Representative Harry Warren
♦This week started out slowly with just four bills on Monday’s calendar, but the pace picked up on Tuesday with 21 bills on the calendar. Wednesday’s calendar had 20 more bills for consideration and Thursday saw 14 more. Due to the urgency in completing the House budget and tax plans, a special Friday session was held and an additional 17 bills were up for consideration. Among the Friday bills was
HB 998 - The Tax Simplification and Reduction Act. Unlike the Senate plan, the House proposal does not endorse a transition to an expanded application of the state sales tax. The House plan would reduce the personal income tax to a flat rate of 5.9% (currently, it has a three-tier bracket of 6% , 7% & 7.75% ); it would reduce the corporate income tax gradually over a five-year period, from 6% to 5.4%. While this would not give North Carolina the lowest CIT in the Southeast, it will make us extremely competitive for new business start-ups, expansions and relocations. The reduction in revenue from these rate reductions would be realized through the sunsetting of selected tax exemptions and a limited expansion of the sales tax. A link to HB 998 is available (above) for your review.
The House Appropriations Committee is working very hard to complete the House Budget proposal. They expect to have the budget posted on line this Sunday. You may check for it by going to www.ncleg.net and clicking on selected links.
One bill on Monday’s calendar that is relevant to Rowan County was SB 269, the Rowan County Airport Deannexation Bill, which was scheduled for its third reading. The bill passed on a vote of 94 to 16, and the Rowan County Airport is now under the one taxing and regulatory entity of the County Commissioners.
On Tuesday, the most controversial bill, of the nearly twenty that were debated, had to be SB 306, Capital Punishment Amendments. This bill was debated for more than an hour on the House floor as members, directly along party lines, argued for and against the bill that would repeal the Racial Justice Act, which allowed death row convicts to challenge a death sentence on the grounds of racial discrimination in regards to their jury selection. Nearly every one of approximately 159 convicts filed law suits challenging their death sentences, including white convicts whose victims were white that were convicted by white juries. The 2010 -2011 session saw the passage of a bill that modified the parameters of the RJA to limit the statistical information to the area and history of the jurisdiction of the crime/trial. SB 306 would repeal the law. The bill was on Wednesday’s calendar for its third reading and we enjoyed another round of discussion before passing it.
As we approach the end of the “long” session, June 30, there is still much unfinished work to plow through. The House budget should be out and on line next week. Then, the House and Senate must work together to formulate a budget that the Governor will sign. There is also the matter of tax revision that remains to be completed. As with the budget, there is a pretty clear chiasm between the House vision of tax reform and that of the Senate. Between those two topics there should be plenty of lively debate and negotiating going on in Raleigh. If that wasn’t enough, we also have the Voter ID bill for the Senate to act upon.
The upcoming June Town Hall meeting will be held on Friday, June 26, at the Rowan County Commissioner’s Chambers located at 130 W. Innes St., Salisbury, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Mark your calendar!
Here are some of the more notable public bills that were passed this week:
SB 156 – Clarify LEC Procedures/TC. This act clarifies the Legislative Ethics Committee’s investigative procedures and to make other technical changes as recommended by the Legislative Ethics Committee.
SB 411 – Ethics Requirements for MPOs/RPOs. This is an act to provide that MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organizations) and RPOs (Rural Transportation Planning Organizations) are subject to ethics provisions of state government, as recommended by the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee.
SB 129 - Limit State Facilities Finance Act Debt. This bill is a reincarnation of Representative Rayne Brown’s House Bill from last session that sought to restrict the State’s ability to circumvent the State Constitution in order to borrow money or go in debt without a vote of the people by utilizing certificates of participation. Since the institution of the Capital Facilities Act of 2003, 40% of our State debt has been acquired by this process.
SB 239 – Amend NC Business Corporation Act. This legislation allows powers granted to the board of directors in GS 55-6-21 (issuance of shares) to be delegated by the board to one or more officers of the corporation, unless the articles of incorporation or bylaws state otherwise. It also allows designated officers of the corporation, in addition to its board, to determine the terms on which the rights, options, or warrants are issued, their form and content, and the consideration needed for their issuance. It also contains a variety of other changes. You may follow the link to get more details.
SB 252 – Increase Penalty/Controlled Substance Crimes. This bill amends GS 90-108(b) and, as the title indicates, makes the penalty for an intentional violation of the Controlled Substances Act under GS 90-108 a Class G felony (was, Class I). This law would become effective December 1, 2013, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
SB 279 – Estates/Trusts/Guardianship Amendments. This is an act to update and clarify provisions of the laws governing estates, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, and other fiduciaries.
