The state Senate has reworked a public school sex education bill from the House that had given parents the choice between two levels of explanation.

The measure for students in grades seven through nine was approved Wednesday by the Senate Mental Health and Youth Services Committee, the Associated Press reports.

It would require all school systems to offer curricula promoting sexual abstinence outside of marriage. Districts also would be required to offer an optional program focusing on the effectiveness of contraceptives and preventing sexually transmitted diseases.

Rep. Susan Fisher of Buncombe County is the sponsor of the House version of the bill. She says the House version would make it more likely for students to get more accurate information about sex.

The bill now goes to the full Senate.

Rep. Susan Fisher thinks a good title can't hurt.

In 2007, the Asheville Democrat pushed a bill to move North Carolina schools to comprehensive sex education, away from abstinence-only.

It's title: "Modify School Health Education Program."

The bill went down to defeat, but Fisher kept at it. She wrote a new bill that would allow parents to opt out of the classes and gave it a new title: "The Healthy Youth Act."

Though the new title is more vague, Fisher said it's not misleading.

"It wasn't to hide its purpose, it was really to emphasize its purpose," she said.

Over the years, she says she's learned to be skeptical of positive-sounding bill titles. She took issue with this title: "No Bullying Anyone at Public Schools."

"On its face, that sounds very all-inclusive," she said. "But if you read further into the bill, you will find that it skirts an issue or two."

The bill is a Republican alternative to Fisher's "School Violence Protection Act," which calls for students to be protected against bullying or harassing because of real or perceived sexual orientation. The GOP bill makes no mention of sexual orientation.

Some recent House bills of note:

H.B. 593: Change School Starting Date, Reps. Paul Luebke, Martha Alexander, Bob England and Ray Rapp

H.B. 611: Check-Off Donation: Breast Cancer Screening, Reps. Nelson Dollar, Carolyn Justice, Lucy Allen and England

H.B. 614: Absentee Voting Improvements, Reps. Grier Martin, Rick Glazier, Marian McLawhorn and Rapp

H.B. 626: Restraining of Dogs, Reps. Douglas Yongue, Susan Fisher, Danny McComas and Justin Burr

H.B. 630: Capitalize National Guard in Statutes, Reps. Martin, Cullie Tarleton and Ric Killian

H.B. 644: Misdemeanor/Not Produce Public Records, Reps. George Cleveland and Burr

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

About three dozen House members, including Speaker Joe Hackney, appeared at a news conference Tuesday in support of continuing a grant program aimed at curbing high school dropouts.

The program was approved in 2007 and devoted $22 million over two years to grants. In that time, the Department of Public Instruction handed out 140 grants to school districts, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Each award came with strings -- the recipient must show they are making good use of the money.

Hackney said he does not yet know how much money will be available to expand the program, but he said the grants are still needed. Three out of 10 high school students leave before graduation and the current economic crisis makes it even tougher for dropouts to find work and have a future, he said.

"We cannot allow them to consign themselves to lifetimes of poverty and uncertainty because of something that happens when they are teenagers," Hackney said.

State Reps. Susan Fisher, an Asheville Democrat and Earline Parmon, a Winston-Salem Democrat will run the bill through the House, Hackney said.

Parmon said that money spent to keep a student in school avoids future costs for unemployment, prison space and food stamps.

"It will save us down the road," Parmon said.

A few more bills from the House today:

H.B. 84: No Bail for Certain Illegal Aliens, Reps. Justin Burr, Pearl Burris-Floyd

H.B. 87: DOL Enforcement Positions/Funds, Reps. Beverly Earle, Jennifer Weiss, Angela Bryant, Jean Farmer-Butterfield

H.B. 88: Healthy Youth Act, Reps. Bob England, Susan Fisher, Alma Adams, Winkie Wilkins

State Rep. Susan Fisher has received an award from Lillian's List.

The group, which promotes Democratic women, gave the Asheville Democrat it's first "Courage Award" last month.

Fisher was recognized for her unsuccessful effort to make comprehensive sex education available in North Carolina schools during the 2008 session.

"Representative Fisher wanted to restore a curriculum to our schools based on sound evidence not ideology," the group noted in a press release. "She was committed to providing young people with unbiased, life-saving information."

The award was presented at a recent luncheon in Raleigh.

This session, Fisher is pushing a new bill that would require schools offer two tracks — comprehensive and abstinence-only — and allow parents to choose.

Ten state legislators drive more than 500 miles to work.

After Dome learned that Rep. Roger West's 720-mile round trip from Marble to Raleigh is the longest commute, we wondered about the other legislators with long drives:

Sen. John Snow, Murphy, 706 miles
Sen. Joe Sam Queen, Waynesville, 552 miles
Sen. Tom Apodaca, Hendersonville, 550 miles
Sen. Martin Nesbitt, Asheville, 520 miles
Rep. David Guice, Brevard, 582 miles
Rep. Susan Fisher, Asheville, 500 miles
Rep. Bruce Goforth, Asheville, 500 miles
Rep. Carolyn Justus, Hendersonville, 550 miles
Rep. Phil Haire, Sylva, 590 miles

Not surprisingly, all 10 represent the mountains. 

Eight members of the House voted against overriding Gov. Mike Easley's veto of a wide boats bill.

Those members are:

Alice Bordsen, D-Alamance

Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe

Sandra Spaulding Hughes, D-Wilmington

Verla Insko, D-Orange

Maggie Jeffus, D-Guilford

Paul Luebke, D-Durham

Mickey Michaux, D-Durham

Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake

In the Senate, Ed Jones, D-Halifax, voted against override, but Jones' vote was not recorded because he paired his vote with the absent Doug Berger, D-Franklin. Under the Senate's rules, Jones can cast Berger's vote for him, but it means neither vote is recorded.

The House and Senate roll call votes are below.

Tim Boyum spotted a few more state pols in the crowd.

On his Political Connections blog, the News 14 Carolina reporter notes that he spotted state Sen. Vern Malone, Reps. Verla Insko and Susan Fisher and NAACP president William Barber in the audience for a Barack Obama speech at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

Update: James Romoser spied state Sen. Linda Garrou too.