Fitzsimon File

It is now likely the General Assembly will come back to town for a special session next week, most likely Wednesday or Thursday. Apparently there is an emergency that cannot wait until lawmakers reconvene early in 2009.

It's not the growing shortfall in the state health plan that covers teachers, state employees and state workers. It has nothing to do with patients dying in state mental hospitals or a judge's ruling that the state owes school systems $750 million.

The emergency that must be addressed immediately is that the recreational boat industry is upset.  Governor Mike Easley vetoed legislation Sunday that the industry supported that would allow large boats to be towed without a permit on North Carolina roads day and night, boats that are wider than the lanes on many roads in the state.

Easley says that would result in deaths and serious injuries on the highways and make roads dangerous for school buses in the rural parts of the state. His official veto message points out that states from Texas to Virginia require the permits. The state Highway Patrol also believes that allowing larger boats on the roads is a bad idea.

But none of that mattered much to lawmakers this summer and doesn't seem to matter much to legislative leaders now. The bill passed the House and Senate with only a handful of dissenters.  Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight brushes off the safety concerns and says relaxing the restrictions is an economic issue.

Other lawmakers in Eastern North Carolina are pushing for the legislative session to override the veto too, including Senator Clark Jenkins, a close ally of Basnight, who owns a marina, and Rep. Arthur Williams from Beaufort County who says the larger boats have been on the highways for years and there "haven't been many accidents."  That ought to settle it.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association in Washington is getting ready for the veto override session, hiring contract lobbyist Joe McClees to represent them. McClees registered as a lobbyist for the Association with the Secretary of State's office August 18.

The possibility of a special session to override Easley's veto next week poses some logistical issues, with many Democratic legislators in Denver for the national convention and many Republicans are headed to Minneapolis the week after for their national meeting.

It takes 3/5 of the lawmakers present and voting to override a veto and Easley has been calling lawmakers trying to come up with the votes to sustain it. There has also been discussion of convening the session Thursday to meet the constitutional deadline, but holding skeletal sessions until the national conventions are over.

The issue itself seems pretty simple, keep the roads safe or allow boats wider than a lane to barrel towards oncoming traffic day and night. Easley makes a persuasive case and also wants lawmakers to impose stricter blood alcohol limits for drivers towing the larger boats, which already exists for drivers of commercial vehicles.

It is true that the boat construction industry is struggling, but that is a function of the economy, not North Carolina's safety regulations. This is more about power, a battle between Eastern North Carolina legislators, led by Basnight, Jenkins and Williams, and Easley in his final months in office. 

The General Assembly reconvenes in early 2009. Recreational boaters ought to be able to live with permits for a few more months and then make their case to the House and Senate and the next Governor.

There are real crises in North Carolina, but upset marina owners and big boat haulers is not one of them.  There is no need to rush to make the roads more dangerous.

 Email This Post  Print This Post

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.