Womble Carlyle Legislative Update for the week of May 18th
By Unknown
House Budget
It was a week of herding cats for the House Leadership as
they worked their budget through caucus, subcommittees, caucus, committee,
caucus, then caucus again, caucus again, and caucus yet again, then an
emergency trip to the Rules Committee to assuage the objections to the
increased DMV fees, and then to the House floor. But the House budget
passed with strong bi-partisan support; final reading took place in the wee
hours of this morning.
The House Appropriations Committee met Tuesday to consider
over 120 amendments. Last night and this morning the full House dispensed
with nearly 70 amendments before adopting the final spending package of $22.2
billion with strong bi-partisan support and sending it to the Senate.
The House spending plan raises new money with increased DMV
fees of nearly 50 percent which caused an uproar among Republicans and
Democrats. Ultimately the fee increase will only be 30 percent and those funds
will augment road-building and maintenance, upgrade the state ports, ferry vessel
repair and replacement. North Carolinians will see their annual vehicle
registration fee go from $28 to $36.50 (not including county property taxes
that are collected at the same time) and an 8-year driver’s license fee would
increase from $32 to $41.60.
In a few hours you’ll be able to read the House
Budget Money Report here and the accompanying
bill language here.
The Senate plans to work all of next week voting on their
version.
Program Evaluation Projects
A decade ago the General Assembly created the Joint
Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee to evaluate programs the
state is funding to make smart decisions regarding future funding. The
Committee is made up of members from the House and Senate who are given the
responsibility of examining whether public services are delivered
effectively. Each year they adopt a work plan for their staff.
Here’s what they’ll look at this year:
·
Funding
Formulas for K-12 Public Schools and Feasibility of Student-Based Funding
·
Community
Colleges Funding Formula
·
Performance
of Privatized State Government Functions
·
Effectiveness
of Economic Development Tiers
·
Effectiveness
of Medicaid Program Integrity
·
Feasibility
of Consolidating State Purchase of Health Care Services
·
School
Calendar Flexibility
·
Performance
of Medicaid Data Warehouse
·
Management
of Layers and Span of Control for State Agency Executive Offices
·
Management
of Inmate Health Care
·
Professional
Educator Licensure Process and Teacher Education Requirements
·
Analysis
of North Carolina Lottery Commission Operations
·
Implementation
of Results First in NC
·
Review
of DOT’s Ferry Division
·
Management
of State Pension Fund Investments
“Ag-Gag” Bill
HB 405
– Property Protection Act – has passed the Senate and been sent
to the Governor for his signature. The bill allows employers to sue
employees who use their positions to gain access to documents or to secretly
record areas that aren’t open to the public. Known by opponents as an
“ag-gag” bill, they argue that it is specifically intended to prevent undercover
investigations of farms and agriculture facilities. Supporters have
stated that it protects the rights of property-owners.
Opossum Drop
HB 574
– Opossum Exclusion From Wildlife Laws – has passed the Senate
and will be sent to the Governor. Clay’s Corner is Brasstown, NC will
once again be able to have a New Year’s Eve opossum drop because opossums will
be exempt statewide from protections pertaining to capture and treatment of
animals from December 29th until January 2nd. Since
it’s a state-wide bill, any city would be allowed to participate in opossum
drops for New Year’s… Just an observation.
Renewable Energy
In 2007 NC became the first state in the region to adopt a
renewable portfolio standard which required utilities to get increasing amounts
of the energy it sells from renewable sources such as solar, wind and “green”
sources so that by 2021 their portfolios would reach 12.5 percent
renewables. The 2007 agreement was the result of much stakeholder input,
good faith and substantial compromise all around. In addition to the
clean environment benefit, producers of green energy appreciate the market
demand created by the law which in turn helps to subsidize the cost of innovation.
The argument against renewables is they cost more to produce and are less
reliable than traditional energy sources. Rep. Hager’s bill, HB 332 –
Energy Policy Amendments, freezes the renewable energy portfolio
requirement at its current 6% level and freezes the current cap on annual costs
utilities can charge customers at $12 per year -- not even halfway to the
mandated levels in the 2007 law but still with years to go. Hager’s
reason for the bill is to keep costs low for ratepayers. But advocates are
concerned about renewable markets and capital investments into new
technologies. The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee after a
lively debate and voice vote and was referred to the Senate Finance
Committee. Finance Committee Chairman Rucho declined to allow public
comment on the bill at the hearing and he declared that the bill passed by
voice vote while members present insist it failed; the chairman declined the motion
for “division” which allows a vote by show of hands. The bill is expected
to reach the Senate floor early next week although the Finance Committee has
not yet released the bill.
Champions Among Us
The state officially lent her voice to the chorus of
congratulations to Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils on their
2015 NCAA Basketball Championship title by honoring the team with a Joint
Resolution. The coaching staff and players attended the session, made
remarks, signed autographs and posed for pictures. Though your Government
Relations Team bleeds two shades of blue, we were proud to of the Blue
Devils’ enormous feat this year, exciting athleticism and class.
Coach K had something for everyone: he urged the legislators
to remember our educators as the real heroes in NC. He then touched the
Tar Heels in the crowd by remembering with admiration Coaches Dean Smith and
Bill Guthridge who we lost earlier this year. And for you Wake Forest
crowd, he told Senate Chaplain (and former Demon Deacon) Peter Milner that it
wasn’t about games, it was about championships, and that is humbling and good.
Sometimes
it’s okay to secretly admire your adversary; Tuesday was one of those days.
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