Twice, Rowan has ranked the worst in the state.

Gardner has written to all the legislators of the bottom 10 counties — 20 House members and 15 senators — and hopes to have a meeting with them as soon as they reach Raleigh in May.

Gardner spoke of her plans at this morning’s Rowan County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast, held at the Holiday Inn. As a group, the legislators who represent Rowan County expressed little optimism today that the state Department of Transportation would change the formula used in allocating road maintenance money — at least in the short session.

But they generally agreed that the state should return $170 million it keeps diverting from the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund.

Overall, the lawmakers expressed hope that this year’s “short” session of the General Assembly will live up to its name and be just that — short.

Rep. Eugene McCombs, R-Rowan, predicted the session, beginning May 8, will last only four to five weeks, “because we don’t have any money.”

Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Concord, described the coming legislative weeks as “a caretaker session,” with little prospects for new spending programs.

Issues that should dominate, legislators predicted, will include teacher pay increases, deregulation of power companies and recommendations on mental health programs. Sen. Jim Phillips, D-Lexington, said he also expects the Democratic leadership to continue to emphasize the Smart Start pre-school program and stricter environmental initiatives.

Gardner said the state faces a “bleak fiscal outlook” thanks to multi-year spending commitments, costly court judgments against the state, debt service on state bonds, tax cuts and a series of natural disasters that wiped out the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Asked his top priority for the short session, Hartsell first said, “leaving town.” But he added that he hopes to see a “reasonable effort” at improving education. He also anticipates the state’s setting a structure in place for deregulation and considering the new recommendations for mental health programs.

For her own political reasons, Sen. Betsy Cochrane, R-Davie, said she hopes the short session takes a minimal amount of time. Cochrane is seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. If she wins the May 2 primary, a short legislative session would give her more time for a general election campaign.

Because the 2001 session of the General Assembly will involve redistricting of legislative districts, the Democratic leadership also doesn’t want to “rock any boats” in the short session, Cochrane said. She predicted little bickering among the parties.

Here are some selected observations made by the legislators this morning:

• McCombs said out-of-state purchases made over the Internet should be taxed. The state is losing $40 million a year in revenues now, he said.
• Cochrane said legislators must work to restore money to its Rainy Day Fund, which has been reduced to only $36 million.
• All the legislators said they aren’t ready to support ergonomic regulations recommended by the N.C. Department of Labor. More science and data are needed before these sweeping changes should be implemented, they said.

“I think the only one who wanted this was the commissioner of labor,” McCombs complained.

• Phillips and Cochrane see little hope of allowing county penny-sales-tax referendums to pay for local school construction needs. Finding support for a uniform bill in the Senate Finance Committee has been difficult.
• On smart growth, Gardner said she has reservations about a one-size-fits-all approach to growth in a diverse state like North Carolina. McCombs and Cochrane saw the state’s role as providing counties with technical assistance in planning but not much beyond that.
• On campaign finance reform, the legislators spoke for curbs on soft money contributions. Hartsell urged a speedier disclosure period and reducing the maximum contribution from individuals. Noting that he raised $174,000 for his last Senate campaign, Phillips said, “It absolutely has to stop somewhere.”
• The legislators expressed concern that many ElectriCities members, facing large amounts of debt in their electric utilities, had used revenues to subsidize their general funds rather than pay off debt. Landis is one of those towns.