Jan 01, 2008
Eight to watch 
Area residents make their mark as advocates of many causes
- News & Observer

 
JANE PINSKY 
Thirty-seven years ago, Jane Pinsky got a taste of what it's like to live in a country where government secrecy prevails. 
She was traveling as an au pair for a couple in Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia. The hotel room they stayed in was bugged, and the security guards in the lobby seemed more interested in eavesdropping than protecting guests. 
Last month, Pinsky, 57, became director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform. A longtime lobbyist and activist, she will lead efforts for more sunshine on legislative activities and more limits on the ability of well-heeled special interests to affect legislation. 
Among them: 
* Preventing lobbyists from having any role in raising money for legislative candidates' campaigns. Recent reforms now bar lobbyists from making contributions and from collecting contributions from others. But Pinsky said lobbyists can still tell others, including those they represent, whom to make the checks out to. 
* Ending legislative committee meetings that either close off public access or make it difficult for the public to attend. 
* Banning special provisions in the state budget bill that have little to do with the spending plan. Lawmakers have used such provisions in recent years to pass a state lottery, change how chiropractors are reimbursed by insurers and allow UNC system schools to charge in-state tuition on athletic scholarships for out-of-state students.