In August, I wrote about a provision that House Speaker Jim Black strong-armed into the budget at the last minute that requires that every kid in the state entering kindergarten to receive a full-bore eye exam.

Forget that some counties don't have an optometrist.

Forget that eye screenings performed by pediatricians are already required by federal law.

Forget that the vast majority of kids do not need more extensive exams.

And forget that the exams will cost $100 a pop -- benefiting the state's eye examiners and almost no one else.

Oh, did I mention that Black is an optometrist?

What I regret is that back in August, I was so busy describing what the deal was and who was opposed to it, and why, that I didn't have room to include a telling quote that came out of my interview with Black.

We were discussing the alleged merits of every kid having an exam with a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist --as opposed to, say, improving the federally mandated screenings by pediatricians.

Black told me that his own daughter had a significant eye problem in her childhood that the screenings wouldn't have identified.

He said he couldn't imagine who would be opposed to the exams.

Well, I said, there's the pediatricians. He harrumphed.

And then there are the ophthalmologists, medical doctors who specialize in the eyes.

That brought Black up short.

He sputtered on, I can't believe ophthalmologists would say they don't support this. ... After all, he said, "They got their cut."

I don't think he meant it to come out that way, but Black's quote tells you what you need to know about this whole eye exam business.

Under the veneer of protecting the safety of the little children, Black is actually protecting his fellow optometrists.

Actually, not protecting them so much as lining their pockets with unnecessary payments for unnecessary exams. And if you don't think that will boost insurance rates, eyesight isn't your biggest problem.

Whether Black did this because the optometrists gave him lots of money to run for office or because he is an optometrist himself is a chicken-egg puzzle. I'll let the State Board of Elections sort it out.

What's gratifying is that I have heard from so many ophthalmologists in our state who say A) they didn't ask for a cut of Black's pie and B) they don't want it.

What's more, their "cut" didn't buy their silence.

Dr. John Wright, a pediatric ophthalmologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, assessed the exam requirement curtly: "It's a waste of time and money."

In other words, it benefits the optometrists, not children's vision.

Here's the worst part: Left unaddressed, Black's little budget item will become a bigger financial albatross for parents and taxpayers (who do you think pays for the kids on Medicaid?) over the next several years when it is expanded through the third grade.

Talk about myopia and the need for exams. Budget leaders need to put on their glasses and take a closer look.