Legislators took time to honor the Tuskegee Airmen this week, including about 40
Cheers,
Legislators took time to honor the Tuskegee Airmen this week, including about 40
Cheers,
The General Assembly ratified bills this week that would standardize and improve eyewitness lineups and police interrogations. The Eyewitness ID Reform Act, House Bill 1625, requires standardized procedures for lineups of individuals or photos. Lineups must be conducted by someone who is not involved in the investigation and has no information about potential suspects. The lineup would also have to be presented sequentially and witness confidence levels of an ID must be recorded. The second bill, House Bill 1626, requires interrogations in a homicide investigation to be recorded by video or audio. The bills now go to the governor to be signed into law.
The House has agreed to study whether the thousands of people who were sterilized through the state eugenics program in the early 20th century should be compensated. Under House Bill 296, the Department of Health and Human Services will report the findings of the study to the General Assembly. In the early 20th century, 30 states implemented eugenics programs to sterilize those who where considered mentally handicapped or genetically inferior to prevent these issues from being passed on genetically.
The Legislature has taken action on a variety of environmental issues:
Nutrient Offset. This contentious issue has started moving as the session winds down. A bill passed last session that undid an Environmental Management Commission rule that set a mitigation fee for development in the
Interbasin Transfer. On Friday, the Senate passed House Bill 820, which had been stripped of its contents to be replaced with the substance of Senate Bill 1421 (a bill addressing interbasin transfers, “IBT”) so that it can go back to the House for a concurrence vote, although the House has not discussed this highly contentious issue at all. The bill directs the EMC to tighten up its rules on transferring water between basins as well as requiring drought management measures equal to that in the donating basin. The bill does not contain a provision that would have undone the controversial Concord-Kannapolis transfer found in other IBT bills.
Impact Fees. Senate Bill 1180, sponsored by lieutenant governor candidate Sen Walter Dalton, which would severely restrict the ability of local governments to adopt impact fees for adequate facilities ordinances, has been sent to the Senate floor. The bill prohibits local governments from imposing impact fees or payments in exchange for project approval unless local government has explicit authority to do so under
Billboards. Senate Bill 150 has also passed the Senate. This bill would allow billboard companies to substantially increase the area for cutting trees and other vegetation around billboards. It is not expected to move in the House this session.
The
The budget invests heavily in education, increasing the amount of money given for scholarships and grants by millions of dollars, while also putting more money into preschool programs. Budget conferees also agreed to take over the counties’ share of Medicaid expenses – estimated at $520 million this fiscal year - over the next three years. This will help our rural counties that are particularly burdened by the increasing costs of Medicaid. In addition, it was decided to give counties more flexibility by allowing them to raise additional taxes for school construction, infrastructure, and other improvements. Counties can decide to raise the sales tax by a quarter of a cent or the land transfer tax to 0.6 percent with local voter approval. There are also good provisions and funding for environmental protection and conservation.
I will provide more details about the budget plan next week after the final version is approved.
Please remember that you can listen to each day’s session, committee meetings and press conferences on the General Assembly’s website at www.ncleg.net. Once on the site, select “audio,” and then make your selection – House Chamber, Senate Chamber, Appropriations Committee Room or Press Conference Room.Cheers,
Pricey
About half of the state will be densely populated by 2030, according to a new report from the Conservation Trust for
The House Energy and Energy Efficiency Committee, which I chair, continued consideration of Senate Bill 3, the renewable energy and efficiency portfolio standard (REPS)/baseload bill. Representatives Grier Martin, Jim Harrell, Carolyn Justice, and I had sponsored the House companion to the REPS part of the bill, House Bill 77. As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, this well intentioned bill, originally proposed to move us toward a more sustainable energy future, has been loaded up with sweeteners for the utilities. We have had several hours of hearings and discussion on the bill and hope to make some well needed changes to the bill before it is voted out of the Energy Committee this Monday. It then must go to the Committees on Public Utilities and Finance. Public opposition to the bill is heating up, with consumer advocates and most environmentalists opposed to the bill and most of the business community in favor of it. The Governor's office has also expressed concerns with the bill.
