After months of negotiations, the Democrat-controlled North Carolina General Assembly has passed – and Gov. Bev Perdue has signed – a new state budget. The $19 billion plan – $20.4 billion when federal stimulus dollars are included – includes nearly $1 billion in tax hikes. John Locke Foundation Vice President for Outreach, Becki Gray, reviews the highlights and lowlights of the budget and tax hikes, and discusses the role Gov. Bev. Perdue played in developing the document. Then we turn to issues involving the former governor of our state. The State Board of Elections has signaled that it might make an announcement after Labor Day about its investigation of former Gov. Mike Easley. Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina explains why he thinks the record will show evidence of wrongdoing within the Easley campaign. We’ll also get reaction from Carolina Journal executive editor Don Carrington, who has been following Easley’s campaign finances closely. That’s followed by a look at President Obama’s recent trip to Raleigh. Some believe it might have been designed to help win Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s support for the Obama administration’s preferred version of health care reform legislation. We’ll hear Hagan’s health care priorities, along with reaction to the Obama plan from John Locke Foundation Fiscal Policy Analyst Joseph Coletti. Hagan’s U.S. Senate counterpart, Richard Burr, has played a lead role in crafting a Republican alternative to the Obama health care plan. It’s called the Patient’s Choice Act. Burr will outline key provisions of that legislation and explain why he’s supporting a different version of health care reform. And finally, Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst discusses a new analysis of the negative consequences likely to occur because of the state’s passage of Senate Bill 3 two years ago. SB3 mandates the investment in, and use of, renewable energy sources by the state’s utilities. Bakst explains the report’s conclusion that SB3 will lead to job losses and higher electric bills in our state. He also explains the even greater negative impact that may come if the law is changed to push the mandates further, as some fear.