From Staff Reports

Gov. Mike Easley ended the suspense Wednesday and signed the $21.4 billion state budget bill into law.

"The governor has signed the budget and thanks legislators for their hard work," said a statement from Easley's office. "He looks forward to the General Assembly finishing work on important remaining issues including legislation on drought, home foreclosure and mental health."

The budget includes modest pay increases for teachers and most state employees, no tax increases and a record $857 million in borrowing without voter approval for construction projects.

Lawmakers approved the budget last week, but Easley has been negotiating for additional money for his Learn and Earn initiative that provides high school students with a four-year college degree tuition free.

Legislators are still working on a bill that would allow the state Department of Public Instruction to spend $430,000 for Learn & Earn grants and $1 million to tell eighth and ninth graders about their college options.

He had until the end of Friday to decide whether to sign or veto the budget before it became law -- if the legislature remained in session.

If legislators had adjourned by then, Easley would have received another 30 days to make a decision.

Easley did not hold a public signing of the budget bill as he has in years past.

Senate backs bill for bigger trailers

From Staff Reports

The Senate passed and sent the governor a far-reaching bill that would let truckers haul 53-foot-long semi-trailers on more than 20,000 miles of roads where the limit now is 48 feet. Weight limits would be increased for some trucks that haul logs and cotton, and width limits would be increased for some agricultural equipment on roads near farms.

Safety advocates and the state Highway Patrol dropped their opposition after the legislation was amended to strengthen the state Department of Transportation's authority to ban long trucks from certain dangerous roads.

Senate passes bill to slow foreclosure

The Associated Press

A plan to help North Carolina families struggling to make their mortgage payments is on the fast track in the General Assembly.

The Senate voted 45-1 on Wednesday to approve the plan. The vote sends the bill back to the House for final approval. That chamber signed off on an earlier version of the plan last week.

The bill requires lenders to give homeowners 45 days notice before starting foreclosure proceedings on subprime mortgage holders. It also gives state officials the power to stall foreclosures for 30 days so they can try to create a new repayment plan.

One of the plan's supporters, Sen. Walter Dalton, said foreclosures are "devastating" events that hurt both banks and families.

Gov. Mike Easley has called on lawmakers to pass the bill.

Wrongly convicted may get more money

The Associated Press

A plan to increase the payments given to people who are erroneously convicted is advancing in the Senate.

A Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday approved a measure that would allow people who are granted pardons of innocence from the governor to receive $50,000 for each year spent behind bars. Current state law allows them to receive $20,000 for each year served.

Bill sponsor Rep. Rick Glazier, a Cumberland County Democrat, said the federal government has recommended the compensation level. He said about two dozen other states have adopted the standard.

The compensation bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which must approve the plan before it can be sent to the Senate floor. The House passed the plan earlier this month.

Lawmakers are making a last-minute push to get legislation approved before adjourning later this month.

DMV wants return to black-and-white

From Staff Reports

The state Division of Motor Vehicles wants to go even further back to the future -- using new technology to adorn driver's licenses with old-fashioned black-and-white mug shots.

A bill approved by the Senate and sent to the governor Wednesday would allow DMV to switch from color photos to black-and-white images.

The driver's picture would be laser-engraved on the plastic license, making it more resistant to counterfeiting. DMV has not said when it might make the change to black-and-white mug shots.

The legislation also supports another old-fashioned turn at DMV -- a plan to start distributing 2.6 million driver's licenses each year by mail instead of handing them out at local DMV offices.

The state is phasing in the new program this year, issuing licenses in Raleigh and mailing them to drivers' home addresses. But it turns out that 133,000 Tar Heel motorists live in neighborhoods that do not receive home delivery from the U.S. Postal Service.

So DMV is getting permission from the legislature to let these drivers get their licenses the same old-fashioned way they receive the rest of their mail -- by picking it up at the local post office.