Three Republican House members from Wake County rolled out a list of reforms Wednesday that they say would limit the speaker's power and open up how the chamber operates.

"North Carolina desperately needs to transform our state government into a modern 21st Century democracy," said Rep. Nelson Dollar of Cary. "It's time to leave behind the secrecy, the log rolling and the perception that trading campaign cash for legislative favors is required or helpful."

Dollar and Rep. Paul Stam of Apex said House Speaker Jim Black, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, should resign in the wake of investigations into his legislative and campaign activities. Rep. Russell Capps of Raleigh said House Democrats should decide his fate.

The list of proposed reforms includes:

* Limiting the speaker's tenure to three two-year terms. "When people stay in power a long time they feel like they own the place," Capps said.

* Letting party caucuses appoint their members to legislative committees. The number of members for each committee would be determined by the percentage of seats each party controls in the House.

* Banning provisions within the state budget that have little to do with spending, and banning closed-door budget meetings between House and Senate conferees.

* Establishing an independent redistricting commission to avoid gerrymandered legislative districts to favor incumbents.

A legislative aide to Black attended the representatives' news conference. Afterward, Black's press secretary, Julie Robinson, said he supported proposals to open up the budget process. She suggested the three Republicans would be better served writing a letter to Black or paying a visit instead of making "baseless, partisan attacks."

Many of the three Republicans' proposals have been made by other lawmakers and public interest groups such as the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying Reform.

Black has appointed a committee to develop ethics, lobbying and campaign-finance reforms.

Duke exec backs air regs

A top Duke Energy executive testified Tuesday before a U.S. Senate committee in Washington that the utility would welcome mandatory regulations on controlling air pollution.

Ruth Shaw, president of Duke's nuclear subsidiary and group executive for public policy, said regulations, as opposed to voluntary restrictions, would help the company make long-term plans on investments and facilities.

She also said any policy should cover all sectors of the economy, rather than singling out particular industries.

Shaw spoke to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as part of a daylong hearing about how best to tackle climate change. Shaw said in prepared remarks that restrictions should begin now and become more stringent over time, that they should be easy to apply and that they should promote new technology.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, who sits on the energy committee, was not present during Shaw's remarks.

Ex-intern rejoins Price staff

A former intern has returned to U.S. Rep. David Price's office as press secretary.

Paul Cox, 23, rejoined Price's office last week. He replaces Dave Helfert, who left the office in March.

Cox, a native of Sanford, worked for a year on the press staff of U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Crowley works for Perdue

Tim Crowley, a former executive producer at WUNC-TV, started this week as communications director for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Crowley worked on North Carolina Now and Legislative Week in Review.

He replaces Lew Borman in the $65,000-a-year job. Borman resigned to take a job with Blue Cross and Blue Shield.