Its an odd year for the N.C. Legislature. Ours is one that is traditionally very staunch and not ready for change no matter what the people think. Though the following bills have no real social quality to them it does seem to me that this session shows a bit of change in the making.
First, there is the beer alcohol percentages being raised¹. We were one of 4 states to not sell beer over 6.2% until now. This makes the local Budweiser distributor mad, makes me happy when I drink a good Belgian beer but means nothing in the big scheme of things.
Second, we have raised taxes on cigarettes². What!!??!! In North Carolina?? You are shitting me! No, I'm not. South Carolina stores are celebrating and probably already have large billboards proclaiming the "Last stop for Cheap Cigarettes". Good, you can have that S.C. Anything to make us different than you is fine with me. This has a little more social worth than the beer one at least.
Finally, as of a few minutes ago we are the final state on the East Coast to implement a lottery³. I can see both sides of this one but in general I don't mind it. Unfortunately for our Governor it means his term has lost all its meaning since it is the only thing the guy ever talked about.
So three bills and a whole new direction for a Legislature that still allows members to smoke on the floor. We can only hope that they will continue their path of change for things like Medicare, education, and other items that really matter. However, I can't leave this without pointing out that they also managed to sign into law a bill that never actually hit the floor of the Senate. Well, they are only human.
Posted by dmason at August 31, 2005 11:43 AM