Pardon Our Dust
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The legislature convened for a one-day session last Thursday, where theyconsidered several conference reports, two local bills, and one bill makingappointments to several boards and commissions. Then on Friday, lawmakersheard from members of the public during a House and Senate jointredistricting committee hearing. Lawmakers will be back in town thisThursday for another joint redistricting meeting.
Legislators Return to Raleigh
Last Thursday, legislators returned to Raleigh to consider several items ofunfinished business from the 2017 regular session. During the one-dayAugust 3 session, lawmakers did not consider any of the four bills that theGovernor vetoed in July, but they did vote on several bills that were inconference committees at the end of session.
The Governor has 10 days to sign or veto the four bills that emerged fromconference committees and were subsequently approved by both chambers.
On the Governor’s Desk
A bill originally titled “Amend Environmental Laws 3” emerged outof a conference committee asHB 770: Various Clarifying Changes. The new HB 770:
- Makes changes to ensure that the state complies with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.
- Clarifies single-stream funding for LME/MCOs.
- Modifies the membership of the NC Medical Board.
- Bars attorneys serving as trustees from representing noteholders or borrowers while initiating a foreclosure proceeding.
SB 16: Business Regulatory Reform Act of 2017 gained six new provisions and deleted 11 provisions included in theprevious version. The new provisions include:
- Makes changes to Department of Labor laws.
- Codifies the Carolina Star Program.
- Makes changes to laws governing landfills and the life-of-site permits for landfills.
- Clarifies the definition of “commercial real estate.”
- Exempts certain pressure vessels form the Uniform Boiler and Pressure Vessel Act.
- Extends the expiration date for certain wastewater system improvement permits.
No policy changes were made to SB 407: Employee Misclassification/ IC Changes, other than the effective date of the legislation. SB 407 also pushes backthe effective date for the reduction of days (reduces from 14 to 10 days)that an employer has to file protest of a claim against the employer fromOctober 1, 2017 to July 1, 2018.
The final version ofSB 628: Various Changes to the Revenue Laws deleted provisions relating to captive insurance company taxes and adds inseveral new provisions, including modifications to gross premium tax lawsand allows an individual to contribute their tax refund for early detectionof breast and cervical cancer at the Cancer Prevention and Control Branchwithin the Department of Health and Human Services.
Awaiting Final Approval
HB 162: Amend Administrative Procedure Lawscame out of conference committee and was approved by the Senate, but theHouse did not vote on it before going home. If passed, HB 162 woulddisallow any new regulations that would cost at least $100 million overfive years and would require any rules with a projected $10 millionaggregate financial impact during any five year period to be reviewed bythe General Assembly. HB 162 is still eligible to be considered by theHouse during the August 18 session.
Redistricting process moves forward, next session scheduled for August18
During the August 6 one-day session, House and Senate leadership announcedthe schedule that the legislature plans to follow in order to abide by thecourt’s ruling that the legislative districts ruled unconstitutional mustbe redrawn by September 1, 2017.
The session originally scheduled for September 6 has been moved up toAugust 18. During that session, which will likely last at least a week, thelegislature will be able to consider veto overrides, bills in conferencecommittees, constitutional amendments, and bills dealing with election law,including the new legislative maps.
Continuing with the redistricting process, last Friday the House and Senateredistricting committees jointly met to review the county grouping processfor the new maps, and to hear from the members of the public on whatcriteria should be considered when creating the new maps.
Click hereto review the documents from the meeting.
Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), chairman of the House Select Committee onRedistricting, announced that the redistricting committees would meetjointly again on August 10 to adopt the redistricting criteria. At thatpoint, the map drawers will use that criteria to create maps. Once the mapsare completed, they will be released to the public for review, andlawmakers plan to hold public hearings across the state on August 22.
Rep. Lewis stated that they hope to be able to hold floor votes on the mapson August 24. The maps are not subject to approval by the Governor, so theywill become law immediately after they are approved by the House andSenate.