Every session, there are several bills with good intentions that create a huge uproar. This session's been void of that type of legislation, until today.

House Bill 314 directs the state board of community colleges to waive tuition for juvenile offenders and prison inmates once they're released from jail. In fact, the bill waives tuition for the first three years after their release.  I see the intention here. An education is an important step in the rehabilitation process for inmates. Ex-cons with an education are probably more likely to stay out of trouble in the future.  But what do you say to all those current community college students who are struggling to make ends meet. They're working, training, raising families, all while dealing with rising tuition costs.  In this bill's case, is the payoff worth the headache from the naysayers? We'll see.

There are two more bills today that in a roundabout way have Jim Black's fingerprints on them.  First, house minority leader Paul Stam filed a bill to block pension funds of lawmakers convicted of certain felonies while in office.  The second is a proposed $6 million dollar grant to Johnson and Wales culinary university in Charlotte. Jim Black worked hard to recruit the school to Charlotte. Now that he's out of office, some of his former co-workers are still tooting the horn for the school.

Two other bills are aimed at making sure the state is doing business with the right kind of companies. One prohibits the state from contracting out any work to companies that hire illegal immigrants. The other makes sure outside companies have studied their past to see if they profited from slavery.

We'll end today where we began yesterday, with pork. Today's isn't quite a pickle shed. Representative Jim Crawford wants $3 million to build the East Coast Drag Racing Hall of Fame Museum in Henderson.