Today@NCCapitol (Feb. 20): And the first shall be passed

Lawmakers are poised to send Gov. Roy Cooper the first bill for his signature or veto, and Cooper is getting ready to make the first in-person economic development announcement of his administration.

Posted 10:00 a.m. Feb 20, 2017 — Updated 5:45 p.m. Jul 13, 2018

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — A pair of firsts are poised to highlight Monday's political news.

While members of the state House are scheduled to take the day off, state senators are in position to send Gov. Roy Cooper the first bill for his signature or veto.

Senators tentatively passed the bill shrinking the UNC Board of Governors from 32 to 24 members on Thursday, but a procedural objection held it up. Assuming there are no amendments Monday night – and that senators actually come into town to execute their one-item calendar – Cooper should have the first bill of his administration on his desk by Tuesday.

As for the governor, he's scheduled to make the first in-person economic development announcement of his administration on Monday morning. While his press office has sent out several notices of expansions since Jan. 1, this is the first such announcement that's come with a live news conference.

An Economic Investment Committee meeting has been scheduled for an hour before Cooper is scheduled to start speaking at the Capitol, so there are likely some state-funded incentives involved.

Education: Cooper's public schedule also lists an announcement on teacher pay at the Collinswood Language Academy in Charlotte Monday afternoon.

From the weekend: This week's episode of "On the Record" focused on voter fraud and prompted some interest from our fact-checking desk. Also, if you'd like to catch up on last week's action, TheWrap@NCCapitol taped on Friday to catch you up on former Sen. Fletcher Hartsell's plea deal and the howls of protest over the "Toonces bill."

Program notes: Today@NCCapitol will publish most mornings the legislature is in session with a look ahead for that day's activities if there are substantive hearings or votes planned. Look for TheWrap@NCCapitol, a video recap of legislative business, at the conclusion of most legislative days.

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