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This Week at the General Assembly-May 27
One of NCHBA’s top legislative priorities took a major step forward this week. H 709 (Protect and Put NC Back to Work), sponsored by Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth), received a favorable report from the House Select Committee on Tort Reform and will be on the House floor next Tuesday. This bill is the first major reform of the state’s workers’ compensation laws since the mid 1990’s when SB 906 was enacted. The enactment of that measure was widely credited with rescuing the workers comp system. However, in the intervening years, a series of gubernatorial appointments have caused the Industrial Commission to become significantly unbalanced in favor of employee interests. These appointments, and unfavorable court decisions, have produced a system that has increased employer costs significantly beyond the national average and has made it virtually impossible to force employees to return to work. The change in legislative leadership brought about by the result of last November’s election made it possible to seek meaningful reform during this session.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, NCHBA—along with the NC Chamber and the NC Retail Merchants—led a coalition of more than eighty business groups and companies in this effort. The bill, which the committee approved, resulted from countless hours of negotiation with representatives of the plaintiffs bar, the GOP Lawyers Association, organized labor, the NC Medical Society, and the Governor’s office. These negotiations produced a consensus bill which all groups endorsed on Thursday. Quick approval is expected by both the House and Senate and the Governor has committed to sign the bill into law.
Perhaps the major reform in the bill is one which ends the current practice of lifetime temporary total disability benefits. This is accomplished by adopting a cap similar to that of surrounding states while crafting narrow exceptions to this cap for truly deserving cases. A new definition of “suitable employment” will speed return to work. Significant changes are made to the structure of the Industrial Commission including reducing the number of commissioners from 7 to 6, imposing term limits, and subjecting future appointments by the Governor to legislative confirmation. These changes, and many others contained in the consensus bill, will, in time, restore needed balance to the system.
Both NCHBA Executive Vice President Mike Carpenter and Builders Mutual’s Stephanie Gay were key participants in the small group which hammered out this compromise over the past several weeks after many long hours of tough negotiation. In the years to come, the enactment of HB 709 will provide substantial savings to our members and to all employers across the state, while improving the system for injured workers. NCHBA and BMIC were pleased to be able to play such an important role in bringing about this reform. Its enactment will not only be one of the most important acts of this session but of any session.
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This Week at the General Assembly-May 20
One step forward … maybe. The House gave final legislative approval Thursday to a compromise on cost-cutting measures to the state employee and teacher health insurance plan that's expected to retain a premium-free option for current workers for their own coverage. The House voted 90-24 on the final piece of legislation that, combined with another bill on Gov. Beverly Perdue's desk, helps close an estimated $515 million shortfall for the plan through mid-2013. The Senate agreed to the compromise Wednesday. The political fight already had led to one Perdue veto, but the governor said Thursday she'll sign both pieces of legislation to end the impasse. The pair of bills ends a month-long stalemate over whether the state would require the 322,000 active workers to pay a monthly premium of roughly $8 to $22 per month. This compromise is the first of a few that will have to occur between the Governor’s office and the General Assembly in order to see adjournment this summer.
Also this week, the House gave final approval to legislation that would put a number of new requirements on cities and towns when they involuntarily annex areas into their corporate limits. The House passed H 845 Annexation Reform Act of 2011 by a vote of 107-9. The legislation will now be considered by the Senate, which earlier approved a moratorium of involuntary annexations. The changes include allowing a petition of 60 percent of property owners in the area to block a proposed annexation. Cities and towns also could no longer charge for water and sewer service hookups under some circumstances.
NCHBA moved a major legislative priority forward this week as well. S 731 Zoning/Design and Aesthetic Controls clarifies that zoning ordinance regulations on non-structural building design elements such as exterior building color, exterior ornamentation, door or window styling or requirements for specific floor plans, may not be applied to residential districts where the density is 5 dwelling units/ac or less. S 731 passed the Senate by a vote of 38-10. You can see the yes and no votes by clicking here. S 731 now resides in the House Government Committee.
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This Week at the General Assembly-May 13
With budget negotiations moving from the House to the Senate, it is now the Senate’s turn to spar with the Governor’s office. Figures released during Senate budget subcommittee meetings showed the Senate spending $40 million less than the House on public education and $626 million less than the Governor’s budget. The Senate and House will likely reconcile their differences. However, the Governor, determined to keep the penny sales tax hike that is set to expire July 1st which is in neither the House or Senate version, is expected to veto any compromise. Part of the Senate budget included a possible resurrection of the 2009 proposal to charge a franchise tax on LLCs. While only in draft form, this proposal was presented to NCHBA staff who informed leadership of our strong opposition to this type of tax. We were told that this proposal is no longer under consideration.
