Lottery chief gets raise, standing ovation

State lottery director Tom Shaheen didn't just get a raise last week that keeps him at the top of the pay heap among non-university state employees. He got a sustained, standing ovation from his bosses, the nine-member lottery commission.

Shaheen's salary will jump to $246,750 annually as of June 1, a 5 percent increase. He's also getting a one-time payment of $5,781 to make up for several months he had gone without a raise, commissioners said.

Among non-university employees (which include doctors and sports coaches), Shaheen's pay is second to Museum of Art Director Larry Wheeler, who has a state salary of $250,000, according to the State Personnel Office.

Lottery commissioners last Tuesday met in private, as allowed by state law, to discuss Shaheen's performance as part of his first major review since taking over the lottery in December 2005.

When they emerged, lottery chairman John McArthur said commissioners were happy they chose him to launch the lottery. McArthur, a Progress Energy executive who once worked for Gov. Mike Easley, said commissioners like Shaheen's management team and the controls he has put in place and said they are pleased "almost all across the board."

None mentioned that sales of the lottery in the first year did not meet targets set by Shaheen or his staff, nor of the governor and legislators. The gap is likely to mean $80 million less than the $401 million for education that Shaheen forecast -- a 20 percent shortfall. Legislators wanted even more than that from the lottery. Money from a lottery reserve and taxpayers will have to make up the difference.

McArthur announced the raise and then all of the commissioners stood and clapped for Shaheen. Shaheen's employees, who filled a conference room, joined in. Shaheen thanked them all.

Name change

Language in the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill, which recently passed the House of Representatives, would change the name of the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, at the recommendation of U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, a Farmville Republican.

Jones has been pushing for the name change for six years. One of the Marines' largest bases, Camp Lejeune, is in his congressional district.

The Marine Corps operates under the Department of the Navy, but Jones has argued that the service deserves equal billing.

"It is time that the Marine Corps be recognized as one of the strongest fighting teams in this country," Jones said in a House speech in support of the language.

The bill must still be considered by the Senate, which could remove the name change.

Racial justice

A death penalty moratorium bill didn't get any traction at the legislature last week, but death penalty opponents were still celebrating.

That's because two other bills that did pass the House would help death row inmates.

The N.C. Racial Justice Act would allow death row inmates to use statistics to try to prove prosecutors sought the death penalty against them because of their race.

And a proportionality review bill would allow the state Supreme Court to compare their appeals with other cases in which the defendant was given a life sentence.

Currently, when the state Supreme Court reviews death row inmates' appeals, it evaluates whether the sentence was fair in comparison to other cases in which the defendant received death.

But the bill would allow an expanded review only when the defendant was convicted of felony murder, where a killing occurs during another crime. A classic example of felony murder is when a clerk is killed during a convenience store robbery.

Bullied minority

House Republicans learned what it's like to be a bullied minority last week.

After failing in their efforts to stop an anti-bullying bill or amend it to remove a list of minority groups on Wednesday, they had some plans to try again on Thursday.

But after introducing the bill, sponsor Rep. Rick Glazier moved to vote on it immediately.

Typically, the House has some debate before a motion to vote.

Republican Minority Leader Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, quickly proposed a five-minute recess, which would take precedence over the call to vote on the bill.

But that motion failed, and the bill was approved 72-47, with no further comment.