Like many capitol reporters, I wrote an end-of-session wrap-up for tomorrow's paper. I'll post a link when I get it.

Of course, like many reporters, I have more things to say than space allows. So here's some online only content for you internet readers:

Lingering effects

Even as they headed home for the year, legislators left with a long to-do list.

“It’s really important that North Carolina have a statewide conversation ... if we are serious, and I think we must be, about changing North Carolina basic (tax) code,” Perdue said Tuesday. “That’s a huge must-do for me.”

Lawmakers have agreed to study a tax code rewrite between now and the time they return in May.

Hackney said he hoped the effort would win support from Republicans as well as Democrats.

“That’s a difficult thing for a lot of us to even get started on unless it comes coupled with a serious look at controlling the pace of increased spending,” Berger said.

Tax reform is one of a number of unfinished items:

• “I’ve been trying to improve conditions for workers and families,” said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat. In particular, she said she wanted to push for a measure that would guarantee sick leave to low-wage workers.

• Rep. Pricey Harrison has pushed a number of environmental measures this session, including one to more strictly regulate coal ash ponds that store toxic waste from power plants. She will push for studies of other coal-ash-related problems.

• Although the bill never made it past committee, Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, championed the legalization of video poker.
  
  “That’s a $500 million plum we need to pick somewhere along the way,” Cole said.

When she was asked about the idea of reforming North Carolina’s tax code earlier this year, Gov. Bev Perdue was skeptical that the General Assembly could take on the task and settle the current year budget.

Now that the $19 million budget and legislative session is out the way, Perdue called tax reform a “must-do” item.

It would take a “statewide conversation,” she said, to sell voters on the idea of tax reform “…if we are serious, and I think we must be, about changing North Carolina’s basic revenue source code from based on income tax – both corporate and personal – to one that appears to be moving toward where the 21st century jobs are, which is services. That’s a huge must-do for me and for the people of North Carolina,”

Click on the audio file below to listen to more of what Perdue had to say today.

Perdue's support for the tax reform was one of the keys that House Speaker Joe Hackney said would make any such effort more likely to succeed.

"I want it to be bipartisan, I want it to be revenue neutral, I want to have the governor's strong support," Hackney said. Sounds like that last bit may be there.

Bill drafting maven Gerry Cohen gives notice by e-mail and by way of his blog this evening of the work (at least in raw numbers) that the General Assembly has accomplished this year:

At its Friday North Carolina Senate and Monday House sessions, the General Assembly took final action on 62 measures: 59 bills and 3 resolutions. Of those 59 bills, 53 will will be signed and go to the Governor Tuesday, five are local bills which become law immediately, as does the appointments bill which does not require gubernatorial approval.

Of those 62 measures, 55 will be signed by the Speaker in the House at noon and by the Lt Governor at 1 pm Tuesday. Six bills will be signed in both houses probably around 1:30 p.m. as we have to wait for the Senate to release documents after it convenes at 1 p.m., and finally the adjournment resolution will be signed in both houses.

Through today, there had been 463 laws enacted in the 2009 Regular Session. There will be 6 more becoming law tomorrow (local bills and the appointments bill). The Governor currently has 56 bills on her desk, and will get 53 more Tuesday, for a total of 109 to be pending. Action on those is required by September 10, the 30th day after adjournment. This gives a potential total of 575 laws enacted in 2009, compared with 551 in the 2007 long session.

In addition, 2009 will see a total of 33 joint resolutions passed, compared with 70 in 2007.

I'm Twittering the Monday night House session, but my friends at the Associated Press are writing some real journalism...or at least filing some briefs. From the AP:

• BIGGER BUDGET: Days after North Carolina's budget became law, legislators increased the $19 billion spending plan for this year by nearly $7 million. The state House voted 84-30 to approve adjustments to the budget Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law on Friday. The changes would leave less than $4 million unspent at the end of the year ending June 30, 2010. One major change delays closing of a Moore County incarceration center for delinquent juveniles by 10 months. The revisions increase the chances Perdue will have to make spending cuts later. She is responsible to make sure the state budget balances every year. Perdue forced state employees to take unpaid time off in May and June to balance last year's budget.
   
• HANDICAPPED PARKING: Lawmakers are getting tough on people who abuse handicapped parking permits. The House voted 110-3 on new rules for the use of the placards displayed in car windows showing the owner has special parking privileges. The bill directs the Division of Motor Vehicles to redesign the handicapped parking placard so that the expiration date is visible from at least 20 feet. The DMV would issue a registration card along with each placard issued. A law officer then could make sure the placard and the ID card match up and that the handicapped person issued the permit is the vehicle's operator or passenger. Lawmakers believe displaying the expiration dates will allow expired or revoked placards to be collected.
   
• TRANSIT TAXES: Legislators have given final approval for a plan that would pour millions of dollars in new taxes and fees into beefing up public transit systems. The state House voted 73-40 on legislation raising sales taxes and vehicle registration fees in the state's second- and third-largest metropolitan areas by more than $150 million a year. The effort to pump more money into an alternative to cars would allow Wake, Orange, Durham, Guilford and Forsyth counties to collect a half-cent sales tax. Other counties could raise the sales tax by a quarter-cent for public transit. Authorities could increase the local portion of the tax on vehicle registrations by up to $7 per vehicle to $10.
   
