The public can weigh in on a proposal to compensate victims of the states decades-old forced sterilization program at an event next week in Raleigh.

State lawmakers have scheduled a public hearing for 2 p.m. Tuesday in room 544 of the Legislative Office Building, 330 N. Salisbury St. in downtown Raleigh. Expected speakers include past victims of the eugenics program, state officials said Friday in a news release. Others also are invited to speak. Advance sign-up isnt required.

The hearing will come nearly a week after a bill was introduced to provide $50,000 in compensation for each victim of the state eugenics program, and provide additional money for the Sterilization Victims Foundation. Eligible recipients would have until Dec. 31, 2015, to file a claim under the proposal.

The $50,000 amount was recommended by the N.C. Eugenics Compensation Task Force this year and also is included in Gov. Bev Perdues budget proposal.

The N.C. Eugenics Board authorized sterilizing nearly 7,600 people between 1929 and 1974. Some were described as mentally ill or dangerous; most were classified as feebleminded with an IQ of less than 70.

Records show 485 sterilizations performed in Mecklenburg between 1946 and 1968, the most of any county.

The Eugenics Compensation Task Force has reported that 1,500 to 2,000 victims may still be alive. So far, the N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation has verified 132 victims, of whom 118 are living.

House Bill 947 was sponsored by lawmakers from both parties, including House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican from Cornelius, and Larry Womble, the Winston-Salem Democrat who has long fought for the compensation. An accompanying bill also has been filed in the state senate.

Tillis said this week that he would consider it a personal failure if eugenics compensation legislation didnt pass this year. He said he has wanted to do something for the victims of forced sterilization ever since he was first briefed on the issue four years ago. The Associated Press contributed.

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