NCHBA’s legislative agenda continues to progress. This week saw three bills take a significant step toward passage: S 731 Zoning/Design and Aesthetic Controls, H 806 Zoning Statute of Limitations/Ag District Change, and H 750 Stormwater Sytem Owners Association/Sanitary District Rules.
S 731 Zoning/Design and Aesthetic Controls clarifies that zoning ordinance regulations on non-structural building design elements such as exterior building color, exterior ornamentation, door or window styling or requirements for specific floor plans, may not be applied to residential structures containing fewer than four dwelling units. This bill was heard in the Senate Commerce Committee and received considerable discussion. A big thanks to sponsor Sen. Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg) for an excellent explanation of the bill and for fending off each challenge to the bill. S 731 will be on the Senate floor on Tuesday, May 17th and is receiving considerable opposition from city and county planners. Watch your e-mail on Monday for a very important legislative alert and request to contact your Senator asking them to vote yes on the bill!
H 806 Zoning Statute of Limitations/Ag District Change corrects two problems with current zoning law applicable to local governments. The first amends the statute of limitations/repose relating to when actions must be brought in order to contest the validity of any zoning or unified development ordinance. The second makes it clear that the General Assembly’s exclusion of ten (10) or more acre lots from subdivision regulation applies equally to back-door efforts to regulate the same land through the use of the zoning statutes to prohibit residential uses. H 806 passed the House on 2nd and 3rd reading and now moves to the Senate. Thanks and kudos go to bill sponsors Rep. Jonathan Jordan (NCHBA member, R-Ashe), Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam (R-Wake), Rep. Tim Moffitt (R-Buncombe) and Rep. Sarah Stevens (R-Surry).
H 750 Stormwater Systems Owners Association/Sanitary District Rules clarifies when and how a developer may transfer ownership of a stormwater system to an owners association and clarifies that sanitary district rules may not conflict with the underlying county requirements. H 750 passed the House Environment Committee and will be heard on the House floor on Monday, May 16th.
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This Week at the General Assembly-May 9
Last week, after nearly 15 hours of floor debate, House lawmakers voted 72-47 to give final approval to the chamber's $19.3 billion spending plan for next year. The lynchpin of the House budget is the expiration of a pair of temporary tax increases that Republicans promised to do away with during the 2010 campaign. However, their expiration will result in at least $1.3 billion less in revenue. The plan also spends $650 million less than Gov. Perdue proposed in her budget for public schools, the University of North Carolina system and community college system, and 11 percent less than what was required to keep services running at current levels. Republicans argue the overall cut is less than half of that percentage when compared to projected annual spending this current fiscal year. Democrats argue more than 20,000 jobs could be lost in the House budget. Republicans say that number is exaggerated.
Five Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the GOP plan, so there may be enough votes in the House to override Gov. Perdue’s promised veto. The bill now goes to the Senate, which will create its own version that was rumored to attempt to rework the level of reductions in the public schools and the UNC system. However, the Democratic defections on the House side have caused Senate Republicans to reassess how they will form the budget in the next few weeks. Meaning, the budget could run through the Senate at warp speed and be sent to the Governor largely in-tact. The Senate's GOP majority is already veto-proof as long as Republicans remain unified. And, just to add fuel to the fire, Gov. Perdue said she's not concerned that five House Democrats voted for the spending plan when she said, "They will be with me when the going gets tough. If we have to make hard decisions, I can take that to the bank." It will be interesting to see how the game of “budget roulette” advances.
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This Week at the General Assembly-May 2
After a two week hiatus, the Legislative Update returns! And, what a busy two weeks it has been.
Before the General Assembly left town for Easter, the GOP controlled legislature had to grapple with another Perdue veto. This time, the issue was over extension of federal unemployment benefits. How could that be controversial? As usual, the devil is in the details. The bill allowing the extension of unemployment benefits also included a provision to continue the state budget (aka continuing resolution) and require the Governor to cut 13 percent from the plan she proposed. The General Assembly is accustomed to passing continuing resolutions – just not in April. If the Governor had signed the legislation, the General Assembly could adjourn on June 30 and go home without agreeing on a budget. So, for the past two weeks, the General Assembly and Governor’s office have taken turns blaming each other for the estimated 37,000 who may go without the extended benefits. While negotiations continue, there is no sign of an agreement. Just so you know the rest of the story, the reason the state was extending federal unemployment benefits is because the U.S. Labor Department notified North Carolina officials two weeks ago that the feds were going to stop paying because the state's recent three-month average unemployment rate had improved from 2010. In other words, the feds are punishing NC not for doing well…for doing just a little better than we did in 2010.
