From today’s paper:

• in the print version of the paper we ran a breakdown of the current bills authored by one of our wire services. Click here for that PDF.
• McClatchy's Barbara Barrete's rundown of what's on lawmaker's minds regarding health care is also worth a read. Click here for that story.
• And the Associated Press has a couple of stories out that will catch you up on the latest: here and here.

For those of you who were enjoying the Labor Day weekend, here’s a story I wrote for Sunday dipping back into the video poker issue.

GREENSBORO — Don’t call it video poker. Video slots is right out, too. Those are illegal in North Carolina.

That machine blipping away in the corner of your gas station or back of the corner bar is a sweepstakes terminal. You also can find them in standalone parlors, mini-casinos wedged into strip malls next to dollar stores and nail salons.

Thanks to a combination of legislative inaction and a pair of Superior Court rulings, those machines are legal, virtually untaxed and spreading virtually unregulated throughout North Carolina.

That’s a problem, say lawmakers on both sides of a debate over legalization, gambling-addiction specialists and even some of the machines’ owners.

Click here for the whole thing.

My father, of all people, sort of ribbed me for writing about this – again. But this issue is an important one for several reasons:

• If there is, truly, revenue in them there hills, one would think lawmakers would go prospecting for it.
• Of course, lawmakers thought they had outlawed these type of games twice in the past few years. So this whole debate calls into question the legislature’s will and ability to lay down the law, so to speak.
• And there’s the very practical, everyday question of how North Carolina is going to deal with gambling and gaming issues today and on down the road.
• Finally, wither the lottery? I’ve heard a lot of people on all sides of the debate speculate about the lottery’s designs on video poker and the like. But back this spring, lottery officials swore they weren’t engaged in this debate … yet. (Click here for that.)

One other note: The judge involved in the High Point case write me a quick e-mail pointing out what he considered a point of imprecision. He said, rightly, that his order only covers machines made by the two companies involved in the lawsuit that’s before him.

While that’s true – and I should have done a better job laying out what the order said – a couple points:

• My understanding from folks in the industry is there are only four companies who make these kinds of machines. I haven’t been able to confirm this to my liking, but if true, then you would have half the machines in a given market protected.
• Folks on the law enforcement side I’ve talked to are pretty cagey about going on the record and investigating these enterprises right now. They’re unsure about how to sort one machine out from another so have gotten gun shy about the lot of them.
• The High Point case could be rendered moot if the Court of Appeals finds for the plaintiffs in a Wake County case, which seeks to legalize all forms of video poker across the state. From what I’ve been told, again- not confirmed – we’re not likely to see an appellate court ruling in that case until October. And the best guess is whatever the ruling is there, it will be appealed.

Update: Click here for the prepared text of Obama's remarks.

-=-=-=-

Typically the biggest threat a politician poses when he addresses a school full of children is mangling the slang of the time trying to convince youngsters he’s down with the stuff they’re dealing with and ready to get all up into the face of … you get the point.

Well, President Barack Obama’s plans to go all satellite and address classrooms across the nation on Tuesday (news release) has caused an outcry from parents and some school officials worried the president is out to play politics with their children. (Politico, Washington Post.)

Update: Students in the Guilford County schools system will watch the talk. Click here for that story. (Parents in Guilford County who don't want their children to watch can send a note to their teachers.)

North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer chipped in his two cents Thursday, saying by way of a news release “This speech is clearly political in nature and has no place in the classroom” Fetzer said.

Concerns have surface in Greensboro, said Guilford County Republican Party Chairman Bill Wright.

“I’ve had several e-mails from folks who were concerned about it,” Wright said.

He said parents are worried the speech could “get political” and become a way for Obama to sell his health care policies or otherwise win-over students to his cause.

“I think it’s good any time the president can speak to kids directly. I’m trying to keep an open mind,” Wright said. As long as the speech really is a “pep talk” as the White House described it and focuses on urging kids to achieve, Wright said he’ll have no problems with the president’s address.

“At the same time, it can’t become political in any way,” Wright said. If the president does veer off into politics, he said, parents would have a legitimate grievance.

Although text of the speech isn’t out yet, parents can judge some of the material federal officials are sending out for teachers to use on the same day. Click here for the U.S. Department of Education website.

Materials for seventh through twelfth graders do contain several personality neutral questions such as:

"We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of responsibility? How? Give examples."

Other questions might raise some eyebrows:

"Create a “concept web.” Teachers may ask students to think of the following:

*Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?
*How will he challenge us?
*What might he say?
*Do you remember any other historic moments when the president spoke to the nation?
*What was the impact?"

That sort of assumes that Obama's little talk will be inspiring and/or historic, doesn't it? 

So are you cool with the president getting down with the kids, or do you have objections. The comments line is open.

Gov. Perdue is getting ready to take a road trip. From a Dept. of Commerce release:

RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue and N.C. Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco will lead the state’s Asia business development trip in October. Business leaders and regional economic developers will join the two as they meet with trading partners and recruitment prospects in China and Japan, North Carolina’s second- and fourth-largest trading partners. Most of the costs will be paid by non-state funds

“This trip is about building and sustaining relationships that create jobs for North Carolinians,” said Gov. Perdue. “Doing business with Japan and China results in $3.6 billion a year in trade, jobs for 20,000 North Carolinians and more than $200 million in foreign direct investment.

