HEADLINES:

- NC residents tell Perdue and Obama officials about health care costs and coverage problems
- NC weighs broad ban of indoor smoking from restaurants, bars, all other businesses
- House approves compromise on malpractice reporting level

THE BRIEF:

HEALTHCARE HOLES: Gov. Beverly Perdue and White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle co-hosted one of five regional health care reform meetings around the United States to hear from citizens struggling with high health care costs and uneven coverage. Speakers at the forum at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro pleaded for solutions to their coverage woes. More than 700 people attended the regional meeting, the fourth of five being held nationwide as part of Obama’s process to focus attention on getting health care reform approved in Congress this year, with the ultimate goal of universal coverage.

SECONDHAND SMOKE: Tobacco’s fading influence on political leaders headed for a new test in the state that remains the country’s largest tobacco grower. The House was scheduled to vote Wednesday on outlawing smoking in restaurants, bars and almost all workplaces. A similar effort narrowly failed in the House two years ago, and this will be the third such attempt in four years. Health advocates have marshaled money and grassroots networks to overload House members’ offices with e-mails and telephone calls. If approved, North Carolina would become the 35th state with a smoking ban.

DOCTORS ORDERED: The House voted 115-0 in favor of a solution to a dispute pitting physicians with their state regulator over how much information about malpractice judgments and settlements to make public. The North Carolina Medical Board last year ordered that all judgments and awards over $25,000 be posted on the regulatory board’s Web site so that consumers could learn more about their physician. The North Carolina Medical Society, which represents doctors, argued that settlements that are less than $150,000 represent minor lawsuits, and publicizing them would hurt a physician’s reputation. The House approved legislation that would disclose medical malpractice lawsuits that were settled for a total
of $75,000 or more.

MONDAY’S SCORECARD:

In the House:
- H225, to authorize county managers to consider refund requests for overpaid excise stamp taxes. Approved 115-0. Next: Senate.
- H18, would amend the length of clinic time novice speech and language pathologists must gain with people suffering from various communication disorders. Approved 116-0. Next: Senate.

Introduced in the House:
- H907, to clarifies that money available to judicial candidates receiving public campaign support cannot receive matching funds for communication that supports or opposes all candidates for the same office. Sponsor: Rep. Melanie Goodwin, D-Richmond.
- H905, would create a tax credit for alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure. Sponsors: Reps. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, and Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe,
- H914, would exempt the pay of National Guard and Reserve members from state income tax. Sponsor: Rep. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg.
- H925, to authorize sharing of confidential information within the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct quality assessment and to coordinate effective care. Sponsor: Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg.
- H926, would allow the use of systems that continuously monitor for alcohol in probationers ordered to abstain. Sponsors: Reps. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, Bill Faison, D-Orange, and David Guice, R-Transylvania.
- H930, to expand the rights of mortgage debtors and constrain debt collection means. Sponsors: Reps. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, and Larry Hall, D-Durham
- H944, would require appointees to state offices or commissions to list the contributions they or members of their immediate family made to political campaign committees. Several sponsors.
- H941, would extend to all state taxpayers the waiver of penalties if their tax debt is less than $50,000, a treatment enjoyed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Sponsor: Rep. Jerry Dockham, R-Davidson.

AROUND THE STATEHOUSE:

- Republicans used their weekly press conference to spotlight bills seeking to take the redrawing of legislative district lines out of the hands of the politicians who use the process to favor friends, punish enemies, and build the advantage of the party in power. Districts are redrawn every decade after census results are published. Minority Republicans said companion bills filed in the House and Senate would take the responsibility away from legislative leaders and place it in the hands of an independent panel. House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake, said nearly a dozen states have taken similar steps. Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, noted that dozens of legislative districts had just one candidate last year because the way they were drawn so favored one party that fielding a competitor was pointless.

- Gov. Bev Perdue signed legislation formally authorizing Grandfather Mountain as the states newest state park. An agreement for the purchase of 2,456 backcountry acres of Grandfather Mountain for $12 million was announced in September. The purchase from the heirs of deceased owner Hugh Morton is expected to be completed later this spring.

ON THE AGENDA:

House Speaker Joe Hackney told members to expect a lengthy floor calendar on Wednesday and to “prepare accordingly.” The session will be preceded by Democratic and Republican caucuses and is expected to feature a debate on an indoor smoking ban, the most controversial issue to come to a vote so far this session.

QUOTABLE:

“Lord if it be thy will, and we know we are pushing the limits of our petition here, let our team from the Old North State whup up on them there folks from South Carolina and bring them home safely to us, even if them old bones end up needing to be wrapped, taped and iced for a few days. Amen.” House Chaplain Rev. James Harry, who opened the House session on the day many lawmakers planned to travel to Columbia, S.C., to play and attend their biennial basketball game against South Carolina legislators.