bill would add Salvia divinorum to Schedule I.

After the jump, a list of the schedules.

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