The Charlotte Observer and News and Observer have written excellent editorials on the bill, with links posted below.
Editorial: Fix it or Hold it
http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/202831.html
Editorial: Power Plays
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/643210.html
Existing hog lagoons would be phased out and new ones would be difficult to build under legislation approved this week by the House Agriculture Committee. These open pits - which store hog waste that is later sprayed on fields - are smelly health hazards that have made living conditions deplorable for neighbors of the farms. The state has had a moratorium on new lagoons for the past 10 years, but replacing them with new, cleaner technology is expensive. Senate Bill 1465 (I cosponsored the House companion, House Bill 1254, sponsored by Carolyn Justice), proposes a $2 million a year cost-sharing program to help farmers pay the cost of replacing the pits with more environmentally friendly systems. It also would create a pilot program to use methane from the lagoons to generate electricity. The bill is supported by farm, industry, and some environmental groups and would represent a major step forward after years of trying to find better ways to handle hog waste. The deal will protect farmers' investments and livelihoods while also starting to clean up the state's waters and soil.
A final budget and the end of this year's legislative session are in sight. The House and the Senate have nearly completed negotiations on a final spending plan and committee chairs have been asked to finish their work by July 28. General Assembly leaders are continuing discussions on a strategy for the state to assume the Medicaid costs paid by the counties and members of both chambers are considering a number of ways to do this. Some of the plans would allow the counties to levy either a quarter-cent sales tax or a .4 percent land transfer tax, but only with voter approval. Those plans would make sure that counties have the money they need to pay for schools and other infrastructure needs and could result in lower property taxes.
In other business this week, we made some important progress on bills to reform our medical malpractice laws and to improve our criminal justice system. We also moved closer to protecting residents of long-term care facilities from the fire hazards associated with smoking, and to continuing to guard our environment against the problems associated with hog lagoons.
Cheers,
Pricey
The Senate passed a House bill this week that would ban school bus drivers from talking on cell phones while driving, a bill which I co-sponsored, House Bill 183. This common sense safety legislation passed the Senate unanimously. School bus drivers would face a misdemeanor and minimum $100 fine if convicted. The bill will now go to the governor to be signed into law.
Cigarettes that burn out safely when left unattended would be required in
A new report from the environmental group Environmental Defense predicts that new technologies to manage hog waste could generate 7,000 jobs and $10 billion over a 20-year period. The report says that hog farmers should replace lagoon systems with cleaner systems that create marketable byproducts such as compost. Rep. Earl Jones and I have introduced legislation , House Bill 1822, that would require a permanent phase out of old hog lagoons that don't adopt the new technologies, but resistance from the hog industry has prevented that bill being heard. In addition, Rep. Carolyn Justice has sponsored legislation, House Bill 1933, which I cosponsored, which would require that hog lagoons adopt the new technologies, and bans new lagoons that don't. That bill is pending in the House Agriculture Committee, where it has been held up until the hog industry's objections can be dealt with. And why can't we just pass good legislation over the objections of the hog industry? Not until we get true campaign finance reform in
Budget negotiators from both houses continue to make progress on the state's spending plan for this fiscal year, having agreed on pay increases of 5 percent for educators and 4 percent for other state employees. This week, the Senate also moved closer to accepting the House version of a plan to free up money in the counties for school construction and other needs. The plan would relieve counties of their Medicaid costs - more than an estimated $500 million this year -- within a few years. The plan would also give many of the state's poorest workers an earned income tax credit that would lessen some of their tax costs. The plan now returns to the House, where my colleagues and I will continue to push for greater tax relief and more money for education.
In other business, the House approved legislation this week that would better protect our children from sexual predators and keep them safer on their school buses. The House also signed off on landmark legislation to make mental health care more affordable for thousands of people in