A bill would amend the constitution to bar felons from serving as sheriff.

Sen. Stan Bingham, a Davidson County Republican, said he filed the bill after hearing from sheriffs in his district.

"A sheriff cannot hire someone as a deputy — especially that carries a firearm — who is a felon, but he can be one," he said.

The amendment would forbid any sheriff who had been found guilty of a felony in North Carolina or another state, regardless of whether they had their voting rights restored.

It would be on the November 2010 ballot.

The former sheriff of Buncombe County was found guilty of accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from video poker operators last year.

The bill has 23 sponsors, almost a majority of the 50-member Senate.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Bingham's party. 

Some recent Senate bills of note:

S.B. 351: No Felon as Sheriff, Sen. Stan Bingham

S.B. 353: N.C. Human Trafficking Commission, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird

S.B. 362: Retired Teachers Return to Work, Sen. A.B. Swindell

Here are the chairs of the other Senate committees, the senators who often decide what bills get debated and voted on by the committee.

Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources -- Sen. Bob Atwater, Chapel Hill Democrat

Commerce -- Sen. R.C. Soles, Tabor City Democrat

Education -- Sen. Vernon Malone, Raleigh Democrat and Sen. Richard Stevens, Cary Republican

Finance -- Sen. David Hoyle, Dallas Democrat; Sen. Dan Clodfelter, Charlotte Democrat and Sen. Clark Jenkins, Tarboro Democrat

Health Care -- Sen. William Purcell, Laurinburg Democrat and Sen. Stan Bingham, Denton Republican

Judiciary 1 -- Sen. Martin Nesbitt, Asheville Democrat

Judiciary 2 -- Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, Concord Republican

Mental Health and Youth Services -- Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, Carrboro Democrat and Sen. Malcolm Graham, Charlotte Democrat

Pensions/Retirement/Aging -- Sen. Tony Foriest, Graham Democrat

Rules -- Sen. Tony Rand, Fayetteville Democrat

State and Local Government -- Sen. Ed Jones, Enfield Democrat and Sen. Don East, Pilot Mountain Republican

Transportation -- Sen. Larry Shaw, Fayetteville Democrat

Ways & Means -- Sen. Charlie Dannelly, Charlotte Democrat

Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology -- Sen. Katie Dorsett, Greensboro Democrat and Sen. Joe Sam Queen, Waynesville Democrat

"Which Republicans voted for the Democratic leadership in the legislature?" — Caller

Members of the state House of Representatives and Senate select their own leaders on the first day of session.

The majority, which is Democratic in both chambers this year, typically votes for one of its own, while the Republican minority puts forward its own candidate.

Still, legislators can cross over to vote for the other side.

This year, Republican Sens. Fletcher Hartsell of Concord and Richard Stevens of Cary both voted for Democratic Sen. Marc Basnight as president pro tem on the first roll call.

Before the votes were totaled, however, Republican Minority Leader Phil Berger, who was also running, moved to elect Basnight by acclamation — essentially a unanimous voice vote.

This next part is a little tricky. In order to prevent anyone from calling another vote in the future and toppling Basnight, his chief lieutenant, Sen. Tony Rand, asked for yet another vote, known as a "clincher."

Twelve of the 20 Senate Republicans voted for Basnight on that vote: Sens. Austin Allran, Stan Bingham, Harris Blake, Debbie Clary, Don East, James Forrester, Hartsell, Neal Hunt, David Rouzer, Bob Rucho, Stevens, and Jerry Tillman.

In the House no Republicans voted for Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat. House Republicans voted for the minority leader, Rep. Paul Stam.

How bipartisan has Sen. Kay Hagan been?

From 1999 to 2008, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 143 bills. Of them, 63 had no cosponsors, 36 had only Democratic cosponsors and 44 had Republican cosponsors.

Overall, her 366 cosponsors included 286 Democrats and 80 Republicans, for about a four-to-one ratio. She became more bipartisan during her time in the legislature, however, going from about a nine-to-one ratio of D-to-R cosponsors in the 1999-2000 session to about two-to-one in the current session.

The most frequent GOP cosponsors were Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County, who signed on to 14 bills; Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to 13; and Sen. Robert Shaw of Greensboro, who signed on to 10.

Sens. Hamilton Horton of Forsyth County and Richard Stevens of Wake County each cosponsored five bills; Sens. Virginia Foxx of Watauga County and John Garwood of Wilkes County, four; and Peter Brunstetter of Forsyth County and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County, three.

Sens. James Forrester, Jim Jacumin, Jerry Tillman, Austin Allran and Harry Brown cosponsored two apiece, while Sens. Don East, Andrew Brock, Eddie Goodall, Harris Blake, Kenneth Moore, Fred Smith and Tom Apodaca each cosponsored one.

Previously: Hagan's Republican cosponsors in 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2007-08 sessions.

State Sen. Kay Hagan was even less bipartisan in the session before last.

