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Wed. late: "Silly Season"
posted at 2008-07-17 02:20 | Last modified 2008-07-17 13:28
My suspicions were confirmed on the drive home tonight: The moon IS full.
How else to explain a day like today? Granted, the end of session is always a crazy time – “silly season,” as Robeson Dem Ronnie Sutton likes to put it – but this year, it seems like the wheels are coming off with a vengeance.
Exhibit A: Meals Tax Re-Re-Redux
The Durham Meals Tax Referendum got not one, but two mulligans today, thanks to the tender mercies of Senate Dem Secretary-for-Life R.C. Soles. First, there was the Finance re-vote, enabled by Soles’ move to reconsider after the bill failed the first time. Then it was déjà vu all over again on the floor this afternoon.
When H2690 came up for its (first) floor vote this afternoon, the tally was a tie. Normally in that situation, Lt Gov Bev Perdue, as Senate President, casts the tiebreaker. But Perdue had already left, so the bill stayed tied – which means, under the rules, it fails.
But the "Bill That Wouldn’t Die" was true to its reputation. Basnight was just about to wrap things up for the day when Soles, having voted with the prevailing side (i.e. the Noes), again called it back for reconsideration. The second vote was another tie, 19-19. So Soles stood up and changed his vote to Aye, making it 20-18 in favor.
It was “historic,” according to Basnight. But don’t worry if you missed it – they’ll have to do it all over again Thursday for the third and final vote on the measure.
(So why didn’t Soles just vote yes to start with? Probably because he’s facing what could be his toughest re-election battle in years, a context that makes “tax” a four letter word.)
Exhibit B: Dueling Conspiracy Theories
It’s more than a little sad when lawmakers are reduced to voting for the least scary alternative. But it was like a Black Helicopter Death Match today when the House took up the "Oppose Real ID" measure. (More on Real ID here.)
House Dems are backing a measure to direct the DMV not to spend money to comply with federal Real ID guidelines. NC would be in good company – about 27 states have told the Feds to go fish. The main reason, according to Transpo Chair Nelson Cole, is that it’s a really large unfunded mandate. Estimated cost is about $21M for the database software, plus $20M or so per year till 2017 to get everyone set up with the new IDs.
But there’s also the privacy issue. Cole says the Real ID Act amounts to a Big Brother-ish invasion of privacy: “They’ll know more about you than you do.” Cole’s bill even goes so far as to ban the NCDMV from collecting biometric data or using RFID chips in licenses. (Neither of which is required for Real ID, by the way, but “microchips” and “iris scans” sure sound scary.)
But that was just the beginning. Onslow Republican George Cleveland argued the state should comply with Real ID because Raleigh is a known location of terrorist cells. (You can’t make this stuff up.) Hear it below.
Listen Now!
He was seconded by Union Republican Curtis Blackwood, who opined that anyone who opposed Real ID would have a hard time getting reelected if someone flew a plane into a building in Raleigh or Charlotte.
Gaston Republican Bill Current also backed Cleveland up with a stern warning that terrorists have infiltrated every part of American life. He’s been told by people “who know.”
Listen Now!
Cole won this round, so prepare for disaster: Raleigh’s demise can’t be far away.
Seriously, it would have been great to hear this issue debated on facts, not fearmongering. But hey, it’s an election year.
Exhibit C: Loophole? What loophole?
The Senate Election Reform committee tonight approved a version of the “Clarify Ethics and Lobbying Laws” bill with a loophole you could drive a 10-foot-wide boat through. In the dark, even.
How time flies. Just two years ago, in the shadow of the Jim Black scandal, lawmakers were tripping over their own feet to restrict themselves from taking gifts from lobbyists. No geegaw was too inconsequential to evade suspicion.
Fast forward to tonight’s “permission slip” exemption to the lobbyist gift ban. It would allow state officials and lawmakers to accept
“Food, beverages, registration, travel, lodging, entertainment,
and items of nominal value provided in conjunction or in
connection with a meeting or conference when the employing
entity has provided prior authorization of the attendance or
participation of the legislator, legislative employee, or public
servant at that meeting or conference."
Defenders of the change say lobbyists’ reporting requirements are still in place, so voters can still find out who’s been accepting junkets from special interest groups. Personally, I’m still trying to figure out why it’s the voters' job to figure out whether their lawmaker is behaving ethically. They're not the ones collecting a paycheck from the state.
Comments? Drop me a line.
