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Thurs: Remains of the Day
posted at 2009-07-17 00:15 | Last modified 2009-07-17 09:41
Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood will announce his decision Friday at noon in the Atkinson lawsuit. Schools chief June Atkinson is suing the state over Governor Bev Perdue’s decision to give day-to-day oversight of the schools to “CEO” and State Ed Board Chair Bill Harrison. The two sides presented their arguments Wednesday. More here after the ruling – check back, or follow my updates on Twitter.
“No Traction”
House and Senate budget negotiators are meeting today to continue work on the tax package. The two sides have agreed on how much new revenue they need - $990M – but not on how to raise it.
I asked Sen. Tony Rand today whether the talks were making any headway. “Not much,” he said. “There’s just no traction.” He said he wasn't sure yet whether they'd work through the weekend. There’s not as much pressure on them to stay, now that they've got an extra two weeks to resolve their differences. The new budget deadline is July 31st.
Freeze!
A proposal to help consumers fight identity theft is on its way to the governor’s desk. Lawmakers gave final approval this week to a measure that would help people protect themselves from credit fraud. S1017 would let consumers put a security freeze on their credit for free, and would require credit bureaus to streamline the process through a centralized website. People who use the website could get their credit frozen in as little as fifteen minutes. Senator Josh Stein (D-Wake) is the bill’s sponsor.
The whole idea is that the security freeze is a really excellent tool for people to able to protect themselves. But we heard from a lot of people that the way it had been set up by the credit reporting agencies, it was very cumbersome, expensive, and difficult. It shouldn’t be. It should as simple as turning it on and turning it off like a light switch. And that’s what we’ve tried to do.
Stein says the bill also makes it easier for parents to protect their children’s identities and credit. And businesses would be required to report any security breach to the state Attorney General’s office, where Stein used to work. AG Cooper strongly supports the proposal.
Fire!
Tighter fireworks regulations could be in the works under a measure moving through the Senate. S563 (don't let the title fool you - it's been changed) would require fireworks operators to be trained and certified by the State Fire Marshall’s office. Even the handling of professional fireworks – from transporting them to setting them up – would have to be supervised by a certified operator. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin was on hand yesterday to speak for the measure in committee. He says the state needs a minimum training standard.
Right now, the only law on the books is that county governments just approve a permit for where the public display of fireworks happens. That’s it. There needs to be some uniform protective standard so that, when we take our children and ourselves and others to July Fourth or New Year’s Eve or any celebration, we know that there’s some folks who know what they’re doing.
Goodwin is working on the legislation with its sponsor, Senator Don Davis (D-Wayne). Davis represents Goldsboro, the hometown of the four people killed on Okracoke while unloading fireworks earlier this month. The bill could hit the Senate floor next week.
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