NCHBA Government Affairs staff continues to move forward on our 2011 legislative agenda. Two of our top legislative priorities passed out of the House in the last two weeks.
H 648 Improve Enforcement/General Contractor Laws passed the House unanimously – not a single “no” vote! Special thanks to our bill sponsors, Representatives Kelly Hastings (R-Cleveland) and Mike Hager (R-Rutherford), who did an excellent job of explaining the bill and getting their fellow members on board. Both Representatives are freshmen and we look forward to working with them on other bills this session.
The second bill, which passed the House by a vote of 95-21, was H 332 Clarify Development Moratoria Authority, sponsored by Representatives Mills (R-Iredell), Killian (R-Mecklenburg), Crawford (D-Granville) and Hamilton (D-New Hanover). The bill received a favorable report in the House Government Committee earlier, but the vote split along party lines. Rep. Hamilton included a floor amendment that changed the bill to prohibit ANY moratoria on residential use. While this isn’t exactly what we wanted (the original bill would have prohibited a moratoria for the purpose of writing or adopting new or amended plans or ordinances for all uses), NCHBA agreed to the amendment. We are pleased with the vote, which included 31 Democrats and all but 1 Republican (click here to see how your Representative voted).
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This Week at the General Assembly-April 15
Week 17 was a very busy one at the General Assembly. The week began with highly contentious debate on the subject of expanding the number of charter schools in North Carolina. Tensions were high in the House, where floor debate included accusations of racial bias and name calling. On Tuesday, both bodies met in the old Capitol Building where they approved a pardon for Reconstruction-era Governor William Holden, who had been impeached in 1871.
The first draft of the House budget was released in the various Appropriations subcommittees on Tuesday afternoon. The budget was designed to close the $2.6 million gap without raising taxes while protecting K-12 education. NCHBA monitors the budget process in the interest of the NC Housing Trust Fund.
The Joint Redistricting Committee held the first of 36 public hearings on Wednesday, simultaneously meeting in Wake, Nash and Person counties via video conferencing.
That same day, the Governor vetoed two bills, bringing her 2011 veto total to 4 – the most ever in a single year in NC history. Based on her quote that she has a “quart jar of red ink,” we don’t think we’ve seen the last of the veto stamp! Republicans tend to agree; anticipating a fight on the biggest issue of the year (the budget), they took the first step to ensure that her impact on the budget is minimized. On Wednesday, Republicans launched an effort to outmaneuver the Governor by tying a required change in the Unemployment Benefit formula to a budget continuing resolution. Thus, if she vetoes their budget plan, the General Assembly doesn’t have to overcome the veto, knowing that the spending limits set in the continuing resolution take effect. Both the House and Senate approved the bill and each have scheduled session on Saturday morning, anticipating some additional action may be necessary.
** Note: The Senate bill introduction deadline is Tuesday, April 19.
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This Week at the General Assembly-April 8
As we ended week 15 of the 2011 session, tension continued to mount, especially in the House where the “new minority” Democratic party is getting acquainted with their new role, using old schemes and new techniques to influence policy, shore up their political base and even earn a few early victories. So far, they've helped preserve Gov. Beverly Perdue's vetoes of two Republican-penned bills and forced the GOP to come to the table on a charter school expansion bill. But the “new majority,” particularly the GOP freshmen, are holding their own in terms of keeping campaign promises. This played out most clearly in the voter ID debate where the leadership of the freshman GOP insisted on the requirement for a photo ID at the polls instead of the other identification (e.g. utility bills, social security cards) agreed to in an early compromise. Another contentious issue (and GOP 100-day agenda item) was expansion of the cap on charter schools. HB 8 was hotly debated on the House floor on Thursday afternoon with the Speaker finally requiring a vote after over 2 hours of debate. House Democrats called foul and said that they were denied the ability to speak. For the record, no minds were changed during the debate. Looks like congeniality has left the chamber!