“Asian trade and investment represent significant growth opportunities for our state – especially in an economic downturn,” Perdue added.

 Click here for the full release.

Sens. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, and Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, have been making the rounds during Congress’ August recess. And pretty much anywhere they go, the senators are talking health care.

The liberal-leaning N.C. Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center put out a brief today arguing that the tax increases lawmakers enacted this summer were relatively modest and would not hurt the economy as some, mainly conservative, voices have claimed.

They argue that the tax increases are both small when compared to the overall state economy and that most other states are doing them too, so North Carolina is just keeping in step with everyone else.

“Without this additional tax revenue many of the more drastic spending reductions considered this year would have been enacted, such as increasing class sizes in early grades and freezing enrollment in the state’s children’s health insurance program. Those cuts certainly would have caused job losses in both the private and public sectors, while credible research concludes the revenue increases likely will not negatively impact the job market.”

Click here to read the whole thing. One note if you do go read it: The original draft of this report sitting on the group’s website as I write this says “23% of the 2010 budget and 31% of the 2011 budget are supported by funding from the tax increase.” That should, I’m pretty certain, say “23% of the 2010 budget GAP.” The entire general fund budget is $19.1 billion. The budget gap was $4.5 billion or so…if you believe those who wrote the budget, but that’s another story.

That analysis prompted a response from the conservative-leaning Civitas Institute, who has consistently said the tax increases would be a problem.

How do they back up this fantasy-world claim?

First, they try the “oh, $1.3 billion in new taxes really isn’t much, so nobody will change their behavior” approach

[snip]

In short, the BTC brief does nothing to bolster its claim that higher taxes have no effect on job growth. Any basic Econ 101 theory will describe how job and economic growth is based largely upon the accumulation and investment of new capital and the proper incentive structure.

Click here to read their whole response.

A lobbyist friend took pains to remind me yesterday that I hadn’t blogged in a while - this morning's posts not withstanding. After the honorables headed out of town, I headed out for a vacation and then to the annual conference for Capitolbeat – no relation to this blog.

But let’s see if I can’t wrap up the state of things here in short order:

• Aug. 7: Gov. Perdue signs a $19 billion state budget. A week later, she institutes a 5 percent cut – on the budget she just signs. I think a lot of people were expecting her to have to cut some from the General Assembly’s spending plan, but this was pretty quick turn around. I don’t think anyone had sooner than 1 month in the pool. (IHT)
   
• Perdue hired a new budget advisor to help with communication and government strategy. Before he’s even hired, the governor’s office is communicating about why they’re spending $136,000 on a new hire during a bad economic year. (Dome.) Perdue, by the way, has also hired a new military advisor. (Fay O)
   
• The federal issue of health care reform comes home to roost during the Congressional recess, with people across the state having polite, well-informed discussions on the topic. Oh, and then there are all the town halls and other foolishness we scruffy media types have captured. UNC-TV provided the capstone health care segment last night with their town hall broadcast. (UNC-TV)
   
• Democrats are still scratching around for a Senate candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. Despite Ken Lewis' appearance on the scene, Dems seem to be trolling through their rolodexes as fast as possible. The latest name in the mix: former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker. (Dome) U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, former state Rep. Cal Cunningham and Sec. of State Elaine Marshall appear to be the other names mentioned most often.
   
• The governor’s son, Garrett Perdue, got rung up for speeding in a school zone. The next week, his mother gets wrung up by a 3d grader for politicking on a school bus. (IHT and IHT)
   
• Hey, a state Senator already facing some public and legal troubles shot someone. (Charlotte O). Worth reading: Charlotte reporter Mark Johnson’s profile of the Tabor City political icon. (via Sun News)
   
• The great ethics war between the auditor and the ethics commission may be over. (ACT)
• Former Gov. Mike Easley continues to provide entertainment. Democratic Auditor Beth Wood was called before the grand jury investigating Easley to explain, presumably, why she stopped an audit related to the governor. (Dome) Meanwhile, the N+O has dug up new information on missing flight records that suggests at least someone in the patrol wanted to make them gone on purpose. (N+O) Gov. Perdue said yesterday that some investigatory records related to the were confidential by state law, which prompted the Senate Republican caucus to accuse her of "erratic behavior," 
   

That brings us almost up to date. Some more recent notes:

• Appellate court judge Bob Hunter is running for the state Supreme Court. (ACT)
• The swine flu - ahem, pardon me - The H1N1 virus is back and it's coming to a school near year. (N+R)
• Son of BRAC has appeared in NC. (N+R)
• The "Ram's Club" Exemption makes news once again. (N+O)

So what have I missed? Is there anything else from the past two weeks that you'd put on the collective radar? Drop me a note in the comments section.

So ... whose feet are these?

I’ll wait. Give up?

Lt. Gov Walter Dalton strode out of his office on his Blunt Street barefoot Wednesday to help raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, a nonprofit that gives new shoes to those in needs. In particular, he was praising FinishLine for helping the nonprofit reach its goal of getting 25,000 new shoes donated in North Carolina.

