I've taken the high road the past couple of days hitting on sweeping legislation that affects a lot of people.  Today, there's new legislation introduced that really puts me in a pickle.  Literally.  And to be honest, I can' t help but to start with it even though it affects just one small town in eastern North Carolina.

House Bill 286 asks for $150,000 dollars in state money to help restore the "historic Old Pickle Shed" in the Duplin County town of Faison.  Look, I know lawmakers are supposed to represent the people who elected them into office and the best way to do that is to focus on local pet projects. But $150,000 for a pickle shed?

All right.  Enough. Let's get to the meat of some of the bigger issues.  First, more fallout from the Jim Black scandal. Representative Blust is sponsoring a bill that would only allow the Speaker of the House and Senate Pro Tem to hold those posts for two consecutive legislative sessions.  The lawmakers could remain in office, but the bill's meant  to inject fresh blood into those powerful positions.

Another interesting bill comes from Durham's Mickey Michaux. It's called the Street Gang Prevention Act. In the bill, Michaux says North Carolina is in a state of crisis when it comes to violent street gangs.
Aside from pushing a cool $10 million to local intervention groups, it would also up the penalties for gang members by creating an entire new set off gang-related offenses. Basically, if a gang member gets caught with a gun, he or she would face an illegal firearms charge, plus a separate gang-related felony.  Interesting approach!

In the Senate, Julia Boseman's name is on several bills about domestic violence.  Her latest effort attempts to cut back on any plea deals for suspects in domestic violence murders.  The proposed law would create a mandatory life in prison with no parole if someone with a domestic violence order against them kills the person who filed the order.  The language is clear that if there are aggravating circumstances, district attorneys could still go after the death penalty.

Finally, a couple quick mentions of other bills that caught my eye. Senate bills 218 and 219 would pump more than $13.5 million to a vehicle research center in Northampton County. There's also the official bill to extend the moratorium on new hog farm lagoons until 2010.  The last bill I'll mention is in the senate and if passed, community colleges would be big winners. All told, the bill asks for $134 million dollars to increase the pay of community college professors and professional staff.