RALEIGH – It’s the 4th, people are celebrating (with a hint of nervousness as they hear about the shooting at LAX), and there is lots of talk of freedom and what makes our country great.

Don’t get used to this era of good feelings. It’s pretty much confined to a 24-hour period. In North Carolina, the holiday is but a brief respite in what promises to be a long, hot, and frustrating summer of budget squabbles and recriminations.

Our legislative leaders are on edge, and it shows. Their every effort to restore a 2001 gerrymander designed to protect them from voter wrath has been turned away by Democrat, Republican, and independent judges in state and federal courts. The revenue numbers aren’t getting better, time is growing short, and lawmakers are hearing an earful from taxpayers, state employees, local officials, business executives, and special-interest lobbyists.

Power is supposed to be a rush, not a drag.

The push will be on next week. House Speaker Jim Black says that a long-awaited vote on a state lottery may finally happen, beginning with a (probably perfunctory) committee hearing on Tuesday and then a high-stakes floor vote on Wednesday. The outcome will shape the rest of the session’s budget talks, not only due to the revenue implications but also because any hopes of passing a lottery depend on dealmaking on a variety of other budgetary items.

Within a week or two of the lottery vote, we’ll know how the House will respond to the Senate’s unpopular budget proposal. Will their version include tax increases equal to or greater than the Senate’s? Will it wish into existence $51 million in higher revenue collections from tax-compliance efforts (as the Senate did) or swipe hundreds of millions of dollars from highway funds or local governments? Will it eliminate a significant number of filled positions in state government (the only way to save big dollars in a crunch, by the way)? Will there be a House budget at all?

Hanging over all this will be the issue of the fall elections. Also next week, the Justice Department may well preclear Judge Knox Jenkins’ interim House and Senate maps, thus creating enough competitive districts in each chamber to make things interesting.

Hey, if you are a political junkie and have scheduled a July vacation, I’d take another look at the calendar. Remember that the beaches are less crowded, and prices lower, in September . . .