April 17, 2015 NC Legislative Update
By Unknown
Legislators are back in Raleigh after a week off and it
doesn’t look like anything has changed after the extra time they were given to
reflect on the session. Just as we’ve seen before:
·
There’s
a new bill that would allow the opossum to be dropped in Brasstown on New
Year’s Eve.
·
There’s
another economic incentives bill in the House.
·
The
usual bill to allow hunting
on Sundays has been filed.
·
There
were dogs that had been rescued from puppy mills at the legislature to lobby
for the puppy mill bill. (And YES, that was best thing to happen all
week!!!! Well, for Angel at least. Laura watched and smiled.)
One thing that we haven’t seen before is the
introduction of multiple bills dealing with the prohibition of powdered
alcohol. You heard it right. Powdered. Alcohol.
There’s just too much to say about that.
Opossum* Drop
There’s a perennial issue out there that offers a good
lesson in sausage-making: the Clay’s Corner Opossum Drop. For more than six
years, Clay’s Corner in Brasstown, NC has been fighting to maintain its now
famous New Year’s Eve tradition of lowering a caged Opossum at the stroke of
the new year. PETA and other animal lovers groups have been trying to get it
stopped through administrative hearings and Superior Court, but lawmakers have
been trying to find a way to let this tradition continue in a limited
way. In 2014, a bill was filed to carve out Clay County from NC wildlife
laws regarding opossums at year’s end, which many argue is unconstitutional.
This year’s attempt is HB 574
which exempts opossums statewide from protections pertaining to capture and
treatment of animals from December 29th until January 2nd.
The effect of that carve out is that New Year’s opossum drops would be legal
statewide. The bill got a nod from the House and will be considered by
the Senate. It would be in bad taste to say that there’s more than one way to
skin a cat.
HB 920
– Omnibus Economic Development Improvements – is the latest
economic development bill to be introduced in the House. With a
bipartisan sponsorship led by Rep. Jason Saine, this bill includes many of the
same things as the previous economic development bill that the House sent over
to the Senate. But because the Senate is sitting on that bill, the House
decided to hit them again. New additions in this bill include:
- Historic rehabilitation tax credits
- Film grant fund modifications
- Credit for manufacturing cigarettes for exportation
- Use of North Carolina ports credit
- Motorsports sales tax credit
Judicial Elections
HB 8 –
Restore Partisan Statewide Judicial Elections – would restore the
“D” and “R” beside a judicial candidate’s name on the ballot. A decade
ago, judicial elections were made nonpartisan and public funds were made
available for judicial campaigns by a Democratic legislative majority. In the
last few years, Republicans have eliminated public financing and outside
spending has taken its place in judicial elections. This bill would make them
partisan elections, requiring primaries in some cases. Bill sponsors
argued that providing candidate party affiliation will help voters to make
choices based on whether a candidate’s ideology matches their own, thus
increasing voter interest in these elections. Opponents don’t believe
that partisan politics should be brought into races of judges who should be
impartial.
HB 344
– Gubernatorial Team Ticket – also passed the House Elections
Committee on Tuesday. This bill would change the current method of
separately electing the governor and lieutenant governor, instead making them
run as a single ticket. Candidates would run separately in the primaries
before being teamed up for the general election. The bill sponsor, Rep.
Bert Jones, believes that the governor and lieutenant governor should be from
the same party and might remember the photo finish between LTG Dan Forest and
Democratic candidate Linda Coleman – who has formed her committee to run
again. As a practical matter this bill would make it close to impossible
for an unaffiliated candidate to run. Look for it on the House floor next
week.
LegalZoom
HB 436
– Unauthorized Practice of Law Changes – updates the definition
of “practice law” and authorizes the State Bar to challenge an additional list
of unlicensed services, including online services like LegalZoom. Online
service companies argue that the State Bar is simply trying to protect its
turf, but the State Bar argues that there is a legitimate concern for public protection.
The bill easily passed the House Judiciary I Committee and will now head to the
House floor.
Revenue Forecast
Most North Carolinians filed their taxes this week and have
an opinion about the new Republican Tax Plan that is now fully in effect – they
are either winners or losers. Detractors from our new tax structure have been
awaiting a post-April 15th notice of a structural budget deficit,
but whether the sky is actually falling is not clear. The state budget is
drafted, considered and passed by the General Assembly upon the professional
advice of its staff economist, who says there will be budget hole of $94
million. However, if you ask the State Budget Officer who answers
directly to the Governor and has responsibility for implementing the enacted
budget, he’s still suggesting a hole of $271 million. It's rare that they don't agree. There will be a
shortfall – and there always is since NC budgets one-time money in addition to
recurring revenues from fees and taxes. We’re anxious to see what the “April
Surprise” looks like this year since it will determine the tax policy talking
points for the 2016 elections. (I know – too soon!)
This leaves the Republicans with the problem providing
adequate funding for state and local governments with the natural but
problematic solution of raising taxes. A few creative members are now
looking at gaming revenue to fill some gaps.
Sweepstakes
HB 938
– Comprehensive Gaming Reform – was introduced by Rep. Harry
Warren. This bill would eliminate the State Lottery Commission and
replace it with the North Carolina State Gaming Commission with expanded
oversight covering ALL gaming in the state, including bingo and the boxing
commission. It would also legalize and regulate the operation of
sweepstakes establishments with a valid license issued by the Gaming
Commission. Just a few ways this bill could generate revenue are through
application fees ($250), penalties for operating sweepstakes without a license
($25,000-$100,000), and annual excise taxes on sweepstakes establishments and
devices ($2,000 and $1,000 respectively). It also allows counties and
cities to impose an annual excise tax of $500 on each sweepstakes device and
$1,000 on each sweepstakes establishment. Local governments must
distribute at least 3% of these revenues to the county sheriff’s department or
the municipal police department of the taxing jurisdiction. The remainder
many be used for any public purpose.
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