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This Week at the General Assembly-April 1
Week 10 of the 2011 Session consisted of floor debate on municipal broadband, guns, defining legal forms of identification, the State Health Plan and repealing local involuntary annexations. Luckily, this enabled NCHBA to focus our attention on working on our legislative priorities. Due to the bill drafting deadline last week, there were many bill introductions this week and there will continue to be so until the filing deadlines of April 6 (House) and April 12 (Senate). As of today, the crossover deadline is still scheduled for May 12. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-March 25
Week 9 of the 2011 Session saw the passage of an important deadline in the House and Senate. Legislators were required to make their requests for legislation by the end of this week. NCHBA is happy to report that all of the items on our legislative agenda have already been introduced or are being prepared for introduction by legislative staff.
Issues taking top billing this week included changes to the state health plan to require state employees to pay monthly premiums, the ability of municipalities to provide Internet broadband services, a number of local annexation issues, and recognition of an unborn child as an additional victim if a pregnant woman is murdered. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-March 18
Week 8 of the 2011 session included debate on issues such as voter ID requirements, terminal groins, repeal of the land transfer tax (this time in the Senate) and more annexation repeals. Regarding the multitude of annexation repeals, the following sums up the Thursday meeting of the House Government Committee perfectly: “… More bills repealing or blocking local annexations rolled through the House Government Committee. Add Rocky Mount, Wilmington, Fayetteville and Biltmore Lake to the list of places that could see annexation ordinances overturned or indefinitely stopped. It's not all bad news for municipal government officials. So far, they’ve been able to stave off any bill filings to just do away with towns and cities ...”
For NCHBA, the hustle and bustle in Raleigh was interrupted by more hustle and bustle in Washington, DC at NAHB’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill. Special thanks to over 40 members who made the trip (some went up and back in one day!). Your presence and advocacy made all the difference in the world. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-March 11
Things continue to move along quickly as the General Assembly finished its seventh week. What has changed is the demeanor of the legislature, especially in the House where party politics and tempers are flaring on a daily basis. Last Saturday, the Governor vetoed HB 2 An Act to Protect the Freedom to Choose Health Care and Health Insurance (would authorize NC to join in the suit against the federal government over “Obamacare”). The Senate Republicans, with a 31-19 majority have the votes to override a veto, but the House Republicans fall four votes short. All eyes were on the House chamber as the Republicans tried to get 4 Democrats to vote to override the Governor’s veto. The vote ultimately failed in the House, but it set the tone for some long and heated debate on bills unrelated to health care!
One of those bills was HB 92 Repeal Land Transfer Tax, which passed the House by a vote of 78-38. Twelve Democrats and all but one Republican voted YES on the bill. HB 92 now resides in the Senate. Another bill caught in an extended and heated debate was SB 22 APA Rules: Limit Additional Costs. SB 22 is the first step toward regulatory reform and is strongly supported by NCHBA and a number of business interests. SB 22 passed the House on Thursday by a vote of 74-40 and goes back to the Senate for concurrence. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-March 4
Week 6 of the 2011 Session was busy and very productive. For the General Assembly, protracted debates took place on topics such as terminal groins, annexation, medical malpractice changes and gun laws. For the home building and real estate industries, two very important measures advanced this week. HB 92/SB 226 Repeal Land Transfer Tax passed the House Finance Committee with only 5 dissenting votes. This bill was strongly supported by NCHBA. Members voting against the measure included Representatives Carney (D-Mecklenburg), Hackney (D-Orange), Luebke (D-Durham), Ross (D-Wake) and Weiss (D-Wake). HB 92 is on the full House calendar for Monday, March 7th. The second measure advancing this week was SB 22 APA Rules: Increasing Costs Prohibition which prohibits agencies from adopting rules that result in a substantial additional cost to the public. SB 22 passed the House Environment committee and now moves to the full House for consideration. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-February 28
Due to Government Affairs staff being detained on non-home building related issues this week (namely jury duty), this week’s Legislative Update will just hit the high notes. We will return with our usual pithy commentary next week! Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-February 18
