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Tuesday: Smokin' and Croakin'
posted at 2007-03-20 22:05 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
Smoke out
Well, out of committee, anyway. House Dem majority leader Hugh Holliman's anti-smoking bill got a 9-4 approval today from J 1 and is headed to the House floor, probably next week.
Will it pass? Hard to say. A less restrictive version failed last year, in part because the restaurant lobby opposed its exemption for bars. The current bill evens things out by banning smoking in bars, too, and pretty much everywhere else - except for country clubs and other nonprofits. Restaurant Assoc. lobbyist Paul Stone wants that exemption removed, but it may not be a dealbreaker. And judging from today's committee meeting turnout, there's more support for a ban this year than ever.
Dead man driving
State Auditor Les Merritt says about 27,000 out of NC's 10 million driver's licenses were granted based on invalid Social Security Numbers. About 14,000 were just made-up numbers. The other 13,000 or so bad SSNs belonged to dead people. Until recently, the DMV apparently had no way to check whether an SSN is valid, which makes you wonder why they bothered asking for one. The full report is here.
Navy v USFWS
Opponents of the Navy's proposed Washington County OLF site are making new friends in high places. The US Fish and Wildlife Service isn't buying the Navy site assessment, either. WUNC's Rusty Jacobs filed this report on Monday night's community meeting in Swan Quarter. The meetings continue over the next several weeks up and down the coast.
Comfort food
Now that lobbyists can't buy them dinner anymore, legislators are exploring other communal dining options. Rumor has it House Dems have started a weekly dinner get-together at Finch's. It's a power breakfast-and-lunch spot, but it isn't open for dinner, so the caucus takes it over - and members take turns paying for it.
This week's menu? Pork chops and collards, with legislators' homemade cakes for dessert. And the best part? Not having to listen to lobbyists talk around (but not about) legislation for three hours. Like the ad says, priceless.
Speaking of cake
On the House floor today, Robeson Dem Ronnie Sutton commemorated Rep. Doug Yongue's 70th birthday by volunteering that his friend "has lost 38 pounds" since the ethics reform bill passed. Sutton joked that Yongue's "too cheap to keep up" the dining habits he learned from the lobbyists. With friends like that...
Wednesday Preview: Booked up
It's that time of year. Tomorrow's schedule includes no fewer than six press conferences on everything from same-day voter registration and Aero Contractors to military consumer protection and teens in the adult justice system. As soon as I can dig myself out from under the piles of tape, I'll let you know how they all went.
Comments? Drop me a line.
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