Easy to lobby for the military in N.C.

Zeb Alley says veterans didn't write a spate of recent bills.

The longtime lobbyist, who works pro bono for the N.C. Veterans Council, said that group has pushed a handful of bills that would elevate the veterans commission to a Cabinet-level post, for example.

But a spate of recent bills to allow free admission to museums, among other things, comes from legislators themselves.

"Those bills are dreamed up by members of the General Assembly," he said.

Alley, an Army veteran who received a Purple Heart in Korea, said that there are a lot of veterans in the legislature, such as Reps. Grier Martin, Ric Killian and Ronnie Sutton. But he said pretty much all of the legislators are military-friendly.

"It's an easy group to lobby for because they're all anxious to help veterans," he said. "You don't have to be a veteran to be a friend of the veterans."