• PAPER MONEY: Legislators want to give a Canadian paper company up to $9 million to help it retool its paper mill near Plymouth. The House voted 72-41 for final approval that would give Montreal-based Domtar Corp. the money supporters said was needed to keep the company from laying off 320 employees. A state Commerce Department official said they are paid an average salary of about $70,000 a year. Domtar plans to stop making white office paper at its Plymouth plant in favor of turning the area's loblolly pine trees into the absorbent fluff used in diapers. Supporters say more than 1,000 addition logging jobs in eastern North Carolina are at risk if the Domtar plant shuts down. A similar bill failed in the House last week.
   

From an online news story:

Workers trying to file claims for unemployment benefits have not been able to do so Sunday or today because of two separate computer problems at the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.

Both an Internet-based application run by the commission itself and a phone-based system run by a separate state agency have been unable to process claims, according to Andy James, a spokesman for the commission.

Click here for the whole thing.

This is just a short reminder of the General Assembly's end of session plans.

The House is due to meet this evening for votes. (Calendar PDF here.) In most cases, they'll have the option of agreeing with a Senate bill or delaying action until May of next year. That's because the Senate held it's last voting session on Friday.

Both chambers will be back on Tuesday, but only to ratify bills and officially close out the year.

And there will be at least one last committee meeting this year. The House Finance Committee will meet to discuss the S 460, better known as the puppy mill bill, and S 580, which would create a life sciences development corp.

The Greater Greensboro Republican Women's clulb just sent this along:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Senator Richard Burr to Headline Annual Wine and Cheese Extravaganza

Senator US Richard Burr will speak to conservatives along with Virginia Foxx (District 5) and Howard Coble (District 6) at the annual Wine and Cheese Extravaganza event, sponsored by the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club, on August 23 at Starmount Forest Country Club.

The annual event draws large crowds to hear candidates and incumbents alike as well as participate in a memorable silent auction and raffle. A number of state and local candidates will also be given the floor. “It’s an event conservatives from around the area have come to appreciate not only for the fund but the forum for elected officials and candidates” said immediate past President, Dena Barnes.

Learn more at www.ggrwc.com

For more information contact Nancy Bishop, Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club, Phone 336 272-4440

From this weekend's papers:

RALEIGH — When lawmakers finish their annual session this week, they will be taking home a big piece of homework: tax reform.

North Carolina’s tax code hasn’t undergone a comprehensive rewrite in decades and no longer fits with the state’s rapidly changing economy. As a result, mercurial swings in the tax revenue make for cycles of flush times followed by difficult-to-bridge deficits.

Gov. Bev Perdue signed a $19 billion budget into law Friday that includes both budget cuts and $1 billion in new taxes, including a temporary 1 cent increase in the sales tax and surcharges on high-income earners.

“Even if we had an up-to-date tax code, we would have had a problem this session,” said Ran Coble, who heads the nonpartisan Center for Public Policy research.

States across the nation have struggled to make ends meet amid economic upheaval. But North Carolina’s problems have been exacerbated by the aged tax code, he said.

If done right, lawmakers and experts say, North Carolina could lower the tax rates — the percent of income for a particular sales transaction paid in taxes — and still collect the same amount of money. In trade, more items would have to be taxed.

Click here for the whole thing.

Also...

RALEIGH — A scholarship program designed to allow low-income students to graduate from college debt-free will be phased out as part of the cuts made in this year’s budget.

Gov. Bev Perdue Friday signed the $19 billion budget lawmakers approved earlier this week.

The measure raises $1 billion in new taxes and cuts programs throughout the budget to deal with what House and Senate leaders described as a $4.5 billion shortfall.

The $16.2 million EARN Scholarship program was among those cuts.

Created in 2007, the scholarships pay up to $4,000 per year to students whose families are at 200 percent of the poverty level or below.

“They’re hitting the neediest students,” said Deborah Tollefson, director of financial aid at UNCG.

Click here for the whole thing.

Senators are getting punchy right before they adjourn for the year.

Case in point: Sen. Don East was upset that he was upset that he wasn’t appointed to the conference committee on H 291, which deals with hair braiding. When the bill left the Senate, it would have let barbers ply their trade in people’s homes, a provision that East put in. When it came back from conference, the bill had dropped the barbering provision.

“I would say to the leadership, you can stick this bill where the sun don’t shine,” East said.

Senate leader Marc Basnight was befuddled by the outburst. Sen. Tony Rand, the majority leader, was more succinct.

“I’m astounded that anyone wanted to be on this conference committee,” Rand said.

Then things went down hill.

Basnight said that the members were getting upset about their hair-dos. Then he got ribbed about his hair. He then accused Sen. Tom Apodaca of having hair plugs.

“At least mine is real,” Basnight said. “All of you realized he had that implant don’t you? The hair implant? Oh, yeah.”

The cruelest cut?

“Well tell me, what is it that Berger has on his head?” Basnight asked. He was referring to Sen. Doug Berger, who is pictured in the audio box below. Click on his face to hear the whole exchange.

Two bills of note were shot down at the General Assembly late Thursday night.

• S 967: Creation of Yadkin River Trust. This is the bill that would have set up a nonprofit to take control of the Alcoa dam on the Yadkin River. Gov. Bev Perdue has taken an interest in this, going so far as to intervene against the renewal of the company’s federal license. Debate featured a lot of honorables who seemed to feel the state was about to do Alcoa wrong by taking its property, even though the bill didn’t actually condemn the property. Vote was 39-66.
  Background: here, here.
   
• S 825: JMAC Modifications. This bill would have created a $10 million grant for a paper/pulp company in Washington County. As I understand it, the grant would have helped them to convert from making paper you print on to paper products that get stuffed into diapers and the like. Debate featured several honorables who didn’t like the lack of guarantees in the measure and the feeling NC was being held hostage. Vote was 52-54 on third reading. A subsequent vote to recall failed 51-54.