SB307-09 | newsobserver.com projects

Votes fly on busy day

Submitted by bniolet on July 15, 2009 - 4:47pm.

The House and Senate dug in and heard scores of bills Wednesday.

Notable votes included bills on beer, reptiles and coastal insurance.

* HB 1595: Allows grocery stores to offer beer tastings similar to wine tastings that are already allowed. Beer can be served in portions no greater than 2 oz. The bill heads back to the House for a final vote.

* SB 307: Regulates possession and keeping of certain dangerous reptiles such as venomous snakes. Bill now goes to the governor.

* HB 1305: Would place the burden of paying for the damage caused by a catastrophic hurricane on homeowners across the state. Bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Snake handlers beware of bill

Submitted by bniolet on July 10, 2009 - 7:34am.

Tags: reptiles | SB307-09 | Under the Dome

The Burmese python can grow longer than 20 feet, produce several dozen offspring in a litter and devour small children and pets. In North Carolina, it has a new natural enemy: the lawmaker.

There could be thousands of exotic, deadly snakes slithering loose in the state with the potential to harm, in addition to people and animals, entire ecosystems. This is not to mention the possibility of crocodiles.

But the legislature is likely to give final approval next week to a bill that would restrict the ownership and prevent the escape of venomous and large constrictor snakes, as well other dangerous reptiles.

The bill adds provisions to a law that hasn't been updated since 1949, when large snakes were less of a problem. In the intervening decades, perhaps abetted by Alice Cooper, Nastassja Kinski and wrestler Jake the Snake, the reptiles have gained a certain popularity as household pets.

The bill, which received preliminary approval Thursday in the House and has already passed the Senate, would require these reptiles to be housed and transported in escape-proof containers and would punish people for violating safety precautions. (N&O)

What the Senate has passed

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on May 14, 2009 - 9:05am.

Tags: crossover | SB1018-09 | SB1062-09 | SB11-09 | SB138-09 | SB167-09 | SB307-09 | SB575-09 | SB59-09 | SB66-09 | SB68-09 | SB955-09 | Under the Dome

What has the Senate passed by crossover?

Here are some of the more interesting bills that made it past the upper chamber before the deadline to be considered by the House:

S.B. 138: Ban hallucinogenic herb Salvia divinorum

S.B. 1062: Allow judges to include custody of pets in a domestic protective order

S.B. 1018: Prohibit stores on the Outer Banks from using plastic bags

S.B. 11: Allow district attorneys and assistant D.A.'s to carry concealed weapons in courthouses

S.B. 307: Regulate venomous or constricting pet snakes

S.B. 167: Ban cell phones and tobacco in state prisons

More after the jump.

Snakes on a plain?

"If we get a cobra loose in Fayetteville, will you come down there and catch it?"

— Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand to Sen. Ed Jones, who had sponsored a bill to make it a Class I misdemeanor to release a venomous snake into the wild on May 13, 2009. Rand thought that was not tough enough.

Comments (1)

Bill would regulate pet snakes

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on May 13, 2009 - 10:02am.

Ed Jones The Senate approved a bill to regulate snakes.

Sen. Ed Jones sponsored the bill at the request of herpetologists to increase the penalties for pet owners who negligently release venomous snakes.

Senate Bill 307 would make it a Class I misdemeanor to improperly transport, let loose or otherwise expose the public to a creatures such as an African Rock Python, a Burmese Python or a Green Anaconda.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand wondered if the bill was tough enough.

"Is that sufficient penalty for turning a cobra loose on an innocent population?" he asked Jones.

Jones, a Halifax County Democrat, said that owners would have objected to tougher standards.

Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, then asked a more personal question.

"If we get a cobra loose in Fayetteville, will you come down there and catch it?" he asked.

"Only if it looks like a worm," Jones replied.

The bill passed 46-0 and now heads to the House.

More Senate bills

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on February 25, 2009 - 10:45am.

More Senate bills of note:

S.B. 266: No Sex Offenders on Juries, Sen. Tony Rand

S.B. 272: Defense of Marriage, Sen. James Forrester

S.B. 290: No Federal Stimulus Money for Illegal Aliens, Sen. Forrester

S.B. 305: Incentives for Energy Conservation, Sen. Dan Clodfelter

S.B. 307: Regulate Ownership & Use of Certain Reptiles, Sen. Ed Jones