| April
6, 2001 Issue Number 10  Names in the News: House elects new members of UNC Board of Governors
NCCBI members have visited this page since 10:30 a.m. on April 6, 2001. |
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| This
week's top stories Landmark clean-air bill has utilities' support  Duke
Power and CP&L say they can support sweeping clean-air
legislation introduced in the House and Senate this week -- as
long as reasonable timetables are imposed and as long as the
utilities are allowed a fair chance to recover the hundreds of
millions of dollars they will be required to invest in
pollution-control equipment at their 14 coal-fired power
plants. Read that story.Car inspection fees going up Two years ago the state passed a landmark law to clean up the air by requiring cars to run cleaner. Now, that law finally will be implemented by legislation introduced this week that dramatically raises vehicle inspection fees. A car safety inspection would rise from $8.50 to $14.45 in October while an auto emissions test, which is required in nine urban counties, would shoot up from $19.40 to $33.55. Read that story. Legislative news Senate rushes to beat bill-filing deadline The staff of the Senate Principal Clerk's office had to work late into the evening Wednesday to process a flood of more than 200 bills introduced in a single day as senators raced to beat the deadline for filing public bills and resolutions. Roughly 1,100 separate pieces of legislation have now been introduced in the Senate since the session began on Jan. 24. The House, where about 1,000 bills already have been filed, has a few more days before its bill-filing deadline. So many committees, so little time  With
78 committee chairs in the 120-member House and 35 chairs in
the 50-member Senate, the
North Carolina legislature now has the second-largest number
of committees and the most committee chairs of any legislature
in the country, the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research
says. The center said it found 50 cases in which legislators
serve on two committees that meet at the same
time. Financial
newsRising unemployment points to a weakening state economy New reports show unemployment in North Carolina is higher than the national average for the first time in nearly 20 years. Officials blame a rash of recent manufacturing layoffs. The data mask several signs that the state's economy remains strong, including a report that the civilian labor force rose by 84,200 over the past year to cross the 4 million mark. NCCBI Membership News 
Check the NCCBI calendar of
events to see which ones you should attend.
NCCBI offers a seminar to train business people how
to improve your media relations skills, including how to
conduct yourself during a TV interview.
Download your free copy of NCCBI's Guide to the 2001
Legislature.
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