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This Week's Political News Briefing  House Speaker Jim Black has revised the timetable for adopting a budget in which the chamber possibly will pass a spending bill by next Thursday. The revised timetable replaces one that would have required the budget subcommittees to continue meeting in Raleigh over the weekend.Appropriations Committee Co-chair David Redwine (D-Brunswick) said his panel will meet at 2 p.m. Monday. The full Appropriations Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. That would set up a vote on a budget bill by the full House on Wednesday. Redwine and Appropriations Co-chair Ruth Easterling (D-Mecklenburg) met Wednesday and Thursday with their Senate counterparts to try to reach early agreement on major spending items as well as any special provisions. * Legislative News Briefs  The
NCCBI-led campaign for passage of $3.1 billion in higher
education bonds this fall has begun in earnest with the
creation of a campaign organization and the appointment
of campaign leaders. The current and three former
governors will serve as honorary co-chairmen of the
campaign committee and dozens of VIPs have agreed to help
out. The key staff person heading up the campaign will be
Leslie Bevacqua (picture, left), NCCBI vice
president of governmental affairs. She will take a
four-month leave of absence from the NCCBI staff
beginning July 17 to run the day-to-day operations of the
campaign. Until the campaign secures office space of its
own next month, work on the campaign will done out of
NCCBI's offices.* Complete story, lists of campaign leaders Under terms of a novel agreement, eight North Carolina manufactured gas plant owners will pay the state $425,000 so it can hire two environmental engineers who will help supervise the companies' work at cleaning up 27 abandoned coal gas operation sites across the state. In return for paying the salaries of the two Division of Waste Management engineers, the industries can accelerate their cleanup schedules by having qualified state personnel devoted to reviewing their work. Prior to the agreement, the state lacked the resources to oversee these cleanups within a reasonable time. * State Government News Briefs The U.S. House voted 220-203 on Thursday to block OSHA from enforcing ergonomics rules that the agency had planned to implement by the end of this year. North Carolina's congressional delegation split 8-4 on keeping the anti-ergonomics amendment in the appropriations bill for education, labor and health programs for next fiscal year. Democrats David Price, Eva Clayton, Bob Etheridge and Mel Watt voted to strip the ergonomics amendment from the bill. Democrat Mike McIntyre joined Republicans Richard Burr, Howard Coble, Walter Jones, Charles Taylor, Sue Myrick, Robin Hayes and Cass Ballenger in voting to keep the amendment. * Federal Government News Briefs There are strong reasons not to rush down the path toward taxpayer-financed political campaigns. Like many others, NCCBI is concerned about the escalating costs of political campaigns at every level, but we believe many of those who support taxpayer-financed campaigns are out to eliminate the influence of the business community and those who have been successful in life from the political arena. Nothing in any taxpayer-financed campaign plan we have seen would diminish the influence and day-to-day political activity of the labor unions, teacher organizations, state and local government associations, plaintiffs' attorneys, foundations, and other special interest groups. * Read the White Paper written by Phil Kirk NCCBI's influence in state politics -- that is, the influence of 2,000 members that we collectively exert -- is on the line over passage of the $3.1 billion bond issue for higher education facilities and over a constitutional referendum on legislative session limits. It is critical that NCCBI members get involved in supporting both these issues. * Read the Member Alert, contact your legislator You are NCCBI member |
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Issue No. 5 
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