Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's comments on immigration during a speech at Duke yesterday have caught the attention of pundits in D.C.

During her remarks Tuesday night Rice said one of her biggest regrets during her time in the Bush adminstration was failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform in 2007.  Immigration policies at the state level like in Arizona aren't working, she said.

“That immigrant culture that has renewed us … has been at the core of our strength,” she said. “I don’t know when immigrants became the enemy.”

The N&O first reported her comments after the lecture at Duke's Page Auditorium. Since then they've been relinked and posted on blogs throughout outlets in D.C. including The Huffington Post and The Hill, a D.C. paper that reports on Congress and national politics.

Some political observers have speculated whether Rice might be tapped to be likely GOP-presidential nominee Mitt Romney's running mate, but she has denied such reports.

UNC system President Tom Ross is defending a proposal to remove university workers from the State Personnel Act.

In tomorrow's N&O and Chapel Hill News, the president of the university system, says having one personnel system for workers exempt from and currently subject to the State Personnel Act would benefit everyone.

“We’re not interested in taking away the rights of our SPA employees,” he says. “Unfortunately some outside groups have attempted to create that fear. What we want to do is create flexibility to do more for our employees.”

Senate Bill 575 would put 22,000 workers under the UNC Board of Governors. The bill's dead this session, but its HR change could be inserted in the final budget bill. Among other provisions, the board would adopt policies on compensation, health and disability benefits, and “any other human resource policy the Board deems appropriate to promote the recruitment and retention of capable, diligent, and effective employees.”

Last week, a group sent a letter signed by 130 individuals and organizations to UNC-CH  Chancellor Holden Thorp, asking him to publicly state where he stands and to speak at a rally at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday outside South Building on the UNC-CH campus. We'll be at the rally and have a report Thursday in print and online. 

Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton has launched his bid to replace Gov. Bev Perdue, who earlier today said she will not run for re-election.

He announced his intentions in this prepared statement to the media:

“I believe that our future economy and better jobs depend on our historic commitment to education. After all, education is in North Carolina’s DNA – it's what sets us apart and it's what will determine our future. However, you can’t make progress if you are pointed in the wrong direction. Pat McCrory and the Republican leadership are facing the wrong way by cutting teachers, reducing scholarships and abandoning economic development. They are doing lasting damage to our state. I’ve dedicated my career to improving education at all levels and making North Carolina a great place to do business.

“Today, I'm announcing that I am running for Governor. Lucille and I love this state and we understand tough political races. I am the only candidate who has run and won statewide and I look forward to waging an aggressive campaign. Elections are about choices. As a state we must decide the direction in which we will turn. With this campaign, I choose to look ahead to a brighter future.  I choose progress.  I choose a future where public education is the foundation of our economy.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey echoes an Elon University poll that came out earlier this week showing a majority of North Carolinians oppose a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. PPP found 52 percent of those surveyed support greater rights for same-sex relationships. The new poll also carves out a couple of interesting slices: Senior citizens are the only age group with a majority (54 percent) that opposes any legal recognition for same-sex couples. Independent voters are even more supportive of the issue than Democrats, with 64 percent of them in favor. A bill is pending in the General Assembly to write a ban into the constitution.

Two Wake senators have filed legislation to block the N.C. Turnpike Authority from doing what it says it doesn't want to do anyway:  build a new turnpike through the town of Garner.

Senate Bill 165 proposes that the planned Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension "shall not be located north of an existing protected corridor established by the Department of Transportation circa 1995, except in the area of Interstate 40 East."

That means nothing north of a widely favored path known as the Orange Route, which would take TriEx well south of Garner to extend the turnpike across southern Wake County from Holly Springs to Interstate 40 near the Johnston County line. ... [MORE]

Two Wake County senators have filed legislation to block the N.C. Turnpike Authority from doing what it says it doesn't want to do anyway:  build a new turnpike through the town of Garner. [3/3/11 update: More in today's story.]

Senate Bill 165 proposes that the planned Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension "shall not be located north of an existing protected corridor established by the Department of Transportation circa 1995, except in the area of Interstate 40 East."

That means nothing north of a widely favored path known as the Orange Route, which would take TriEx well south of Garner to extend the turnpike across southern Wake County from Holly Springs to Interstate 40 near the Johnston County line. ... [MORE]

In their proposal today for LESS state spending -- more than $2 billion less than Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's proposed budget -- Republican legislative leaders mention one area that deserves MORE spending: highway maintenance and repaving.

Instructions to the House and Senate transportation appropriation subcommittees (attached below) include this call for a $100 million maintenance boost:

Strengthen the maintenance of transportation infrastructure. For many years, North Carolina has inadequately funded the maintenance of pavement, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure. Please develop a plan to increase the budget for maintenance and contract resurfacing by at least $100 million through a combination of savings, efficiencies and the reallocation of resources.

Perdue also has recommended more maintenance spending this year. ... [more]

Market forces will push North Carolina's record-high gas tax even higher in July --  unless political forces decide otherwise. 

Democrats were in charge four years ago when drivers were unhappy about rising gas taxes, so they capped the tax for two years at 29.9 cents a gallon.  That ceiling was converted to a legislative floor in 2009, and our inflation-adjusting tax has risen since then to an all-time high of 32.5 cents.

The General Assembly’s new Republican leaders seem likely to put a lid on it again.

“They have not specifically talked about this in caucus,” says Ray Martin, press secretary for Republican Sen. Phil Berger, the Senate president pro tem. “But it’s likely they’d want to look at capping any increase in the tax.” ... [MORE]

The state Department of Transportation’s proposed budget shows that the Perdue administration is counting on the Republican-led legislature to allow gas taxes to keep rising this year.  But without lifting a finger, Republicans have the power to let gas tax rates fall sharply instead.

[2/18/11 correction:  Legislative action would be required to prevent gas tax rates from rising again in July. See below.]

The variable tax rate fluctuates as a portion of the average wholesale gas price, and in January it climbed to a record high level of 32.5 cents a gallon.  Perdue’s budget, released today (see below), projects an increase of another penny a gallon, to generate record-high gas tax collections of $1.74 billion in 2011-12.

[2/18/11 correction:  That assumes the Republican-led legislature will allow the tax to keep rising. A GOP legislative spokesman says that seems unlikely.] ... [MORE]

Susan Bryant, the Wake County GOP chair, says Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue's administration was attempting to stifle free speech when a senior DOT official accused a North Raleigh resident of practicing engineering without a license. [2/4/11 update: see today's story with reader comments.]

“The governor sets the tone for her administration, and I believe she should immediately take action to demonstrate the state welcomes input from its people," Bryant said today in a news release. "And just because the input is well researched and organized doesn’t mean the people are attempting to impersonate a professional.  Licensing professionals has nothing to do with the Constitutional rights of citizens to make their feelings known."

Bryant cited Kevin Lacy, chief traffic engineer at NCDOT, who complained that David N. Cox and members of his neighborhood group appeared to be practicing engineering without a license when they submitted a report to bolster their campaign to have traffic signals added at two intersections on Falls of Neuse Road (see today's story, with dozens of reader comments). ... [MORE]