Our tax dollars hard at work

A Few Things Lawmakers Can Agree On
Property taxes are soaring and upstaters are fleeing New York. But lawmakers decided that they had to tackle the ladybug question first.

The state's official insect, a nine-spotted ladybug, would no longer fly in that role: it is extinct in New York State. So legislators took a break from bickering over health care spending and property taxes in the waning days of the session and found common ground on the issue of designating a new state insect, making it the pink spotted ladybug instead.

They passed other laws, too: The snapping turtle would become the state's official reptile. And the striped bass would henceforth become the state's official saltwater fish.

I'm so glad that with all that's going on in the world that these decisions have been put to rest. I found this little tidbit quite amusing:

"I know it's not earth-shattering," said the assemblywoman, Nancy Calhoun, who represents parts of Orange and Rockland Counties. Ms. Calhoun says she was just trying to right a wrong. Lawmakers first adopted the state's official bug in 1989, but the nine-spotted ladybug had already become extinct in the state.

Good job, Nancy, good job.