Week 4 of the 2011 session proved to be another hectic one, culminating in the Governor revealing her proposed budget on Thursday. In the budget plan, the Governor proposes to close a $2.4 billion budget gap by cutting 10,000 employee positions, consolidating agencies and programs, and extending a temporary sales tax. Perdue said her $19.9 billion spending plan would make North Carolina more efficient while protecting the jobs of all teachers and teacher assistants currently funded by the state. Other public employees, however, wouldn't be as protected. As many as 3,000 of the positions designated for elimination (out of a total 266,000 state-funded positions) are currently filled, Perdue's budget office said. The proposal for the year starting July 1 tracks a previously announced plan to narrow 14 agencies and departments into eight, while cutting or eliminating 139 additional programs. GOP legislative leaders – in the process of forming their own spending plan – acknowledged that there were positive steps in the Governor’s proposal, which spends less than the current budget year when $1.6 billion in federal stimulus funds are added. However, they said it doesn't cut far enough and breaks a promise by keeping intact through mid-2013 three-quarters of the additional one-cent sales tax added last session that was set to expire June 30. Needless to say, the rhetoric will continue as the House hammers out their version of the budget over the next few weeks. Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-February 11
Week three of the 2011 Session ended with a long, protracted discussion in the House (did we mention it was only week THREE…) over SB 13 Balanced Budget Act of 2011 which moves $142 million from state accounts and gives the Governor authority to cut another $400 million. However, the measure may not make it past the governor’s desk: she is signaling that she may veto it. Partisan debate on the bill in the House centered on state accounts that were seen by Democrats as helping to create jobs, including two economic incentives funds and the Golden LEAF Foundation account that gets money from the national tobacco settlement. Republicans repeatedly reminded the Democrats that serious “belt tightening” would have to occur in order to fill the $3.7 billion hole in the budget this year. SB 13 passed third reading in the House on Thursday along party lines – meaning that Republicans do not have the votes to override the Governor’s veto. Game on! Click here for updates on bills
This Week at the General Assembly-February 4
Week Two of the 2010-2011 General Assembly session started with a presentation by NCGA legislative staff to a joint House and Senate Appropriations committee on the topic of the economy. The presentation included information on forecasted state revenues, unemployment predictions and the revelation that the housing market has been in a slump for the past few years. We are glad the message has finally gotten through to the NCGA economists!
The House jumped right in to their agenda by taking up HB 2 Protect Health Care Freedom* on Wednesday. HB 2 would add North Carolina to the growing list of states pushing back against the federal mandate requiring uninsured individuals to purchase coverage by 2014. After a three hour debate, the measure passed 66-50 and now moves on to the Senate. (*Note: NCHBA does not have a position on this bill.)
Wednesday was also a full day in the Senate, when SB 13 Balanced Budget Act of 2011 was discussed in the Appropriations committee. As introduced, the bill authorized the Governor to make reductions in the current budget to reduce the expected budget shortfall in the next budget cycle. When the bill was brought up in committee, instead of giving the Governor leeway to make cuts of her choosing, it included a very specific list of reductions – marching orders, which would result in $800 million in savings in the current budget year. The bill, as amended, passed the committee and was on the Senate floor on Thursday where debate was heated and almost confrontational. Bob Rucho, a Republican Senator from Mecklenburg and Finance Committee Chairman, was visibly upset by Democratic efforts to amend the bill in order to keep funds in the business recruitment/incentive programs. His statement, as seen below, summed up his side of the debate well. Click here for updates on bills
2011 Legislative Session Begins
Welcome to the 2011 session of the General Assembly! The 2011 North Carolina legislative session began in Raleigh Wednesday with Republicans in control of both bodies in the General Assembly for the first time since 1870. On a historic day, the new GOP majority elected Representative Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg County as Speaker of the House and Senator Phil Berger of Rockingham County as President Pro Tem of the Senate. While the election of these two leaders is historic, both will quickly face a more somber milestone - the largest budget shortfall in North Carolina history at $3.7 billion. The second issue that will take up the time and attention of the 2011 General Assembly is redistricting.
As part of their campaign agenda, the GOP promised a 100-day agenda that includes the following: exempt North Carolinians from the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obama-Care”); keep Right-to-Work laws intact; regulatory reform; fund education in the classroom, not in the administration; eliminate the cap on charter schools; require a valid photo ID to vote; pass an Eminent Domain constitutional amendment; and end pay-to-play politics and restore honesty and integrity to state government. And, the Republicans have begun to deliver. In the first two days of session, bills were introduced in the House that remove the cap on charter schools, amend the state constitution to address eminent domain; and to put a moratorium on involuntary annexations.
NCHBA Government Affairs staff are already hard at work on our legislative agenda. In addition to that, we are working with a broad coalition of business interests on issues such as regulatory reform, tort reform and workers compensation reform. We will go into further detail regarding our agenda in the weeks to follow.
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