CRIMINAL JUSTICE
--The state's probation system is under intense scrutiny after the murders of Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, and Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University graduate student. Correction officials have admitted errors that allowed convicted felons who are now suspects in those and other cases to go largely unsupervised.
--Several lawmakers have pledged that rape victims will no longer have to help pay for the physical exams that gather criminal evidence. Victims with health insurance are billed the cost, while the state had been picking up $1,000 of an estimated $1,600 bill for uninsured victims, leaving them to pay the rest. Officials say it will cost about $4.8 million for the state to pay the tab for all victims; Easley has proposed $600,000 to cover the costs for uninsured victims.
--State Attorney General Roy Cooper wants lawmakers to make it harder for the mentally ill to obtain guns, by having county clerks report involuntary commitments to the National Instant Background Check System. His proposal follows a task force that examined the shootings at Virginia Tech with an eye toward safety at North Carolina campuses.
--The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that said lethal injection is not cruel and unusual in executions might prompt legislation to end an impasse on executions in North Carolina.
EDUCATION
--With roughly one of every three high school students failing to graduate, there will be plenty of talk about ways to keep students in school.
--Gov. Mike Easley will look to expand his last big education initiative, Learn and Earn, which allows students to get a high school diploma and an associate's degree from a community college in five years without paying tuition.
--The House and Senate have passed different versions of legislation intended to prevent bullying in schools. The battle will likely be over the House's intention to identify students who show homosexual or transgender characteristics as likely targets for bullies.
DROUGHT RELIEF
--The recent drought might lead to legislation giving the governor more authority over water distribution, more money to help communities develop other sources and more conservation measures.
AGRICULTURE
--Allegations of improper pesticide use by a major tomato grower, Ag-Mart, might lead to new state regulations to protect farmworkers. The Ag-Mart case has exposed at least one major flaw: The state does not require companies to keep precise records of when and where chemicals are applied. Easley has proposed $714,000 for training, more inspections and better reporting of injuries and illnesses.
--Lawmakers might also consider consolidating the state's 18 agricultural research stations after a legislative staff review found duplication of services and the potential for lucrative land sales.
--Easley will ask the legislature for $1 million for staff and authority to determine whether the state's poultry plants are properly treating injured workers and recording workplace injuries as required by law.
HEALTH CARE
--Mental health reform will get lots of attention. A recent News & Observer series reported $400 million in unnecessary spending and shoddy care and abuse of patients in state institutions. Easley and legislative leaders are talking about making significant changes.
--Easley wants to spend an additional $10.4 million to provide health insurance to an additional 10,683 low-income children.
IMMIGRATION
--Republican lawmakers have vowed to introduce legislation barring community colleges from accepting illegal immigrants, even though they are required to pay much higher out-of-state tuition.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
--The House overwhelmingly passed legislation last session imposing more controls over government acquisition of property under eminent domain, and Republicans in particular will press the Senate to take it up.
--Republicans also want to repeal last year's budget provision allowing counties to hold referendums to increase the real estate transfer tax to 0.4 percent. So far, every county referendum has failed.
--Raleigh wants lawmakers to raise the local registration fee on vehicles by $5, while Durham is seeking a 1-cent prepared food tax to help pay for tourist attractions such as a proposed minor-league baseball stadium.
GOVERNMENT REFORM
--The e-mail controversy in Gov. Mike Easley's office will likely prompt legislation detailing what government e-mail should be kept and for how long.
--Lawmakers may prevent candidates from charging above-market rates for loans they make to their campaigns.
--The N.C. Press Association is seeking to open up the state's personnel law so the public has more information on employees accused of misconduct.
--A law requiring N.C. Board of Transportation appointees to report campaign fundraising might be revisited. A legal opinion from the Attorney General's Office determined that the law covered only donations that members individually collected. That shields them from reporting their efforts at wooing contributors.
TRANSPORTATION
--Lawmakers were roundly criticized last year for doing little about the state's growing transportation needs. This year, lawmakers could approve a bond referendum for voters that would finance up to $2 billion worth of roads and other infrastructure.
--Lawmakers will also consider requests for more Division of Motor Vehicles staff to process licenses under the new federal REAL ID Act, which requires more documentation proving citizenship.
ENVIRONMENT
--A battle could heat up over the state's ban on seawalls along the North Carolina shoreline. Figure Eight Island and Ocean Isle Beach have asked lawmakers to let them build fixed structures at inlets to protect houses from erosion. More than 40 coastal scientists have signed a letter opposing the requests.
STATE EMPLOYEES
--Teachers and other state employees will seek pay raises, and might have some success in an election year. The governor has already said he wants to raise teachers' pay to help bring them up to the national average.
--Legislation that is still alive, but remains a long shot, would give public employees the right to bargain collectively.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
This session marks a bit of a brain drain for legislative staff with several veterans retiring, including Research Division Director Terry Sullivan, senior economist David Crotts and House legislative assistants Director Anne Cole.
There will be two new faces in the state House -- Rep. Sandra Spaulding Hughes replaces Rep. Thomas Wright, who was recently convicted of fraud; and there will be a replacement for Rep. Pete Cunningham, a Charlotte Democrat who retired Dec. 31.
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