A Look at Some
New Laws on the Books
By Steve Tuttle
The
weeks-long deadlock in the General Assembly this summer over what
programs to cut and which taxes to raise probably created a widespread
impression that legislators mostly sat around twiddling their thumbs
this session. But in fact several significant pieces of legislation
were enacted, some of which are summarized below:
CEOs as Superintendents: You could
be smart enough and savvy enough to successfully lead a billion-dollar
company, but until this summer you weren’t welcome to apply for a
job running even the smallest school system in North Carolina. At
NCCBI’s urging, the legislature passed a law that eliminated a
long-standing requirement that school superintendents must have a
college degree in education and substantial classroom teaching and
administrative experience.
The community colleges and the UNC System never had the “closed
shop” rule that the public schools operated under, which is why Bill
Friday was able to serve as president of the university system and why
the late Joe Grimsley was able to lead a community college. Although
very successful in their jobs, neither held a degree in education.
NCCBI had the backing of several other groups, including the Public
School Forum, in seeking the change in the law. The N.C. Association
of Educators vehemently opposed the change.
Election Reform: Determined to
avoid the election debacle that occurred in Florida, North Carolina
lawmakers passed several laws to modernize state election procedures.
Most significantly, the General Assembly adopted legislation outlawing
the use of butterfly ballots in the six counties that still use them
— Cabarrus, Duplin, Forsyth, McDowell, Mitchell and Onslow. The
legislation doesn’t give the counties any state money to pay for new
voting machines, but it does give them until 2006 to make the change.
Legislators also acknowledged the huge surge in the number of Hispanic
voters by passing a law requiring bilingual voting instructions in
cities and counties whose Hispanic population is at least 6 percent.
That covers 111 localities. Meanwhile, even though few precinct
officials ever objected to the practice, legislators passed a law
saying it’s fine for a voter to take a child with them into the
voting booth.
A law also was passed to lengthen the so-called no excuse early voting
period, which proved so popular before last fall’s balloting. Now,
no excuse early voting will be allowed during party primaries as well
as in the three weeks before the general election.
Child Bicycle Safety: The third
time was the charm for legislation requiring children under 16 to wear
safety helmets while riding bicycles. After defeating similar bills in
1996 and 1998, the General Assembly adopted a bill imposing a $10 fine
on parents who knowingly allow their kids to ride without helmets. At
least 17 states and several North Carolina municipalities already have
mandatory helmet laws. University of North Carolina highway research
reports 38 children aged 14 and under died from bicycle-related
injuries between 1996 and 1998.
Streamlined Sales Taxes: The
legislature took an important first step toward leveling the playing
field between brick-and-mortar merchants and those who sell their
wares over the Internet, by catalogues and over the TV home-shopping
channels. Alarmed by estimates by the state Department of Revenue that
North Carolina is losing $120 million to $140 million a year on sales
and use taxes on such purchases, legislators passed a bill that joins
North Carolina with several other states in studying ways to make
their sales tax systems more compatible so that collecting such taxes
can be more efficient.
Red Light Cameras: They seemed to
have worked well at helping Charlotte officials discourage motorists
from running red lights, so legislators passed a law allowing several
other cities to install the cameras at dangerous intersections,
including Nags Head, Concord, and towns in Union, Durham and Wake
counties. But some Wake County legislators feared that Raleigh might
view the cameras simply as a cash cow, so they asked for – and got
– a provision that the proceeds from red light camera tickets will
go to the public schools, not city hall. Red light cameras also are
allowed in Fayetteville, Greensboro, High Point, Rocky Mount,
Wilmington, Green-ville, Lumberton, Chapel Hill, Cornelius,
Huntersville and Matthews.
Executing the Mentally Ill: This
summer North Carolina became the 17th state to ban the execution of
mentally retarded defendants convicted of capital crimes, defined at
persons with an I.Q. of 70 or less. On the recommendation of Attorney
General Roy Cooper, the legislature amended the legislation to apply
to inmates already on death row. The law requires that a defendant
exhibit evidence of mental retardation prior to the crime. The law
does not prevent someone who is mentally retarded and commits murder
from being sentenced to life in prison.
Wine Tasting: If you’ve ever
toured the wineries in California’s Napa Valley, you will remember
the hospitality you were shown by being given free samples of the
wines. But North Carolina’s small but growing wine industry
couldn’t do that because under state law it was illegal for anyone
not holding a liquor license to give away alcoholic beverages. Now it
will be legal for North Carolina wineries to offer the same
hospitality as their California counterparts.
The Ten Commandments: Legislation
specifically allowing public schools to post the Ten Commandments was
adopted, as long as they are part of a display with other documents
significant to the development of the western system of law and the
U.S. Constitution. The same measure also requires schools to teach a
class in North Carolina history and geography in elementary school and
again in middle school and it requires a dress code for students as
well as the teaching of character education.
DNA Testing: The General Assembly
adopted far-reaching legislation that for the first time establishes
rules and procedures for using DNA to convict criminal defendants and
for proving the innocence of those who have been wrongly convicted.
Under the new law, defendants will be allowed greater access to DNA
testing before and after trial and can receive crime scene samples and
analysis of those samples performed by the state before going to
trial.
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