Document Actions
Wed: What's in a name?
posted at 2009-03-04 23:59 | Last modified 2009-03-05 08:43
Governor Bev Perdue signed her first bill today – a measure changing the makeup of the State Board of Education to allow Bill Harrison to move into the chairmanship. Dr. Harrison will be sworn in tomorrow, the same day he takes over as CEO of the state’s public school system. Those used to be two distinct offices, but one of the Gov’s first moves was to consolidate them, unifying the department’s formerly fractured chain of command.
Perdue also made what may be the best gubernatorial Freudian slip ever by referring to her new hire as “Bill Atkinson.” June Atkinson is the elected state superintendent whose few remaining powers were subsumed under Harrison’s new position.
Perdue has said that Atkinson will “continue to serve as the state’s education ambassador.” Atkinson, who didn't run for "ambassador," has asked state lawmakers to clarify the powers of her elected position. She was conspicuously absent from today’s signing ceremony.
Textual Healin’?
Scotland Dem Garland Pierce’s anti-texting bill had a rough first outing today in House Ways & Means & Broadband. The bill was driven back to drafting by a barrage of queries about exactly what sorts of technology it would ban and why.
Best pun of the day went to Vice Chair Thom Tillis (R-Meck), who admitted he's left the road once or twice thanks to “driving while intexticated.” But he and other panel members had serious questions about the bill’s reach.
The short title of H9 is "No Texting While Driving," but the long title references "additional technologies associated with a mobile phone." So would it ban using an iPod or mp3 player in the car? Could you be ticketed for hitting your OnStar button? What about GPS? And could you check your calendar on a smartphone if you only have to touch the screen to see it?
To be fair, some of the queries were preposterous, but the underlying issue is valid: at what point does a distraction become dangerous, and how do you measure that? Is it a question of duration, or character input, or interactivity? Is using a smartphone behind the wheel really riskier than eating a cheeseburger? Is an intense voice conversation less distracting than checking the weather forecast online? And how do you write a bill to address technologies that haven’t even hit the market yet?
Pierce says he’s not giving up. He’ll bring a new version of the bill back next week, and odds are good it’ll be more narrowly focused on keystrokes. No one’s really defending texting behind the wheel - not even AT&T. But when it comes to touchscreen tech, all bets are off.
Sick Pay
Progressive advocacy groups held a presser today to call for state-mandated paid sick days for all NC workers. NC Justice Center’s Louisa Warren says 42% of the state’s private sector workers have no sick time. Among low-wage workers like food prep and hotel staff, it’s 3 out of 4 - and they're disproportionally female and/or minority employees.
Warren says workers without paid leave have to choose between to staying home sick and losing money, or going to work sick, potentially infecting their coworkers and the public. More often than not, the latter wins.
Warren and other supporters are backing a measure to mandate sick leave for all NC workers – four days for small biz employees, seven days for others. Recent polling by AARP shows 80% of North Carolinians support the concept.
Many small business owners apparently fall into the other 20%. Gregg Thompson with NFIB says most of his group's members already try to work out sick time with employees so no one loses money. He says now is the worst possible time to hit small employers with an expensive new mandate.
The sick time bill, H177, is headed for House Commerce and then Health, assuming it moves at all. This may not be the year for this proposal, but supporters say they’re hoping to start a conversation. More than a dozen other states are weighing similar bills.
American Idol update:
Tonight's Wild Card picks were kind to NC. Both Ricky Braddy and Anoop Desai won tickets to Thursday night's final round, made up of singers the judges liked more than the audience did. They’re both good, so cross your fingers for them, if only to give me something to write about that bears no relation to stimulus funds or budget cuts. I'd like that.
Comments? Drop me a line.