“I am here today barefooted to send a message,” Dalton said, noting that many people around the world and even in the state are forced to go without shoes. “This is good news and we have a corporate citizen stepping up to do the right thing,” Dalton said.

For more information on the effort:

• Samaritan’s Feet
• FinishLine

As my friends at the AP (click here) and UNC Radio (click here) reported, Gov. Bev Perdue did the meet and greet thing with her BRAC panel Tuesday.

If the BRAC acronym sounds familiar it’s because the federal government uses it as the moniker for the “Base Realignment and Closure” Commissions. The idea is to put together lists of base closings and moves that Congress must either vote up or down, insulating the decision from political cross-winds.

That’s Perdue’s idea with her BRAC: Budget Reform and Accountability Commission. Her vision is to let lose 10 old state government hands who are no longer too deeply invested in the bureaucracy and have them rip apart state spending, finding line items that can be cut or merged.

But there’s a big difference between the two. The federal BRAC had the force of law. Congress was forced into an up or down vote.

Perdue is just kind of hoping everyone goes along. As it stands, the General Assembly has not boxed itself into a corner and ceded no authority to the BRAC group. That means every cut BRAC comes up with is up for grabs. Perdue laid out the problem with that state of affairs herself Tuesday:

“I think once you begin to have members have to decide individually on these hard tough decisions, that it becomes much more complex for them,” Perdue said. In other words, everyone whose ox might get gored will be calling or sending a lobbyist down to Jones Street to save said ox.

How to get around this?

“I will work real aggressively to have buy-in from the people of the state as we then work congruently to get buy-in from the (General) Assembly,” Perdue said.

Using the bully pulpit to win over the public and the members of your own party who control both chambers of the legislature is a fine idea…if your approval rating was over 30 percent. Perdue’s is not. As it is, the AP Gary D. Robertson’s quote from Jim Crawford illustrates just one brick in the wall Perdue could hit:

"I can't see the Legislature giving up its institutional powers (further) to another branch of the government,” Crawford told the AP. In other words, send us your ideas and we’ll consider whether they’re good or not - or are too politically sensitive or will derail negotiations over another bill or etc...

The other major issue BRAC will run into is a structural one. State government is not one, monolithic entity where power flows from a single spot and everyone rows in the same direction. Rather, it’s more like Italy in the Middle Ages, a group of affiliated but sometimes warring city-states who get along fine as long as resources aren’t scarce and the Pope doesn’t get too uppity.

Case in point, a discussion among BRAC co-chairman Norris Tolson and Norma Houston – neither of who are lightweights when it comes to state budget matters. Tolson is a former Revenue Secretary and Houston was chief of staff for Senate Leader Mac Basnight before going to the UNC School of Government.

Houston was briefing the panel on her initial work looking at state procurement procedures and contracts. She explained how across state government there were multiple ways items and services were coded, vetted and accounted for – making comparisons across agencies difficult if not nigh on impossible. But BRAC is going to give it a shot she said, with the help of work already being done by the NC Open Book crew.

“In you work, are we just going to look at state government as we know it, or are we going to include universities in that study,” Tolson asked.

“We can certainly talk to the universities,” Houston said.

Tolson said even though the university system’s procurement system was separate from the state governments, they still are funded by taxpayers and ought to get a look-see.

“The same would go for example with public schools, there’s a great deal of authorizations now,” Houston said.

The state’s General Fund budget is $19 billion. The education section of the budget is $11.16 billion, more than half. Now, a lot of that money is related to salaries. But it would seem to this scruffy media type that anything that makes up more than half of the state’s discretionary spending ought to be front and center.

However, the universities, community colleges and public schools are all three governed by quasi-independent boards – appointed by the governor and General Assembly, funded by the budget but free to make policy for themselves – usually. Each has champions in the House and Senate and each have institutional priorities that don’t involve making government more efficient.

Then you have nine executive branch offices that aren’t directly under the governor. The other members of the Council of State are directly elected and each runs an agency (some bigger than others) with its own priorities and historically entrenched resistance to meddling by the chief executive.

So is BRAC doomed? No – not by a long shot. But Perdue and her commission is going to have to get that buy-in she was talking about or another governor on down the line may be saying about BRAC what Perdue said Tuesday about an earlier budget reform effort from the 1990s. Back then, state government was trying to figure out if it could do without some of the boards and commissions that have flourished throughout the government, or at least streamline and manage some of them better.

“I was there and saw it fail, it was an abysmal failure in the 90s from my perspective, as someone who was really hopeful for great things to happen. And if we couldn’t change boards and commissions from lack of interest of lack of ability or lack of willingness to change, the hard stuff will be much harder, I know that,” Perdue said.

Tolson also acknowledged the task at hand yesterday.

"I'm not naïve,” he said. “At the end of the day, other people are going to have to act on what this commission does."
 

Readers: Capital Beat will be silent for a couple weeks to allow your humble correspondent a vacation.

I'll get back to posting the week of Aug. 24.

In the meantime, check the links over on the right-hand side of the page for more blogs dedicated to state government coverage.