NEW LAWS WE LOVE

North Carolina's new minimum wage of $6.15 an hour goes into effect Monday.

So does a new lobbying ethics law meant to curb some of the pay-to-play abuses of the Jim Black era.

And...

Political parties not named "Democrat" or "Republican" will have an easier time staying on the ballot. If their candidate for governor or president gets 2 percent of the vote in 2008, they won't have to gather signatures to get on the 2012 ballot. The threshhold had been 10 percent.

On the other hand, the state income tax rate for the super-rich goes down to 8 percent from 8.25 percent.