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A House bill approved Monday night would allow the unemployed to collect both severance pay and unemployment.

HB 1090: Currently, severance pay is considered the same as regular wages. The reality, said Rep. William Wainwright, is that a person only gets severance pay if they are out of work.

"Many employers have stated that severance pay is a matter between the employer and the employee," said Wainwright, a Havelock Democrat. "The employee is legitimately unemployed."

The cost of the change would be a small fraction of the amount paid for unemployment benefits, Wainwright said.

HB 1190: Shifts the burden for storing DNA evidence from the clerks of court to the law enforcement agency that is investigating a case. Law enforcement is better equipped to store the evidence, said Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill.

The bill specifies which evidence should be preserved and for how long. It also includes penalties for the possibility that evidence could be willfully and maliciously destroyed.

Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said the bill was meant to help courts reach the correct result.

"It's about guilt and innocence about separating the sheep from the goats, about convicting the guilty and acquitting the innocent," Stam said.

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 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

Both chambers of the legislature are considering resolutions honor the late lobbyist and former House member Roger Bone.

Bone was considered one of the most influential lobbyists in the legislature.

— "Roger made it to the top...by being a very personal, common man," said Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat.

— "Roger was never more than the boy from Sandy Cross," said Sen. A.B. Swindell, a Nashville Democrat.

— "We're grateful to him for just making this a place where we can enjoy each other's company ... as we talk about the ways to make North Carolina better," said Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat and senate majority leader.

Bone served in the 1979 session of the House, later worked as a legislative liaison to Speaker Liston Ramsey, and founded his own lobbying firm in 1987.

The House will consider its resolution when it goes into session at 1 p.m.

Update: The House took up the Senate version of the resolution.

— "He is what some would call a permanent fixture of the legislative building as he has been around as long as anyone can remember," said Rep. William Wainwright, a Havelock Democrat. "North Carolina is a better place because Roger Bone passed our way."

— "He possessed a unique passion for sound public policy," said Rep. Randy Stewart, a Rocky Mount Democrat.

"I can recally many conversations with Roger down in the snackbar of this buildign as he explaiend to me ...the dynamics that really move this assembly," said Rep. David Lewis, a Dunn Republican.

Roger Bone may get one last bill through the legislature.

The former lawmaker and longtime lobbyist, who died on Jan. 25 of cancer, had his hand in a number of bills over the years.

Now, the legislature is set to recognize his achievements with a joint resolution.

The resolution "honors the life and memory of Roger Bone and expresses the appreciation of this State and its citizens for the service he rendered," it reads.

Bone served in the 1979 session of the House, later worked as a legislative liaison to Speaker Liston Ramsey, and founded his own lobbying firm in 1987.

The bill is sponsored by House Democratic Leader Hugh Holliman and longtime Reps. William Wainwright, Harold Brubaker and Dan Blue.

Who's in the Tobacco Growers' Caucus?

After Dome noted which legislators represented major cigarette manufacturing employers in North Carolina, a reader noted that others represent tobacco growers.

According to records at the N.C. Department of Agriculture, 11 counties each produced more than $20 million worth of tobacco in 2007: Sampson, Johnston, Wilson, Wayne, Nash, Pitt, Lenoir, Harnett, Greene, Edgecombe and Duplin.

That means the following members represent growers:

In the House: Reps. Larry Bell, James Langdon, Leo Daughtry, Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Joe Tolson, Van Braxton, Efton Sager, Lucy Allen, Angela Bryant, Randy Stewart, Marian McLawhorn, Edith Warren, Arthur Williams, William Wainwright, David Lewis, Jimmy Love, and Russell Tucker.

In the Senate: Sens. Charlie Albertson, David Rouzer, A.B. Swindell, Don Davis, Clark Jenkins, and Harris Blake.

During a 2007 House vote, Reps. Bell, Farmer-Butterfield, Allen, Bryant, Wainwright, Love, and Tucker voted for a smoking ban, while Langdon, Daughtry, Tolson, Braxton, McLawhorn, Warren, Williams, and Lewis voted against it.

Sager and Stewart were not in the House at the time.

North Carolina has its share of preacher-legislators.

Offhand, Dome can think of at least three lawmakers who could form a "Preacher's Caucus" if they wanted to:

* Sen. Steve Goss, Southern Baptist minister in Western North Carolina.

* Rep. William Wainwright, presiding elder and bishop in the AME Zion Church.

* Rep. Garland Pierce, Baptist minister at Bright Hopewell Church in Laurinburg.

Rep. William Wainwright won a second term as speaker pro tem.

The Havelock Democrat was nominated to serve in the leadership role under Speaker Joe Hackney by Rep. Alma Adams, a fellow member of the Legislative Black Caucus.

She called Wainwright, an ordained minister, "a man of God."

"Around these halls we finally regard him as our bishop and we seek his counsel and his wise advice," she said. "He's a man of purpose, principled in his actions."

Reps. Alice Underhill of New Bern and Paul Luebke of Durham seconded the nomination.

Republican Rep. Dale Folwell of Winston-Salem was also nominated.

Wainwright won on a party-line vote. He has held the post since 2007.

The House passed a second reading of its two-year budget on a 68-51 party-line vote tonight. Here's a quick summary of the arguments for and against the bill. (Not direct quotes.)

Rep. Bill McGee: I don't like the certificates of participation. We have too much debt. What'll happen in the future? Rep. Deborah Ross: That's not a big deal. We have an excellent credit rating. Rep. Bill Owens: Don't vote against the budget just because you don't like two percent of it. Rep. Paul Stam: Yeah, but that two percent caused us to break our word on the "temporary taxes." Rep. Leo Daughtry: We didn't even get a chance to vote on them. Rep. William Wainwright: That money will be well spent on worthwhile programs. And the budget also provides a tax credit for adoption, an Earned Income Tax Credit and tax cuts for small businesses. Rep. Pricey Harrison: And lots of good conservation stuff too. Rep. John Blust: Come on. We would throw a CEO in jail for signing a financial statement this dishonest. Rep. Annie Mobley: Can't we all just get along?

This Tax Day, some argue that more North Carolinians should be getting money back.

More than 20 representatives of advocacy groups met at the Capitol Post Office in downtown Raleigh at noon to argue for a state Earned Income Tax Credit.

The credit would piggyback on the federal program, which offsets payroll and income taxes for low-wage workers and provides some with a refund.

Reps. Alma Adams and William Wainwright spoke in favor of their bill, which would give 5 percent of the federal EITC, or $235 for a family receiving the current maximum federal credit of $4,716. (Wake Reps. Linda Coleman and Deborah Ross are co-sponsors.)

But Marybe McMillan of the AFL-CIO said the EITC campaign will call for a 10 percent match worth $472 for the same family. That would cost the state about $134 million.

Democratic gubernatorial contenders Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Treasurer Richard Moore support a state EITC, but Gov. Mike Easley prefers eliminating the state income tax for the lowest earners instead.