KEYNOTERS ANONYMOUS: The state Democratic Party holds its annual fundraiser, gabfest and politicking party, the Vance-Aycock dinner this weekend in Asheville. After a nail-biting delay, organizers finally announced the keynote speaker, Jean Carnahan, who served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri for two years. After last year's dinner, which featured an appearance by then-candidate Barack Obama, this year's event promises to be a veritable "Who's That?" of Democratic politics.

AROUND THE WORLD: State Sen. Steve Goss, a Boone Democrat, had to correct his campaign finance reports this week to reflect that he did not incur $19,000 worth of mileage reimbursements in a four-month period. That amount of driving would have taken the senator around the world nearly twice. Hope he gets good gas mileage.

BRING IT ON: The State Board of Elections announced plans to hold a hearing into the campaign finance irregularities of former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. Gov. Beverly Perdue was quick to issue a statement welcoming the hearings. The statement seemed designed to accomplish two goals: 1) re-inforce Perdue's pledge to keep government clean. 2) Remind voters that she is not Easley.

IN OTHER NEWS: Treasurer Janet Cowell updates her office's ethics policy. New laws take effect, including one that legalizes affairs for couples who are all-but divorced. The Wake County Democratic chairman cautions would-be seekers of a state House seat that keeping the job is going to require some serious fundraising.

Sen. Steve Goss has amended his campaign finance reports to correct the timing on his mileage reimbursement.

Dome noted last week that Goss paid himself about $19,000 in mileage within a four month period. (That's enough for nearly two laps around the earth.) Goss, a Democrat from Boone, explained that the mileage had piled up over three years. He had a lean campaign budget until last year and had not wanted to dip into the account to pay for mileage until last fall, he said.

The problem is that campaign finance law requires a candidate to report and claim reimbursement when the expense is incurred.

"Although the error was strictly clerical in nature," Goss said in a prepared statement, "When we are talking about our office, whether relative to constituent services or campaign issues, I am determined to do it correctly. I believe in being honest and forthright with our people on every issue."

Sen. Steve Goss racked up $19,000 worth of mileage on his car over three years, but his campaign paid him for it over the course of four months.

That’s not how campaign finance is supposed to work, according to State Board of Elections officials.

Goss, a Democrat from Boone, received three payments for mileage between October of last year and January of this year that totaled about $19,000. At the current federal reimbursement rate of 55 cents a mile, that’s about 35,000 miles.

More after the jump.

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Sen. David Weinstein, a Lumberton Democrat, has been appointed to the Legislative Ethics Committee.

The committee consists of six Republicans and six Democrats who set ethical guidelines for legislators and offer guidance on potential conflicts of interests. The group has drawn more attention in recent years with the enactment of new ethics laws and several high profile ethics cases.

"Now, more than ever, it is necessary for a bipartisan effort to self-police," Weinstein said in a statement.

Weinstein, 72, is a retired merchant serving his seventh term. He was appointed to the committee by Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, a Democrat from Manteo.

Weinstein replaces Sen. Steve Goss, a Democrat from Boone, who moved up to co-chairman of the committee after the death of Sen. Vernon Malone, a Raleigh Democrat.

UPDATE: An astute Dome reader points out a certain disconnect between Weinstein's appointment to the committee that polices the legislature's ethics and his recent comment to the Fayetteville Observer. Weinstein, explaining that it is unlikely he will run for re-election, added: "It's not as fun as it used to be, all that -- the ethics, and the people report anything you do. They always report the bad things, not the good things, and we do a lot of good things."

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP: Gov. Beverly Perdue's haircut of the state budget turned out to be a light trim, not a buzzcut. Using an accounting trick, tax hikes on cigarettes and beer and $1.7 billion in federal stimulus money, she put forth a $21 billion budget. Legislative Republicans howled, while Democrats argued over the tricks and taxes.

LET THE SUN SHINE IN: It was Sunshine Week in North Carolina. Perdue and Attorney General Roy Cooper backed a bill to disclose deaths in mental hospitals, others promoted legislative TV. Legislators continue to balk at releasing e-mails. And an analysis by the Associated Press found that the state third best at putting records online.

COURTING JUDGES: U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is looking for some help with federal judges. After years of partisan fighting, the Greensboro Democrat has made it a top goal to get a Tar Heel on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. This week she announced she would put together a panel of experts to vet potential candidates.

IN OTHER NEWS: A national liberal group aired a local TV ad to pressure U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge to vote for President Obama's budget. ... A plan to fix the State Health Plan got caught up in concerns it would hurt independent pharmacists. ... State Sen. Steve Goss backed down on a bill to criminalize blog libel, fittingly telling a local blogger first. ... Meantime, Sen. Paul Stam sought to let towns avoid buying classified ads to publicize town meetings.

Sen. Steve Goss says libel on blogs needs more study.

The Boone Democrat said that he has pulled a bill that would have put civil and criminal penalties on libel published on blogs and other online publications.

Instead, he's asked a Senate committee to substitute a bill that would study the issue to see if future legislation is needed.

The bill drew heated controversy online, especially for its criminal provisions, which Goss said after he filed the bill were unintentional. He added today that bloggers and others pointed out other problems with the wording of the bill.

"I'll be the first to admit when I'm wrong," he said.

He said he's still concerned about the speed of online news and gossip and hopes that a future bill will help resolve some of the problem, though he noted that he views the First Amendment as "sacred."

Fittingly, news of the change surfaced first on Watauga Watch, a blog run by Jerry Williamson in Goss' area.

Recent Senate bills of note:

S.B. 329: Right to Hunt, Sen. David Hoyle

S.B. 334: Department of Transportation Reforms, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 335: Transparency in Recommendations, Sen. Berger

S.B. 337: N.C. Illegal Immigration Reform Act, Sen. Austin Allran

S.B. 342: Study Grandparents' Visitation Rights, Sen. Steve Goss

* Clare Giesen, head of the National Women's Political Caucus, will speak to members of the N.C. chapter in Charlotte on Feb. 26.

* Sen. Steve Goss now says he was inspired to write a blog libel bill after reading about the cyberbullying conviction of a Missouri woman.

* Sen. Harry Reid's spokesman says Rep. Heath Shuler's criticism about his "failed" bipartisanship comes from a guy who threw too many interceptions. 

* Recount finds transfer tax failed by just 35 votes in Avery County, the latest in a string of defeats for counties looking for an alternative.

* Democracy South, former Finnish ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter of Greensboro are among the North Carolina victims of financier Bernie Madoff.

* Blogger Gordon Smith points out that Sen. Steve Goss' blog libel bill casts a wide net over the Internet and would be retroactive to Dec. 9, 2008.

* U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx gets a suite named for her at the National Republican Congressional Committee for raising $250,000 more than expected last cycle by calling donors individually.

* Attorney General Roy Cooper presses Bank of America about last-minute bonuses for Merrill Lynch employees after receiving federal bailout funds.

Mountain Xpress notes that libel is a criminal offense.

According to the alternative weekly based in Western North Carolina, the state has had a criminal libel law on the books for over a century:

The statute, which has been on the books in some form since 1901, states: "If any person shall state, deliver or transmit by any means whatever, to the manager, editor, publisher or reporter of any newspaper or periodical for publication therein any false and libelous statement concerning any person or corporation, and thereby secure the publication of the same, he shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

The weekly quotes a media law guide that says that only a handful of states have criminal statutes for libel and prosecutions are rare. In the United States, libel has historically been treated as a civil offense.

State Sen. Steve Goss said the inclusion of criminal penalties in a bill targeting libel on blogs was "an oversight."