Carolina Politics Online

They’ll start talks at today’s commissioners meeting, set for 6 p.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St.

Commissioners say they want to hold the tax rate steady, while meeting as many needs as possible. But doing so could pose some challenges.

Revenue is growing, though not as much as in years past. Meanwhile, schools and other departments and agencies are seeking more money.

Striking a balance between all those issues will be key, said commissioners Chairman Jennifer Roberts.

She said she hopes that if commissioners make cuts, they will be for smaller priorities and not essential community needs, like safety, shelter or public health.

Roberts said she’s asked County Manager Harry Jones to propose a budget with no tax increase this year.

Mecklenburg property owners currently pay 83.87 cents per $100 valuation. So, the owner of a home valued at $150,000 pays $1,258.05 in county taxes.

The current tax rate is up 10.23 cents from 2003, the last time property was revalued in the county. Since then, commissioners approved three tax hikes and lowered the rate once.

Charlotte Observer

The County has revealed that sales tax revenues are down and they acknowledge that this is due to a slowing economy nationwide.  So what is their solution?  Take more money from you!  That’s right.  While you are already paying more for gas, more for groceries and more for utilities, the brain trust that is the Mecklenburg County Commission thinks you should dish out even more amidst your current financial suffering.  That sure is a good way to keep residents in the county.  No urban sprawl here (wink, wink).  God knows that we all have to cut back during these tougher times, but come on, you don’t actually expect the government to do the same, do you?

Taxes are precisely the reason why I chose to live outside of Mecklenburg County and commute in for work.  It’s worth it.

S.C. State Board Chairman Maurice Washington is seeking to move from the boardroom to the General Assembly in November.

Washington filed Sunday to run as a Democrat for S.C. House District Seat 111, which covers Charleston. He will take on Wendell G. Gillard and Clay N. Middleton, the Lowcountry coordinator for U.S. Congressman Jim Clyburn, in the June 10 Democratic primary.

One member of that trio will take the place of eight-term state Rep. Floyd Breeland, D-Charleston, who is retiring at the end of the session. No Republican has filed for the seat.

The Times and Democrat

COLUMBIA | A bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote was sent back to a subcommittee Tuesday, likely killing it.

The bill, sponsored by naturalized American Rep. Gloria Haskins, R-Greenville, proposed to require a birth certificate, naturalization certificate or passport.

Saying the measure needed more work, the House Judiciary Committee sent it back with no discussion. The bill had been delayed for several weeks after a heated discussion in March.

The Sun News

Once again the State Legislature is all talk and no action.  They talk about cracking down on illegal immigration, but pass a watered down bill that essentially does nothing.  They talk about preserving the integrity of our election process, but do nothing.

This requirement is only for when you register to vote, so it’s a one time deal.  It’s not like you would have to bring your birth certificate to the polls with you at every election.  This is not unreasonable.

From SC Politics Today via The State:

A proposal to raise S.C.’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax and spend the money on health insurance tax credits has failed in the Senate Finance committee.

The proposal, which would have raised the tax by 50 cents a pack, failed 8 to 14.

The committee is now debating other proposal to raise the tax, and how to spend the money.

Trackback: Republican Tom Alexander Thinks You Should Pay More Taxes

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina could join a growing list of states outlawing a hallucinogenic herb that’s touted on the Internet as a way to achieve spiritual breakthroughs.A measure making Salvia divinorum an illegal drug, in the same category as marijuana and peyote, was quickly approved by a House committee Tuesday without debate. It now heads to the House floor.

South Carolina is among more than a dozen states where lawmakers are considering such measures, saying they fear the inexpensive and easy-to-buy drug could become the next marijuana. But the extent of its use is unclear, and online advocates for its responsible use say those who buy it expecting a cheap, marijuana-like high will be disappointed.

The State

Oh boy! Another law that will turn more people into criminals overnight. Hey, if someone is driving down the street and they get pulled over and they are high on Saliva then take them to jail. That’s fine. They are a danger to other people on the road. But, if they are sitting at home minding their own business, not bothering anyone else and smoking the herb then whose damn business is it?

No known deaths have been attributed to salvia’s use, but it was listed as a factor in one Delaware teen’s suicide two years ago.

Nationwide, less than 2 percent of people ages 18 to 25 surveyed in 2006 reported using salvia in the past year, according to a study released earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

So again I ask, what is the problem? Keep the government out of our homes!  This will undoubtedly pass.  Politicians just love to pat each other on the back for a job well done when they pass laws protecting us from ourselves.

