Wednesday at the North Carolina General Assembly

— Local government ethics code, training requirement given tentative approval in Senate

— Lawmakers examine financial impact of proposed fix of NC coastal insurance plan

— Basnight: lawmakers will consider improving firework handling standards after July4 blast

— House gives initial OK to change how legal fees are paid in public records lawsuits

— Legislators remember the late Vernon Malone, approve House, Senate resolution in his honor

— Legislative panel working on high-speed Internet unveils detailed broadband access maps

BUDGET JOCKEYING: Legislative leaders tried to accelerate North Carolina state budget negotiations by preparing to remain in Raleigh while their colleagues go home for the weekend. House Democrats planned to keep working with Senate counterparts later Friday, and could remain this weekend if enough differences are narrowed, Speaker Joe Hackney said. While lawmakers have been making competing offers for taxes and spending this week, they're still enough apart that they probably won't reach a deal before a stopgap spending measure for state government expires the middle of next week. Gov. Beverly Perdue, also a Democrat, has been trying to get the negotiations moving, contending that the state loses $5 million in new revenues and cost savings with each passing day after the new fiscal year began July 1 without a permanent two-year spending plan in place.

BEACH POLICIES: A House committee examining a fix for an underfunded coastal insurance program has rejected a bid to keep the current coverage maximum at $1.5 million per home. The House Finance Committee approved a complex, multilevel patch on the Beach Plan, a vital insurance provider for homes in 18 coastal counties. The Beach Plan has promised insurance coverage to properties valued at nearly $74 billion, but its resources top out at about $2.4 billion. Beyond that, the reform bill would turn to all of the state's property owners to pay claims. Lawmakers are considering capping how much insurers would be assessed after a bad hurricane and shifting the remaining rebuilding costs to all North Carolina policyholders.

FIREWORKS SAFETY: The Legislature soon will consider changing the law following a Fourth of July fireworks explosion on the Outer Banks that left four workers dead. Senate leader Marc Basnight's office said legislation will be unveiled next week designed to improve safety standards for the handling and transport of large amounts of fireworks. The bill being drafted would make clear who can handle the pyrotechnics and direct the state fire marshal to provide oversight. Basnight's office said current law says "experts" are responsible for the fireworks but provides no details on what constitutes an expert. Workers for a South Carolina company unloading fireworks from a truck died after a single blast at an Ocracoke Island marina. A fifth worker survived.

OPEN RECORDS: Media outlets and citizens successful in public records lawsuits could soon have a better chance to get their attorney fees paid by the government they sue. The House tentatively approved legislation that would limit situations where a judge could deny legal fees when the city, county or state is in the wrong on withholding records. An "Open Government Unit" within the Attorney General's Office also would be formalized to help mediate conflicts. The measure passed after a majority rejected an amendment that would have allowed a government to rely on the opinion of its own attorney to avoid paying the other side's legal bills. A final House vote could come Monday night. The bill has yet to be heard in the Senate.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ETHICS: County commissions, town councils, school boards and other local government bodies would have to approve codes of ethics in legislation tentatively approved by the Senate. Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, said the requirement would seek to reinforce ethical behavior among local elected officials. He said the University of North Carolina School of Government is creating a model code that some groups can follow. The elected and appointedofficials also would have to receive two hours of ethics education within 12 months of taking office. The bill was given initial approval by a vote of 41-3. A final Senate vote on the House bill could come Monday night.

BROADBAND WHERE? Consumers are getting a glimpse at how much of the state has broadband Internet access and where people are stuck with slower dial-up service. A legislative panel that has looked for ways to expand high-speed Internet access into rural areas on unveiled a map showing that broadband service is available to 92 percent of the state's households. About 240,000 households primarily in rural parts of eastern North Carolina lag behind for a service increasingly considered as necessary for business and education. The broadband availability map also is a condition for landing part of the $7.4 billion in federal stimulus funds states can claim to expand the service.

In the House:

— S65, to extend the felony crime of soliciting a child by computer to commit an unlawful sex act to include solicitation by cell phones and other electronic devices. Approved 114-0. Next: Return to Senate for concurrence motion.

— S307, to regulate the handling, ownership, sale and transportation of large constricting snakes and crocodiles, adding to reptiles of a venomous or poisonous nature already regulated under the current law. Tentatively approved 113-1. Next: Final House vote.

In the Senate:

— S584, to make changes to the state's Private Protective Services Act, including to clarify that investigative documents into complaints of wrongdoing by protective services professional are not public records until the investigation is complete and the report is presented to the Private Protective Services Board. Concurrence motion approved 42-0. Next: To Gov. Beverly Perdue's desk.

— S962, to give a public school teacher with four years of experience the right to receive an explanation why the teacher will not receive tenure and the right to a hearing before the local school board votes on the decision. Concurrence motion approved 44-0. Next: To Gov. Beverly Perdue's desk.

In committee:

— S1017, to allow a consumer to request a security freeze on the consumer's credit report for free if it's requested electronically, and to make other changes to identity theft protection laws. Recommended for approval, House Judiciary II Committee. Next: To the full House.

Colleagues of the late Sen. Vernon Malone recalled him as a man who hated prejudice and poverty and wasn't afraid to fight to improve the lot for everyone. The Senate approved a resolution honoring Malone, a Wake County Democrat who died in April at the age of 77. Malone was a four-term senator who formerly served on the Wake County school board while it went through a contentious merger with the Raleigh city schools. He served as a county commissioner from 1984 until his election to the Senate in 2002. Current senators were emotional in floor speeches as they remembered his sense of humor and pointed interest in improving public education. The House approved unanimously the same resolution.

The House and Senate hold a joint session Monday to confirm Gov. Beverly Perdue's three nominations to the state Board of Education. Wayne McDevitt and Patricia Willoughby have been on the board since 2001. Reginald Kenan is the third candidate. He has been on the Duplin County school board since 1989. The governor appoints 11 of the 13 members of the board of education, which also includes the lieutenant governor and the state treasurer.

"I find this most unusual. Most of the people that I really agree with most of the time I find I'm at loggerheads with, and people I probably most frequently disagree with, I'm in agreement on this." — Rep. Curtis Blackwood, R-Union, on an amendment that would have give local governments another way to avoid paying attorneys fees if they lose a public records lawsuit. The vote that defeated the amendment didn't fall along partisan lines.

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By Gary D. Robertson and Emery P. Dalesio.

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July 9, 2009 - 08:46 p.m. EDT

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