Give the Legislature a D-plus

The North Carolina General Assembly left Raleigh on Friday afternoon in the usual rush of hastily finished business and fishy spending schemes.

As usual, the legislators were late in getting their work done, 19 days in this case. And while this was not the worst year on record either for punctuality or dubious achievement — “They didn’t spend as much as they normally do,” state Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Hendersonville, said of the Democrats who run things — there were plenty of low marks and incompletes.

Here is our annual report card:

Budget, D. The Legislature quickly disposed of Gov. Mike Easley’s proposed taxes on beer and smokes to pay for a big teacher pay raise. Too bad. That would have been a good funding source. Left undone was a fix for the State Health Plan, which covers 650,000 state employees and retirees and faces a projected shortfall of $260 million.

When they did decide to spend money, legislators went again to a borrowing scheme they have increasingly exploited. Instead of seeking approval of bond issues as the state Constitution requires, legislative leaders have opted to use Certificates of Participation. COPs allow the state to get around voter approval, and the total amount borrowed in this way has increased greatly. Legislative leaders admit to using COPs to borrow $850 million, mostly for university capital projects, but Apodaca projects the amount at closer to $1 billion. The borrowing has helped to escalate the state’s per capita debt from $320 in 2000 to $768 last year. Cha-ching. It’s gone up again, thanks to the 2008 session.

Crime and law enforcement, B. The Legislature passed a bill that gives police and judges tools to crack down on gangs. It also toughened penalties against child predators roving the Internet and barred convicted sex offenders from social networking sites like MySpace.

Sparked by the murder of Highway Patrol trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. in a highway stop in Haywood County last month, the Legislature authorized $10,000 in funeral expenses for troopers killed in the line of duty.

Open government, F. In a completely unnecessary move, lawmakers passed a bill allowing local recreation departments to keep secret Little League rosters and other records of minors on rec league teams. This means newspapers will either print photos of championship teams with no IDs or stop running them altogether. Parents will be furious.

The Senate unanimously passed a good bill that would have required government agencies to pay the plaintiff’s cost in successful lawsuits over open meetings violations. House Speaker Joe Hackney of Chapel Hill snuffed the bill in the junior chamber.

Drought relief response, B. The “haves” when it comes to water fear this bill but Easley showed leadership on an issue that will require more regional cooperation as the state continues to grow.