Tuesday March 31, 2009
It’s about 3:30 and the Judiciary Committee just approved a bill that would make it a traffic violation to “block the box” in marked intersections in cities over 50,000 circulation. It next goes to the Senate.
Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the committee, offered an amendment that would be an unfunded mandate, requiring cities to mark the interscetions with spots to show where motorists have to reach to avoid blocking an intersection.
Lawlor, possibly anticipating the committee’s upcoming debate on decriminalizing small amount of marijuana, set up a hashish reference.
“Can you put hash marks in the bill?” Lawlor asked, innocently. “That’s in another bill,” a committee member replied, referring to the pot bill on the agenda. “It’s coming up later,” Lawlor said, picking up on the joke.