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Top Story
House turning over rocks
looking for more tax revenue
The
House is looking in every corner for any bit of extra revenue
for next year’s cash-strapped budget. It approved two bills
to increase tax collections – one requiring more small
business owners to pay state taxes monthly instead of
quarterly and another beefing up the state Department of
Revenue’s power to collect past-due taxes and empowers it to
go after tax deadbeats. How much good that will do should be
known Monday when the House unveils its version of the state
budget for the year beginning July 1. The chamber doesn’t
like the Senate’s package of tax loophole closings and the deep
cuts in health and human services, so it must come up
with a balanced-budget alternative. Read
that story.
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here for Kiplinger offer
Legislative News
Senate OKs plan to reorganize, streamline DOT finances
The
Senate passes legislation requiring the DOT to reorganize its cash management
procedures along lines recommended by the Joint
Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee Cash Management
Study. Among other things, the measure authorizes DOT to dip
into the Highway Trust Fund, which is supposed to go toward
new roads and urban loops, and direct $150 million each year
for the next three years to maintain existing highways. Read
that story and other legislative actions.
 The State
Privacy Act is enacted, and a bill advances allowing wineries
to offer free tastings to tour groups. Committee
Actions and Floor Votes.
State
Government News
35,700
manufacturing jobs lost in past year, ESC says
The
slow but steady decline in North
Carolina's manufacturing sector over the past year has
translated into 35,700 lost jobs between May 2000 and
May 2001, or about 4.5 percent of the industry’s workforce,
according to a report by the state Employment
Security Commission. Textile mills accounted for 14,600 of the
job losses, or about 10 percent of all textile jobs, while
4,700 of the lost jobs were in transportation equipment, the
ESC said.
Elsewhere in state
government, a survey predicts a stronger tourist season this
summer. Read those stories.
Health
Care News
Public
hearings planned on hospital expansions
North
Carolina's growing population means hospitals have to keep
expanding. Several public hearings are planned around the state in coming weeks on
those expansion proposals. Conducting the hearings is the N.C. Division of
Facility Services, an agency within the Department of Health
and Human Services, which regulates hospitals under the state’s Certificate of Need law.
See the list of hospital
expansions and what they're planning.
Environmental
News
Neuse
River nitrogen-reduction target raised to 40%
In
an effort to continue water quality improvements in the Neuse
River estuary, state officials are recommending a 40 percent,
rather than a 30 percent, reduction in nitrogen in the
troubled river. A plan to achieve that goal has been developed
by the Division of Water Quality in the state Department of
Natural Resources and will be recommended for adoption by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Read that and
other environmental stories.
Check the NCCBI
master calendar of meetings and events you may want to
attend. Be sure to check
the schedule for the 22 Fall Area Meetings.
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