Last week, I got a call from a Carolina Journal reader who had seen Donna Martinez’s article about S. 3194, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 ? which would overturn North Carolina’s ban on collective bargaining by public employees ? and written Sen. Kay Hagan, asking her where she stood on the bill.

The reader said Hagan responded in a letter and said she supported the bill, which would presumably reverse her earlier (though hardly vigorous) opposition to the legislation. I asked the reader to send a copy of the letter to me.

Meantime, Donna contacted Hagan’s office and got this clarification, in a statement from the senator:

This bill would mandate that states allow collective bargaining for state government employees. This is a states’ rights issue, and I believe it should be left up to the states to decide.

The letter from the reader arrived, and here’s what it said:

I don’t have my copy of the Rosetta Stone language learning software for Political Speak. Does anyone have any idea what the heck Hagan was saying?