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Lawmakers Rush To Pass Bills

Lawmakers are preparing to wrap up their legislative session as they wait to see what Governor Bev Perdue will do with the budget they passed last week.

Jessica Jones: Lawmakers in the House and the Senate raced through bills yesterday they were eager to get to the floor. One is a bare-bones spending proposal that would serve as an alternative budget if the governor vetoes the 20.2 billion dollar plan state lawmakers have already passed. The governor had asked Republican leaders to consider adding 100 million dollars more for public schools and eugenics compensation, among other items. But leaders say they won't do that. The governor has until midnight Sunday to approve or veto the budget. She hasn't said what she plans to do about that and two controversial bills that are on her desk. One would essentially rewrite the Racial Justice Act, which allows death row inmates to appeal their sentences. The other would legalize natural gas fracking in the state. 

Jessica Jones covers both the legislature in Raleigh and politics across the state. Before her current assignment, Jessica was given the responsibility to open up WUNC's first Greensboro Bureau at the Triad Stage in 2009. She's a seasoned public radio reporter who's covered everything from education to immigration, and she's a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. Jessica started her career in journalism in Egypt, where she freelanced for international print and radio outlets. After stints in Washington, D.C. with Voice of America and NPR, Jessica joined the staff of WUNC in 1999. She is a graduate of Yale University.
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