In a campaign kickoff speech Monday, state Senate District 46 candidate Tom Davis cast himself as a champion of home rule and his opponent, incumbent Sen. Catherine Ceips, as an accessory to its undoing.

Home rule is the idea that local policy-making power should rest with locally elected governments rather than with state officials, a concept codified in state law through the Home Rule Act of 1975.

“This concept of home rule may seem abstract. It is not,” Davis said from his campaign headquarters on Boundary Street. Davis mentioned several bills from recent years that curbed powers reserved for school boards, county councils and municipal councils on matters dealing with zoning and tax collection.

The Beaufort Gazette

I am a strong proponent of home rule.  I am a firm believer that more power at the local level is the best way to go to preserve freedom.  I have never been a fan of a top down style of government.  I suppose that is the Federalist in me speaking.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore appear headed toward a major televised debate in their increasingly nasty battle for the Democratic nomination for governor.

For weeks, Moore has criticized Perdue for not participating in more debates and campaign forums, and for weeks, Perdue has said that her schedule would not allow her to participate.

But Perdue has now reversed course. Late Sunday night, her campaign sent a press release challenging Moore to a statewide televised debate before the May 6 primary- a surprising reversal given that Moore has been the one frequently making such challenges.

Winston-Salem Journal

First Perdue shies aways from debates.  She skipped one last week.  Now she reverses course and wants more.  What exactly has changed?  Perhaps it’s the fact she is no longer ahead in the polls?

Dalton is campaigning as a veteran elected official with a checklist of legislative successes for which he gets partial credit: raising teacher pay, providing children’s health care for low-income families and helping recruit new businesses.

His campaign Web site includes much on his accomplishments but less on an agenda for the state’s No. 2 job.

“One of the great things [about campaigning] is looking around and seeing the results of things you’ve done,” Dalton said after a visit to a new health insurance call center in Granville County, near the Virginia line.

Dalton doesn’t highlight issues that appeal to the party’s more liberal base. He was criticized for co-sponsoring legislation to allow a popular vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in 2005 and for a 1998 questionnaire in which he did not say that abortion should be permitted to protect the health of the mother, crucial language to supporters of abortion rights.

Dalton has since said the anti-gay marriage legislation was a reflection of representing a conservative district and that his abortion answer was poorly worded and should have included the exception for the health of the mother.

The News & Observer

The ideal race for November for the Lieutenant Governor spot would be Pittenger on the Republican side and Dalton on the Democratic side. They are both good representatives of a broad base of North Carolina. Dalton is far more in touch with the mainstream than this Democratic primary opponents. I hope he will be successful in May.

The Democratic primary for governor is a dead heat, according to a new poll.A survey by Public Policy Polling showed Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue with 38 percent of likely voters in the Democratic primary, followed by State Treasurer Richard Moore with 37 percent.Using automated calls March 29 and 30, the Democratic firm surveyed 1,100 likely Democratic primary voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The News & Observer

The Dem race is going to be a toss up until the very end.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is leading the pack pursuing the Republican nomination for governor, according to the latest survey by Public Policy Polling.

PPP, a Democratic firm, surveyed 744 likely Republican primary voters on March 29-30. It found that 35 percent of those surveyed preferred McCrory, while 23 percent favored state Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton. Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham and former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr both came in at 7 percent.

The News & Observer

I think McCrory will prevail in the primary which will make this a real horse race come November. He polls within the margin of error against both Democratic candidates.

Robert Pittenger likes to make things happen.

Bringing ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Charlotte. Organizing a gala at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Flying evangelist Franklin Graham to a war-torn Guatemala and dinner with its embattled president.

And when he wanted to show Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools officials a model school in Cary last week, he flew them up in a friend’s private plane.

But he has found it hard to make things happen in Raleigh.

That’s why after three terms in the Senate, the Charlotte Republican is running for lieutenant governor.

“That’s the nature of a reformer,” Pittenger says. “It will help advance those efforts.”

Charlotte Observer

I agree that Pittenger would make a fine Lieutenant Governor for North Carolina. He is someone who is not afraid to put himself out in front of an issue and take his case to the people. He stands by his convictions and is a very principled man. North Carolina would be lucky to have him in their number two position next year.