Money flows like honey in transfer tax fight

The latest lobbying reports show that the N.C. Association of Realtors has spent another $109,000 on lobbying and advertising campaigns largely aimed at stopping lawmakers from giving voters the opportunity to adopt a land transfer tax.

The reports also show that a partnership of public officials and businesses has also spent serious money on the other side.

The Partnership for North Carolina's Future spent more than $400,000 on advertising, polling and consulting, according to its latest report. A couple of the groups that are members of the partnership, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners and greenspace advocate Land for Tomorrow, have also spent $138,000 or more.

Land for Tomorrow lists a $200,000 payment to the partnership for its "publicity ad campaign," money that has yet to be spent on lobbying or advertising.

Brad Crone, a political consultant to the Realtors, said the lobbying reports show that the battle over the transfer tax is not a lopsided one in favor of the Realtors, who have spent more than $650,000 this year. Another group against the tax, the N.C. Home Builders Association, has spent roughly $70,000.

He also contended that the county commissioners' association and the league, which is made up of city and town officials, are spending taxpayer money toward a campaign that could lead to higher taxes on homeowners. The league and the association are supported with money from the local governments they represent.

Ellis Hankins, a lobbyist for the partnership and for the N.C. League of Municipalities, said the county commissioners' association and other partnership members are spending their lobbying dollars on other issues as well.

He also said the Realtors are leaving out the other side of the equation -- political contributions to lawmakers. The Realtors and home builders' political action committees rank first and second, respectively, in giving to state lawmakers, said Bob Hall, research director for Democracy North Carolina, a campaign finance watchdog.

In the last two-year election cycle, the Realtors' PAC alone spent $615,000 on political contributions to legislative candidates, Hall said.

Hankins, in a statement, called the Realtors' claims "a diversionary tactic to try and take the public's attention off the fact that the Realtors have made historically high contributions to legislators."

The partnership, the league and the county commissioners' association do not have PACs, though some its business members do.

Fewer trees, more 'green'?

A Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that would allow billboard owners to cut more trees around their signs.

Both bills go to votes of the full Senate.

The billboard bill would allow 375 feet of tree cutting in front of signs, up from 250 feet. The N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association wants highway travelers to have more time to see ads. Fees for permits and fines for illegal cutting would increase.

Bill Ross, secretary of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the proposal undermines the state's preservationist policies.

"It's green that makes us strong and great in North Carolina," he said.

Sen. David Hoyle, a Gaston County Democrat who backs the bill, said it supports taxpaying companies.

"When we talk about green, I agree," Hoyle said. "Green is what pays the bills."

The end is near, perhaps

Signs this week that the legislature may be close to finishing for the year:

1) House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight set a July 28 deadline for committees to hear bills.

2) The House will work Friday, which is rare. Senators may come in Friday, too.

3) The House and Senate have shaved a day off the time it takes to get bills they pass from one chamber to another.

Then again, all this may mean nothing.

Bad poll, new ad

John Edwards began running a new ad Wednesday in New Hampshire.

The ad comes a day after a poll showed John Edwards falling to fourth among New Hampshire Democrats.

In the ad, Elizabeth Edwards says she's "been blessed for the past 30 years to be married to the most optimistic person that I've ever met."

On Tuesday, a poll for WMUR-TV showed John Edwards trailing Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and, for the first time, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Edwards' support among Democrats slipped to 8 percent from 20 percent earlier in the campaign.

Author of smoking bill irked

State Rep. Julia Howard said Wednesday that she'll vote against her own bill banning smoking at long-term care facilities when it returns to the House from the Senate.

Howard, a Mocksville Republican, was irked Wednesday when a Senate amendment exempted state-run psychiatric hospitals from the ban.

"For goodness' sake, we, the state of North Carolina, in our hospitals, should set the bar," Howard said.

(Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer also contributed.)