Daily News

Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer

Fifty-six miles per hour in a 55 zone. That is the way Rep. Bill Faison, a Democrat who represents Orange and Caswell counties, described the apparently piddling charges against House Speaker Jim Black last week.

So the speaker, a fellow Democrat, took contributions over the limit and from businesses. So he took checks written on behalf of others, including blank checks he later turned over to a Republican who had switched parties, allowing him to be re-elected speaker. Big deal.

Apparently to some members of the legislature, these are no bigger infractions than pouring hamburger fat down the drain in Raleigh or ripping the tag off a mattress on the showroom floor.

And in a way, they’re right. So far, what the state elections board has turned over to Wake’s district attorney would amount to misdemeanor charges, if pursued.

But guess what? The speed limit is set to change.

Thanks to Black’s shenanigans (ah, there is a silver lining …) we in North Carolina can look forward to a raft of lobbying, campaign finance and ethics reforms over the next several months, as lawmakers gather for an election-year short session.

For Louisa Warren, the new director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying Reform, the election board hearings and investigations into Black’s alleged misdeeds pose a rare opportunity. Her organization’s parent group, Common Cause, has pushed for reforms for years. Unfortunately, it often takes scandal to give lawmakers the political oomph to make difficult changes. So this spring, the coalition (of dozens of groups from the left and right) will pursue an agenda unimaginable even a few years ago. (more…)

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