Rick Perry's Texas: Noodling, Helicopter Hog-Hunting Now Legal
By AMY BINGHAM Aug. 30, 2011
"Pork Chopper" Bill
ABCNEWS.com
What would America be like under a Rick Perry presidency? Well, if Rick Perry's Texas is any indication, the country could look forward to 85 mph speed limits, hog hunting from helicopters and a security check "fast-lane" for concealed handgun carriers.
The Texas governor has shot to the top of the Republican field since announcing his candidacy earlier this month, usurping fellow candidate Mitt Romney's front-runner status last week. The most recent CNN poll showed Perry beating Romney by 13 points among Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters.
Perry's Lone Star State will usher in about 700 new laws when its fiscal year begins Thursday that include everything from legalizing "noodling," a type of fishing where people catch catfish with their bare hands, to raising the maximum speed limit on some state highways to 85 mph, the fastest in the country.
"The Texas legislature is often a circus of curious legislation. You can go to any session and pull out a few things that are unusual to say the least," said Jim Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
Here is a look at seven uniquely-Texas laws that emerged from the past legislative session.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rick-perrys-texas-noodling-helicopter-hog-hunting-now/story?id=14408466
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