The 2010 “short session” of the NC General Assembly is winding down with plenty of unfinished business. The Democratic leadership has refused to allow consideration of a number of important bills, primarily sponsored by Republicans.
Recent public opinion polls emphatically indicate North Carolina citizens resoundingly support these Republican initiatives. However, they have been refused a fair hearing in the legislature.
The General Assembly is one step closer to stopping eminent domain abuse in North Carolina. On Monday night HB 1659, a bill which seeks to protect private property from being taken for the use of economic development, passed its second reading in the House by a margin of 100-14.
Say goodbye to the juice box. A vote of 63 to 45 in the House gave tentative approval Thursday to a measure that would dictate what children could have to drink in private child care facilities.
The General Assembly outlawed video poker in 2006, but an estimated 600 so-called “sweepstakes cafes or parlors” have been established all across North Carolina in the past year or so in an attempt to circumvent the ban on this gambling activity. Individual sweepstakes machines have also been located in various retail, restaurant and bar locations in the state.
