RALEIGH DISPATCH: Catchin’ Up
Well, the legislative building was chock full of representatives, senators, lobbyists, scruffy media types and others hangers-on this week. Something important must have been going down, huh?
Yes and no.
The first week, okay, half-week, of session is largely a ceremonial affair. I wouldn’t expect most of the honorables to have their sea legs fully under them for a while.
Still, a few things went down that will reverberate throughout the session. And since my focus has been on our boys and girls in D.C. for most of the past couple weeks, let’s review.
A new era
Now that Rep. Joe Hackney is House Speaker, we scruffy media types will have an excuse to stop writing about Speaker Black . . . not that we will, of course.
The most important thing that happened last week is that Hackney was elected Speaker without intrigue, surprises or wrote stupidity.
Not that I don’t love writing about politics and intrigue. But a little less all of that stuff to cover – assuming there is less of it – will leave more room for the substance this session, which is probably better all the way around . . . at least for a little while.
Book ’em
Speaking of politics and wrote written stupidity . . .
If you’re going to write a history about a building that’s watched pretty closely by a bunch of us media types, expect said media types to take an interest.
I never met Ann Lassiter; she retired from her page coordinator job right about the time I came to cover the General Assembly full time. It’s possible that she’s a very nice lady who doesn’t deserve the public broiling she’s getting.
However, her “book” deserves everything it gets.
If nothing else, this cautionary tale should chasten the legislature’s new leaders about the hazards of cronyism or the appearance thereof, not to mention how much worse it looks when you cover it up.
At least one guy seems to get it.
“It looked like it was a product produced with public money and its only possible use, if any, is for the public to read," Hackney told the Observer. "So there you have it."
New rules
We heard some serious talk about new rules for the House chamber this week. How serious?
Rep. John Blust of Greensboro was sounding downright optimistic this week.
Blust has been fighting the rules fight for years now, to little avail.
My bet is he will get about half-way to where he wants to go and we’ll just have to see if that’s enough.
Why are the rules important, given that only 120 legislative critters have to follow them?
It goes back to what I was saying about Hackney’s election: Would you rather have us scruffy media types writing about the laws that get made or how they’re getting made?
You ought to be in pictures
As my friend and colleague Taft Wireback wrote about this week, Sen. Phil Berger is hopping mad about the state giving film incentives to a picture that features a simulated child rape.
Chalk this up as one of the first real substantive debates over policy this session and a chance for the GOP and the Dems to work together.
Berger hasn’t gone for the jugular – asking that film incentives be eliminated entirely. He wouldn’t get that, but could have scored a heck of lot of political points going that route, especially with his base.
Instead, he’s asking for a tweak to the program.
Now, you can argue whether that tweak – allowing the state to review scripts – is a good idea or no, but that’s sort of the point. The argument / policy debate can happen because it’s starting from a pragmatic place.
I’d be surprised if Berger’s proposal didn’t get some traction. Of course, I’d be equally surprised if it wasn’t rewritten by a Democrat (maybe from the Wilmington area) and offered up as a new bill so as to minimize Berger’s leading role in the process.
Hey, we may be cutting down on political intrigue this session, not eliminating it. This is, after all, still the General Assembly.
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Raleigh Dispatch is an online only column that appears on Monday’s during the legislative session.