Monday Wrap: Welcome back?

Some of them kicked off the week by reviewing a state audit that calls into question claims by the state Department of Health and Human Services that the Medicaid program finished 2014 with a $63 million balance. The program still has a long-standing $355 million deficit, but it is shrinking, according to the audit.

Over the weekend, the State Employees Association of North Carolina released its own audit detailing about $500,000 in questionable spending by former executive director Dana Cope. The expenses included landscaping at his Raleigh home, family trips and flying lessons.

Bills expected to make their first visits to legislative committees this week include one that would ban the sale of powdered alcohol in North Carolina and another that would make a student assault on a teacher a felony.