With the Democratic Senate nominee touting her bipartisanship in the legislature, Dome has been taking a closer look at the number of Republicans who signed on to her bills.

In the 2003-04 session, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 31 bills. Of them, 22 had no cosponsors, six had only Democratic cosponsors and three had Republican cosponsors.

Again, the bills with Republican cosponsors tended to have more than one. Overall, her 43 cosponsors included 35 Democrats and eight Republicans, or about a four-to-one ratio.

The three bills were for funding for DNA analysis in rape kits, funding for a Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro and providing school information on meningitis and the flu. The meningitis bill was the most bipartisan, with 11 Democratic cosponsors and five Republicans.

None of the Republicans sponsored more than one bill. They were: Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, one-time gubernatorial candidate Fern Shubert, Tony P. Moore, Stan Bingham, Tom Apodaca, Robert C. Carpenter, R.B. Sloan Jr. and Richard Stevens.

Previously: Hagan's GOP cosponsors in 2005-06; in 2007-08.

State Sen. Kay Hagan was not as bipartisan in the previous session.

With the Democratic Senate nominee touting her bipartisanship in the legislature, Dome decided to take a closer look at the number of Republicans who signed on to her bills.

In the 2005-06 session, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 37 bills. Of them, 16 had no cosponsors, eight had only Democratic cosponsors and 13 had Republican cosponsors.

A few of the Republican-cosponsored bills had more than one GOP senator on board. Overall, her 76 cosponsors included 56 Democrats and 26 Republicans, or about a three-to-one ratio.

The most frequent Republican cosponsor was Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to seven Hagan bills on funding for the ACC Hall of Champions, the Natural Science Center and the N.C. Science Competitions center; phasing out video poker; amending wine-making laws; building an addition at Guilford Community College; and boosting grants to public libraries.

Hagan also had Republican cosponsors on a pilot program on teaching new foreign languages in school, special licenses plates for the N.C. Wildlife Habitat Foundation and the Guilford Battleground, more library grants, training for 911 call centers, and making technical corrections on state laws on nonprofits.

Previously: Hagan's 2007-08 track record. 

With state Sen. Kay Hagan touting her bipartisanship, Dome decided to take a closer look.

One measure is the number of Republicans who signed onto legislation she sponsored.

In the 2007-08 session, the Greensboro Democrat was the primary sponsor of 33 bills. Of them, 15 had no cosponsors, 10 had only Democratic cosponsors and eight had Republicans.

But the Republican-cosponsored measures tended to have a number of supporters. Overall, her 83 cosponsors included 55 Democrats and 28 Republicans, or about a two-to-one ratio.

The most frequent GOP cosponsor was Sen. Stan Bingham of neighboring Davidson County, who signed on to Hagan bills on creating license plates for soccer and juvenile diabetes, funding a Triad crime lab and allowing the student member of the UNC Board of Governors to vote.

The UNC bill was the most bipartisan, with 14 Democratic and 15 Republican cosponsors, including Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger and former gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith.

Hagan also had Republican cosponsors on bills on computer equipment recycling, real estate settlement protection, rental car fee reform, and funds for the Children's Discovery Center.

How bipartisan has Kay Hagan been?

At a debate in Atlantic Beach today, the Democratic Senate nominee said that she had worked with Republicans in her time in the state legislature.

"I've gotten results here in North Carolina by working across party lines, by ending the partisan bickering," she said.

Afterward, Greensboro News & Record reporter Mark Binker asked Hagan about the Senate Democratic leadership's recent decision to cut off debate on the state budget before Republicans could offer their comments.

"The budget was an opportunity that people had a lot of time to make changes, to make recommendations in subcommittees, and I just don't think there was a lot of participation at the time when a lot of changes could take place," she said.

Hagan said she has worked closely with Republican Sen. Fletcher Hartsell of Cabarrus County on judicial issues and layoffs in Kannapolis and Sen. Jim Jacumin of Burke County on "furniture-related issues."

She said she also had a good relationship with Republican Sen. Stan Bingham of Davidson County. 

State Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary was one of three Republicans to support the Senate's $21.4 billion state budget proposal.

He said he disliked the way Democrats shut off debate on the legislation, but he voted for it because it contains no tax increases and the growth in spending over the current year — 3.4 percent — is less than that of inflation and population growth combined, Dan Kane reports.

"It's a conservative budget in terms of spending and it does a lot for education," Stevens said.

He also cited $50 million in tax relief, though the budget bill does not specify where that will happen. The Senate decided to pass several tax breaks in individual bills that may end up being incorporated into the final budget.

He said he was also pleased with the number of construction projects that the budget bill provides for the UNC system and for Wake County. They include $109 million for a new library at N.C. State University's Centennial Campus and another $5 million toward the N.C. Museum of Art's $72 million expansion.

Stevens is a former Wake County manager and a former chairman of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. The other Republican senators supporting the budget proposal are Stan Bingham of Davidson County and Fletcher Hartsell of Concord.