SB 387 – Forest Service Changes/Bedding Law Right of Entry. This is an act to make technical and conforming changes pertaining to the renaming of the North Carolina Forest Service and to make other changes in the forest service statutes.
SB 489 – Consumer Finance Act Amendments. This act modifies the maximum interest rate allowed and makes various amendments to the North Carolina Consumer Finance Act to ensure continued access to credit.
SB 530 – Prohibit E-cigarette Sales to Minors. This is an act to prohibit the distribution of tobacco-derived products and vapor products to minors. It provides that it is also a Class 2 misdemeanor to sell, distribute, or purchase on behalf of any person under the age of 18 any tobacco products, tobacco-derived products, vapor products, or components of vapor products. It also provides language for the sign which should be prominently displayed near the point of sale prohibiting the sale of these products.
SB 539 – Jury List/Date of Birth Information. This bill will authorize the Administrative Office of the Courts to obtain access to date of birth information for purposes of adding a unique identifier that can be used to remove duplicate juror records when preparing the master jury list.
SB 634 – Increase Penalties/Utilities Theft. This legislation provides that the prohibitions against any person, other than an employee of the company owning or supplying a gas, water, or electric meter, who obstructs, alters, bypasses, tampers with, or in any way interferes with the operation of a meter or other measuring instrument apply to water as well as natural gas, illuminating fuel, or electricity. Also clarifies that it is unlawful to connect or reconnect water pipes as well as gas mains, service pipes, or wires that furnish natural or artificial gas, water, or electricity to consumers. Adds that it is unlawful to reconnect or otherwise turn back on one or more of electric, gas, or water utilities after they have been lawfully disconnected or turned off by the utility provider
SB 486 – Pertussis Education & Awareness. This is an act requiring hospitals to provide parents of newborns with educational information about pertussis disease and available vaccine protections in order to better protect newborns against pertussis disease.
SB 542 – Drug Testing for Long-term Care Applicants & Employees. This is an act to require long-term care facilities to mandate that applicants for employment and certain employees submit to drug testing for controlled substances. It provides that if the results indicate the presence of a controlled substance, the home must not employ the applicant unless the applicant provides the home with written verification from his or her doctor stating that every controlled substance identified has been prescribed.
SB 443 – Disposition of Abandoned Firearms. According to this bill, disposition of the firearm includes destroying a firearm that lacks a legible, unique identification number or that is unsafe for use. It requires the head or chief of the law enforcement agency to maintain a record of the destruction of the firearm. It removes, as an option for the disposition of the firearm, turning it over to the law enforcement agency applying for the disposition of the firearm for official use of that agency. The bill permits disposition of the firearm by transferring it to a museum or historical society or by maintaining the firearm for training or experimental purposes.
SB 124 – Shoot Gun From Inside/to Harm or Incite Fear. This bill would make it a criminal offense (a Class E felony) to discharge a firearm from within an enclosure (building, structure, motor vehicle, or other conveyance or enclosure) with the intent to do harm or incite fear.
Bills passed and sent to the Governor:
SB 129 – Limit State Facilities Finance Act Debt. This act prohibits issuance of debt under the State Capital Facilities Finance Act.
SB 210 – Authorize Chief Magistrates. This legislation provides for the appointment of Chief Magistrates.
SB 252 – Increase Penalty/Controlled Substance Crimes. This bill increases the criminal penalty for certain violations of the Controlled Substances Act.
SB 279 – Estates/Trusts/Guardianships Amendments. This is an act to update and clarify provisions of the laws governing estates, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney and other fiduciaries.
HB 32 –Increase Year’s Allowance. This act increases the amount of the year’s allowance for a surviving spouse from $20,000 to $30,000.
HB 114 – No SS Number Required/Absolute Divorce. This is an act to no longer require that a compliant or judgment for absolute divorce contain the Social Security number of a party.
HB 142 – Provide Access to Campus Police Records. This legislation provides public access to certain information maintained by campus police agencies affiliated with private, nonprofit institutions of higher education.
HB 301 – Clarifying Changes/Engineers/Surveyors Laws. This act makes clarifying changes to the laws regulating engineers and land surveyors and to waive the examination requirement for GIS practitioners with certain experience until July 1, 2014.
Sincerely, Harry
N.C. House of Representatives District 77, Rowan County
611 Legislative Office Building Raleigh,
North Carolina 27603
(919) 733-5784
