Today @NCCapitol (May 5, 2015): Dix deal gets final approval

The Council of State is scheduled to give the final government signoff to the Dorothea Dix property sale this morning. At the legislature, advocates will press their case for gun control and second chances.

Posted 9:00 a.m. May 5, 2015 — Updated 9:26 a.m. May 5, 2015

Mark Binker

and

Laura Leslie

RALEIGH, N.C. — Good morning and welcome to Today @NCCapitol for Tuesday, May 5. Here's what's going on at the General Assembly and around state government.

DIX DEAL: The Council of State meets at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to give a final government signoff on the state's deal to sell the 308-acre Dorothea Dix property to Raleigh for $52 million. City leaders approved the sale last week.

Once the Council of State, a group of 10 statewide elected officials that includes the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and agriculture commissioner, approves the deal, the city will have until the end of the year to put the financing in place to complete the transaction.

Dorothea Dix documents

Timeline: Decisions about Dix property

Tuesday's meeting will end nearly three years of wrangling over the future of the property that stretches back to the end of Gov. Bev Perdue's administration.

WRAL.com plans to carry this meeting live at 9 a.m. Check the Video Central box on the home page.

SENATE SESSION: The state Senate meets at 2 p.m. but has no bills on its calendar.

HOUSE SESSION: The state House meets at 2 p.m. It is scheduled to take up House Bill 760, the regulatory reform bill that would freeze North Carolina's requirement that power companies buy a certain percentage of their power from renewable resources rather than allow it to expand. WRAL.com plans to carry this meeting live online.

THE COMMITTEE WE'RE WATCHING: The House Transportation Committee meets at noon and will take up a bill that would overhaul road funding for the state. House Bill 927 would shift some of the burden for road funding away from the gas tax and to alternative sources, such as a sales tax on automobile insurance.

ADVOCATES: At 11 a.m., lawmakers advocating for "second chances" for felons will press legislation that would "ban the box," the check-off on employment applications that asks about prior felonies. At 1 p.m. mothers advocating for stronger gun control and against a bill that would drop North Carolina's pistol purchase requirements will hold a news conference. Groups advocating against abortion and for equal rights for gays and lesbians will hold lobby days at the legislature.

Suggest A Correction