Halfway there — well sorta.
The release of the House budget followed in quick succession by the crossover deadline (even though it was extended) marks a traditional midpoint in the legislative session. But this year, it’s more of a scene setter for the debates and battles ahead.

For after meeting for more than a month together, House and Senate budget writers parted company about a month ago and began meeting separately.

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By Robert Morgan

RALEIGH - This past week I traveled to Raleigh to reunite with some old friends and colleagues, such as former congressman Tim Valentine, former legislators Wib Gulley and Ronnie Smith and several North Carolina political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans.

They came to Raleigh to respond to a plea I made to campaign donors around the state: to stand up and say enough is enough and to demand the legislature begin the process of reforming our campaigns to reduce the corrosive influence of money over politics.

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Worried about move 

The scheduled move of Weaver Street Market’s food production facilities and offices to Hillsborough will result in a loss of around 80 jobs for Carrboro and have a detrimental effect on the town and the environment.

The environment impacts are the most obvious: 80 workers driving 24 miles each workday equals around 2,000 miles a day. That is a lot of carbon emission, and it doesn’t include the added distribution miles of having a non-centrally located production and office facility.

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By David Price

Rep. David Price submitted the following statement during debate of the Iraq War supplemental funding bill. Price voted against the bill, which he faulted for not including provisions to bring about an end to the war. He noted, however, that the bill includes important benchmarks for political progress in Iraq, and he pledged to continue applying pressure on the president to change his failed war policy. The bill passed the House by a vote of 280-142. The Senate also passed the bill and it now awaits the president’s signature in order to become law.

“Mr. Speaker, today we are asked to vote for a fourth time in two months on legislation to provide funding for the ongoing military mission in Iraq.

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By Rob Thompson

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are 700 chemical facilities in the United States that put more than 100,000 people at risk of death or serious injury.

Stephen Flynn with the Council on Foreign Relations recently described the chemical plant threat as “[t]he equivalent of weapons of mass destruction prepositioned in some of the most congested parts of our country.”

So, five and a half years after the September 11th attacks, what are we doing to improve chemical safety in North Carolina and across the country?
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