A former smoker says Barack Obama should light up again.

In a guest column in the New York Times today, author Tony Horwitz says that taking back up the smoking habit might help the Democratic presidential nominee:

Bottom line: small-towners in the Rust Belt and Appalachia don’t cling to guns and religion so much as they do cigarettes.

By rejoining them, Mr. Obama would also touch voters in several heavy-smoking swing states: Michigan, Missouri and Nevada. Added bonus — Virginia and North Carolina, two leading tobacco-producing states, are both in play this election.

The state Senate wants to ban driving while smoking — at least for state employees.

Senators voted 37-7 Monday to prohibit state employees from smoking inside a vehicle owned or leased by state government, David Ingram reports. The bill would also allow local governments to place similar restrictions on vehicles they control.

Violating the law would carry no punishment, though the person in charge of assigning the vehicle would be required to place a no-smoking sign in at least one "conspicuous" area inside.

It would apply to all vehicles assigned by the N.C. Department of Administration's motor pool division.

There was little discussion before senators voted for the bill, which is aimed at improving health. A final Senate vote could happen as soon as Tuesday. If successful, the bill would then move to the House.

Seven bills would deal with North Carolina's signature crop.

The ones most likely to pass deal with where you can smoke.

One bill would prohibit smoking in state and local government buildings. Another bill would outlaw smoking in state-owned vehicles. A third bill is both more discretionary and more expansive, allowing community colleges to prohibit all tobacco products — including chew — on campus.

All three have multiple sponsors and companion bills.

A House bill, meantime, would study whether smoking should be prohibited in foster care homes.

Two other House bills would affect Big Tobacco's bottom line, but the odds area against them.

One bill would increase the state cigarette tax 75 cents per pack — far above Gov. Mike Easley's proposed 20-cent hike and in line with an anti-smoking campaign's push. Another bill would repeal manufacturing tax credits related to exported cigarettes.

Neither has a companion in the Senate.

Only one piece of legislation is relatively friendly to the tobacco industry, and that's not saying much.

That bill, filed by Burlington Republican Rep. Cary Allred, would allow school districts to choose whether to go tobacco-free, essentially undoing an Aug. 1 mandate created by a 2007 bill.

But the bill is not likely to go far any time soon, although it passed a first reading. It has only one sponsor, and there is no companion bill in the Senate.

Gov. Mike Easley may be courting the legislature.

On the heels of state legislators talking skeptically about his proposed increases in "sin taxes" on alcohol and cigarettes, Easley will reportedly be making a personal visit this afternoon.

It is unusual for Easley — or any other governor — to make their budget pitch directly. They usually leave that to the designated number cruncher — in Easley's case, Dan Gerlach.

This could be a sign that Easley is concerned his budget may not pass. Or he's feeling more gregarious after spending all that time campaigning for Hillary Clinton.

Or he's not coming after all, and this is all a ruse to get us to pay more attention to Gerlach.

Update: Easley's not coming, after all. No word on how the rumor started. 

Republicans object to the so-called "sin taxes."

At a press conference this morning, Republican leaders of the state House and Senate said that the state budget should not raise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.

"In tough economic times, it is not the time to raise taxes, particularly the taxes that hit the poorest people," said Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger.

He called the governor's budget "an attempt at legacy building."

For their budget priorities, Berger and House Minority Leader Paul Stam called for cutting spending, completely ending the annual transfer from the Highway Trust Fund, putting a roads bond before voters in November and not raising any state taxes.

On non-budget items, they called for lifting the cap on charter schools, putting constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and curtailing the use of eminent domain before voters, making the murder of an unborn child a crime and ending the de facto moratorium on the death penalty.

Gov. Mike Easley's proposed "sin taxes" could be a tough sell.

In the $21.5 billion budget, Easley proposed increasing taxes on alcohol — four cents on a can of beer, three cents on a bottle of wine and four percent on liquor — to pay for changes in mental health care.

He also proposed boosting the cigarette tax by 20-cents a pack to raise teachers' salaries an average of 7 percent, helping bring the state's teacher pay to the national average of roughly $50,000.

But fellow Democrats in the legislature were dubious. House Speaker Joe Hackney said he was skeptical that any tax hikes would pass.

"We didn't anticipate any new taxes this year," Hackney said. "This is a year for tightening our belts. This is a year for looking for efficiencies. This is what our constituents are doing."

Senate leader Marc Basnight said the tax hikes come at a bad time. (N&O)

The latest survey of teens in North Carolina indicates that fewer of them are smoking cigarettes.

The N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund announced today that the 2007 N.C. Youth Tobacco Survey of 7,500 middle and high school students found that 19 percent of high school students and 4.5 percent of middle school students smoke. Officials said those rates are historic lows.

The trust fund is chaired by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who hailed the results as "another step closer to reaching our goal of creating the first tobacco-free generation in North Carolina."