Today @NCCapitol (March 13): McCrory wary of federal funding; more voter ID hearings set

RALEIGH, N.C. — Good morning and welcome to Today @NCCapitol for Wednesday, March 13. This is WRAL's roundup of what you need to know about North Carolina state government this morning.

FIRST UP: House Finance meets at 8:30 a.m. this morning. Among the bills the committee is scheduled to consider is a measure that would require the N.C. Railroad Company to pay dividends to the state.

PRIME TIME: Gov. Pat McCrory told Fox Business News Channel personality Neil Cavuto that North Carolina would strongly defend its status as a right-to-work state, to the point of being careful what money the state accepts from the federal government.

It's unclear what federal programs McCrory was talking about, although the state receives billions in federal funding every year. 

VOTER ID: Critics and backers of a proposal to require voters to show photo ID at the polls spoke to the House Elections Committee for five hours Tuesday night. 

The public hearing was the first public step in the development of the legislation. Click here for full video coverage of the meeting.

Step two of the process comes today when House lawmakers hear from an expert panel about voter ID proposals at 1 p.m. WRAL.com will carry the meeting live. Check the Video Central box on our home page. 

WRAP: Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and reporter Mark Binker talk about the voter ID hearing and more legislative action in Tuesday's version of The Wrap @NCCapitol.

HOUSE TODAY: The House meets at 3 p.m. today. Lawmakers will a bill that require the Department of Public Instruction to develop standards for Internet access in public schools and another measure that would open the records police agencies for private colleges to public inspection. WRAL.com will carry the House session live. Check the Video Central box on our home page. 

SENATE TODAY: The Senate meets at 2 p.m. today. Lawmakers are scheduled to cast a second vote on a measure that would force Charlotte to cede control of the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport to a newly formed regional authority.

COMMITTEES TODAY: For a full list of committees, see the main @NCCapitol page. Among the highlights on Wednesday's schedule are:

House Judiciary B (10 a.m.) takes up a bill that would limit lottery advertising.

House Judiciary C (10 a.m.) takes up a bill that would prohibit state agencies from accepting identification issued by the Mexican consulate. 

Regulatory Reform Subcommittee on Local Government (10 a.m.) hears a bill that would limit cities ability to set design standards for new home construction. WRAL.com will carry the House session live. Check the Video Central box on our home page.

Regulatory Reform Subcommittee on Business and Labor (11 a.m.) takes up the bill to prohibit those under 18 years old from using tanning beds.

ADS: A 501(c)4 called the North Carolina House Legislative Partners announced Tuesday morning that it's launched a television ad touting the agenda of House leaders. The ad stars House Speaker Thom Tillis, who's widely rumored to be a likely candidate for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan. 

Meanwhile, Clean Water for North Carolina has begun airing a radio ad accusing Republican lawmakers of going back on promises to oversee gas drilling practices known as "fracking." The ad, which is running in districts held by Rep. Mike Stone, R-Lee, and Jamie Boles, R-Moore, is aimed at slowing down a measure would allow drilling to go forward in 2014.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: North Carolina spent more than $1.3 billion on economic development in fiscal year 2011-2012, according to a report by the legislature's fiscal research division.

DECKER: New Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday that she plans to look "broadly and freshly" at how the state recruits new businesses.

HELMETS: The state House Transportation Committee heard debate Tuesday on a proposal to do away with the mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists 21 and older.

ANESTHETISTS: A House Committee approved a bill that would require nurse anesthetists to work "under supervision" of a doctor, doing away with the collaborative approach they currently enjoy. 

HOUSE FLOOR ACTION: The state House passed bills dealing with teacher technology training, increasing child abuse penalties, and slow the adoption of new building codes. 

UNC: Jonathan Kappler, currently the research director for the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation, will become a director of State Government Relations for the University of North Carolina System on March 25.

APPOINTED: "Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan announced today that George Bakolia will join the Department of Public Safety to lead the state’s participation in an emerging national public safety broadband network. Bakolia’s work at NCDPS will focus on FirstNet, a conceptual national broadband network for interoperable communications between public safety responders," according to a DPS news release. "Bakolia has served in state information technology posts since 1990, including State Chief Information Officer and Senior Deputy CIO as well as CIO for the North Carolina Department of Justice."

CROP FRAUD: Federal investigators have unraveled a massive scheme among dozens of insurance agents, claims adjusters, brokers and farmers in eastern North Carolina to steal at least $100 million from the government-backed program that insures crops.

CRUELTY: "Forsyth County is dealing with an ever-increasing number of animal cruelty cases and lacks strong laws and enough animal control officers to deal with it, animal rights activists said Tuesday," reports the Winston-Salem Journal. 

WIND: "Five companies are interested in developing wind farms in the ocean off North Carolina, hoping to take advantage of what could be the East Coast’s most promising chance to create energy through giant turbines anchored to the sea floor. The idea is embraced by both Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the Sierra Club, who see North Carolina as the next potential center for renewable energy in America. But big obstacles remain before the whirling farms become a reality. Offshore wind is an expensive form of energy, and Congress is losing interest in federal subsidies to encourage it. There are no offshore wind farms in the United States, although they’re common in Europe," reports the Charlotte Observer. 

MMMM....BEER: "Something big was on tap at the Port of Charleston on Tuesday as workers unloaded 28 mammoth beer brewing tanks for a new Sierra Nevada brewery near Asheville. The tanks, shipped from Germany and some of them big enough to hold 3,200 kegs of beer, were lifted by an overhead crane off a ship, swung over the pier and then loaded onto flatbed trailers. They were taken to another part of the port for temporary storage and will be trucked to Asheville in a few days. Sierra Nevada announced last year it is building a new brewery in Mills River, about 12 miles south of Asheville," reports the Asheville Citizen-Times.