Dome Memo: Long, bills and schools

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:02:04 -0500

LONG GONE: The sudden death of longtime Insurance Commissioner Jim Long cast a shadow over the week. Legislators wore red tie stickers in his honor; others gave praise. Ironically, he was going to spend his retirement fighting for stroke prevention.

BILLS BILLS BILLS: Legislators pitched a flurry of new bills to expand sex ed options, extend public financing, teach about the 1898 race riots, require murder interrogations be videotaped, and reduce copays for chiropractors. Leaders will now seek to bury half and rewrite the rest.

SUPER FIGHT: Schools Superintendent June Atkinson threw down her glove. After remaining quiet while Gov. Beverly Perdue sought to pull even more power from her position, Atkinson demanded legislators to decide once and for all who runs the schools.

IN OTHER NEWS: A tough budget year hasn't stopped legislators from asking for more money. As of Thursday, special appropriations bills totaled $95 million, or about 5 percent of the $2 billion shortfall. ... Sen. Kay Hagan wants to limit CEOs getting federal bailout money to the same salary as President Obama. Watch for executives to start arguing the president is underpaid. ... State Sen. Steve Goss said he'd never had any trouble with blogs as he filed a bill that would make them more liable for libel. By the end of the day, bloggers rectified that.

Demo Memo

Dome Memo: Long, bills and schools