No parking on Capitol lawn

kkiley — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:04:02 -0400

For state Rep. Nelson Dollar, the construction vehicles parked in front of statues and monuments on the Capitol's lawn had ruined enough field trips.

So Dollar got his fellow lawmakers to do something about it.

The Cary Republican sponsored a bill that would let state maintenance vehicles park on the streets around the Capitol for free as long as they stayed off the building's lawn. On Thursday, the bill got final approval from the Senate.

"I just wanted it so school children and other visitors to the Capitol could see the vistas," Capitol said.

In the past, trucks were ticketed for parking too long in metered and free spots. The bill is a compromise between the Department of Administration, which own the trucks, and the city of Raleigh, which is planning on installing more parking meters along the streets.

"It was just to make sure that, no matter what, these people would still be able to work and park," Dollar said.

Senate signs off on budget

bkrueger — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:19:50 -0400

The $21.4 billion state budget proposal cleared the Senate today by a 31-14 vote. The House is expected to take up the spending plan when its session begins at 4:30 p.m.

Debate in the Senate was short. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, again questioned the level of borrowing in the budget. It calls for authorizing more than $850 million in capital construction projects.

Berger said that while the borrowing does not exceed affordability standards set by the state treasurer, he said the budget includes planning money for another billion dollars in future capital projects, reports Dan Kane.

Lawmakers will be hard pressed to fully fund those projects given the amount of debt they are taking on in the budget, he said.

"We are tying down the future in North Carolina," he said. "We have serious and growing problems in terms of transportation, in terms of other issues that will need to be dealt with."

His concerns drew no response from Democrats who control the chamber.