CRIMINAL JUSTICE

* The state's probation system is under intense scrutiny after the murders of Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, and Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University graduate student. Correction officials have admitted errors that allowed convicted felons who are now suspects in those and other cases to go largely unsupervised.

* Several lawmakers have pledged that rape victims will no longer have to help pay for the physical exams that gather criminal evidence. Victims with health insurance are billed the cost, while the state had been picking up $1,000 of an estimated $1,600 bill for uninsured victims, leaving them to pay the rest. Officials say it will cost about $4.8 million for the state to pay the tab for all victims; Easley has proposed $600,000 to cover the costs for uninsured victims.

* State Attorney General Roy Cooper wants lawmakers to make it harder for the mentally ill to obtain guns, by having county clerks report involuntary commitments to the National Instant Background Check System. His proposal follows a task force that examined the shootings at Virginia Tech with an eye toward safety at North Carolina campuses.

* The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said lethal injection is not cruel and unusual in executions might prompt legislation to end an impasse on executions in North Carolina.

EDUCATION

* With roughly one of every three high school students failing to graduate, there will be plenty of talk about ways to keep students in school.

* Gov. Mike Easley will look to expand his last big education initiative, Learn and Earn, which allows students to get a high school diploma and an associate's degree from a community college in five years without paying tuition.

* The House and Senate have passed different versions of legislation intended to prevent bullying in schools. The battle will likely be over the House's intention to identify students who show homosexual or transgender characteristics as likely targets for bullies.

DROUGHT RELIEF

* The recent drought might lead to legislation giving the governor more authority over water distribution, more money to help communities develop other sources and more conservation measures.

AGRICULTURE

* Allegations of improper pesticide use by a major tomato grower, Ag-Mart, might lead to new state regulations to protect farmworkers. The Ag-Mart case has exposed at least one major flaw: The state does not require companies to keep precise records of when and where chemicals are applied. Easley has proposed $714,000 for training, more inspections and better reporting of injuries and illnesses.

* Lawmakers might also consider consolidating the state's 18 agricultural research stations after a legislative staff review found duplication of services and the potential for lucrative land sales.

* Easley will ask the legislature for $1 million for staff and authority to determine whether the state's poultry plants are properly treating injured workers and recording workplace injuries as required by law.

HEALTH CARE

* Mental health reform will get lots of attention. A recent News & Observer series reported $400 million in unnecessary spending and shoddy care and abuse of patients in state institutions. Easley and legislative leaders are talking about making significant changes.

* Easley wants to spend an additional $10.4 million to provide health insurance to an additional 10,683 low-income children.

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