Although both the Senate and House have formally announced their committee appointments, the majority of these committees have not even met. Various factors have led to a larger than normal reorganization period in both the House and the Senate. The four initiatives do not require state money and range from public school dress codes and a state lottery to prescription drug insurance and making it easier to sue HMOs.
Any state can make progress in good times.
It's the great states that make progress in the tough times. More than 1.3 million children will fill our classrooms to pursue a quality education, whether interest rates are high or low. Easley proposed paying for both efforts with a state lottery, making him the first governor to publicly call for a government-sponsored numbers game. Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, cautioned that, even if the legislature passed a public vote on the lottery this year and voters approved it, the money wouldn't arrive for at least three years. Easley's speech also announced that he named Harlan Boyles, retired state treasurer, to head a study looking at closing some loopholes in the state tax code.