The General Assembly had penciled in three days this week to convene if needed. But with redistricting out of the way and the short session only a few weeks away, only a handful of lawmakers will show up as a formality and take no votes.
That won’t stop the other big show: General Assembly protesters. The fun starts at 1 p.m. when the demonstrators will test the rarely enforced Second Floor Rule that Tillis' office used to clear a crowd in February. Stay tuned for details.
In other headlines:
--The unflattering light of the national press shines on North Carolina on Monday as the John Edwards Trial begins. The latest in the saga: U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles has sided with John Edwards’ defense team by ordering that any book drafts or articles that speechwriter Wendy Button has about the case be turned over to her former boss. More here.
--The TV ads talk ominously about Obamacare, special interests and red tape. But they aren’t campaign commercials. One of the most heated battles this election year involves legislation designed to toughen regulation of the state’s dental care. And both sides have appealed to consumers through a high-dollar television advertising war that complements an expensive lobbying effort at the statehouse.
At the center of the debate: an under-the-radar measure – Senate Bill 655 – that flew through the Senate in the 2011 session and awaits House action when the lawmaking session resumes in May.
-- On Monday, the legislature's joint transportation oversight committee is scheduled to consider a proposal to postpone the new tolls for two years, giving coastal residents more time to recover from the effects of the recession and Hurricane Irene. Republicans say it is up to Perdue to heed the advice of Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, who says she had no authority to block collection of the tolls.
