They’ve printed the same charge over and over – it seems like just about every newspaper article and every editorial harps on one fact: It costs $42,000 a day for the General Assembly to be is session.

I guess that’s a backdoor way of opposing holding a special session to repeal Charlotte’s city ordinance allowing grown men to enter restrooms occupied by women and young girls.

That ordinance goes into effect April 1^st – on April Fool’s Day – but, unfortunately, it’s not a joke.

I admit I am all for cutting government spending. And if the media wants to support some real spending cuts there’re plenty of wasteful programs that make the cost of one day of the General Assembly look like peanuts. After all, state government spends twice that $42,000 amount every minute of the year.

There’s actually a simple reason for holding a special session: According to lawyers advising the legislature, once the Charlotte ordinance goes into effect it can create what’s called a ‘vested right’ in legal parlance. That means waiting may give a grown man, who likes the idea of entering a Charlotte locker room full of young ladies, a legal argument that changing the law denies his vested right.

That sounds plumb crazy to me. But I’m not an attorney. And I’ve seen liberal federal judges do crazier things. And not very long ago.

I’ve also, over the years, have had the misfortune of paying attorney’ s fees, now and then, and understand in a case like this the legal bills would surely end up costing taxpayers a lot more than $42,000.

So if we’re going to stop the Charlotte City Council’s ordinance it’s best to get it over with before April 1. Acting now is like getting a chance to buy an insurance policy after the storm predictors have said there’s a hurricane heading your way. It may cost something. But it saves a lot more.