news-record.com

RALEIGH — Do you have lights on your bicycle? Is your pet snake properly stored? Is your favorite herb on its way to being outlawed?

The General Assembly moved hundreds of bills last week in advance of a self-imposed “crossover” deadline.

Few became law.

Rather, bills that neither raise nor spend money needed the approval of either the full House or Senate by Thursday to remain alive through 2010. Provided they got that approval, the other chamber still has to give them a look.

The deadline creates a ritual observed every two years in which members of the House and Senate work long hours quickly reviewing and voting on legislation, working at a frenzied pace that doesn’t exactly facilitate in-depth reviews of pending legislation.

“This crossover deadline is insanity,” Rep. Cary Allred , a Burlington Republican, told his colleagues. “This is an insane way to pass legislation.”

And while some bills got a good deal of attention — such as one that could help restart executions in the state — others flew below the radar. Here are 11 lesser-known pieces of legislation that have made it halfway to becoming laws:

How high?

Salvia Divinorum would be added to the state’s list of controlled substances under S138. The measure creates $25 fines for first and second possession offenses and would make a third offense a misdemeanor.

The herb is sometimes used in landscaping but has gained a reputation as a legal and cheap hallucinogen. Proponents of the ban said it had been linked to suicides.

Light bright

Bicyclists riding at night would need to have lights on in front and behind under S955. Currently only front lights are required.

Ethics efforts

City council members, county commissioners and other local officials would have to adopt codes of ethics under H1452, making them subject to standards similar to ethics requirements for state legislators and the executive branch.

The bill would require 12 hours of ethics training and extract a promise that local elected officials obey open meetings and records laws that they’re supposedly subject to already.

“There’s this perception that there’s conflicts of interest out there” on local boards, said Rep. Pricey Harrison , a Greensboro Democrat. This bill, she said, might help cure some of that skepticism.

Not so affectionate

North Carolina is one of a handful of states in the nation that still allows “alienation of affection” lawsuits, in which an aggrieved spouse can sue the other man or woman who lured their mate away.

Under H1110, such suits could not be brought due to any monkey business that got swinging after a couple was no longer living together.

“A lot of these cases are like grade-school cases,” said Rep. Deborah Ross , a Raleigh Democrat. She added, using  her best grade-school whine, “'You like her better than you like me!’”

Mayoral matrimony

Mayors would be able to solemnize marriages — that is, conduct weddings — under S992, if they were so authorized by local ordinance.

Holster that rattler

Under S307, Regulate Ownership & Use of Certain Reptiles, herpetology fans would have to make sure their snakes — particularly those that are poisonous or constrict their prey — are kept under control.

The measure updates laws regarding the handling of venomous snakes and other reptiles, clarifying penalties for exposing others to dangerous creatures or transporting them in a negligent fashion.

Speaking of holsters ...

District attorneys and assistant district attorneys would be able to carry weapons into courthouses under S11, providing the lawyers in question held concealed carry permits and completed a weapons retention training course.

Prosecutors would have to lock away their firearms before going into the courtroom itself though, ensuring there won’t be crossfire since judges are allowed to carry a pistol under their robes.

No waiting period on bars

The House and Senate passed versions of a bill that would remove the waiting period to join a “private club,” a bar organized under a peculiar provision of the state’s ABC laws.

Currently, such clubs can have up to a 30-day waiting period.

Now, under S6 and H1228, you can pay your membership fee and drink up on the same night.

But no booze for you, kids

Local ABC boards would have to consider whether a proposed liquor store was within 1,000 feet of a school before deciding on a location.  The measure applies only to Guilford County.

Hanging around

Under H1353, city and county governments could not pass local laws forbidding clothes lines as long as flapping bedsheets and drying unmentionables were not visible from the street.

Your homeowners association, however, is free to be as persnickety as ever. Language in an earlier version of the bill that would have kept HOA agreements from prohibiting clotheslines was taken out.

Speak up, judge

Judges would have to speak up about why they’re shutting up under S797.

Currently, judges who recuse themselves from a case don’t have to say why. Under this proposal, judges in both trial and appellate courts must say in writing why they’re not going to hear a case.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com