North Carolina Legislative Report - June 6, 2014
June 1 - 6, 2014
The General Assembly’s Short Session began Wednesday, May 14, 2014. The MVA Public Affairs Legislative Report on North Carolina will be distributed weekly to keep you up to date on the latest legislative issues facing the state.
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Governor's Desk
On Wednesday, the Governor signed S 786, the Energy Modernization Act, into law.
On The Floor
The week, the Senate passed S 812, Maintain State Authority Over Academic Standards, and S 743, NC Economic Development Partnership Modifications.
The House passed H 230, Clarify Read to Achieve/School Performance Grades, H 1032, the Patent Abuse Bill, H 1031, NC Economic Development Partnership Modifications and H 1061, Replace Common Core with NC’s Higher Academic Standards.
Committee Reports
House Education Committee
The Committee met on Tuesday, June 3, to address three bills. H 1062, Schematic Diagrams and Keys for Schools would require local school administrative units to provide diagrams and emergency access to school buildings to local law enforcement agencies and emergency response information to the Emergency Management Division of the Department of Public Safety. H 1062 received a favorable report in Committee and passed the House unanimously. S 370, Respect for Student Prayer/Religious Activity, would clarify student rights to engage in prayer and religious activity in school, create an administrative process for dealing with complaints and clarify religious activity for school personnel. The bill received a favorable report in Committee and passed unanimously on the House floor. H 1061, Replace Common Core to meet NC’s Needs, would repeal and replace the Common Core standards in North Carolina schools. The bill would establish the Academic Standards Review Commission to adopt a new set of standards. The bill received a favorable report in Committee and was approved by a vote of 78-39 on the House floor.
House Appropriations Subcommittees
All of the House Appropriations Subcommittees met on Tuesday, June 3. Each Subcommittee reviewed the differences between the Senate passed budget and the Governor’s budget. State agency officials also were able to give remarks about the Governor’s budget request. The House budget process will continue early next week.
House Finance Committee
The Committee met on Wednesday, June 4, and approved four bills. H 1067, Murphy Deannexation, and H 1080, Watha Deannexation, are local bills dealing with removing areas from the respective municipalities. H 1069, Unemployment Insurance Law Changes, would make various changes to the law regarding unemployment insurance benefits, including requiring claimants to present photo identification and contact at least five prospective employers a week rather than two in order to be eligible for benefits. H 1069 has now passed second reading in the House and awaits final approval by the House. H 1201, Exempt Admission to Agricultural Fairs, would exempt admission charges to county fairs from the sales tax. H 1201 has now passed second reading in the House and awaits final approval by the House.
House Commerce and Job Development Subcommittee on Biotechnology and Healthcare
The Subcommittee met on Wednesday, June 4, to address H 1031, NC Economic Development Partnership Modifications. H 1031 would establish the statutory framework that would allow the Department of Commerce to contract with a private, nonprofit entity for business development and recruitment activities. The bill received a favorable report in Committee and passed second reading in the House.
Senate Commerce Committee
The Committee met on Wednesday, June 4, and approved S 743, NC Econ. Dev. Partnership Modifications. S 743 would establish the statutory framework that would allow the Department of Commerce to contract with a private, nonprofit entity for business development and recruitment activities. The bill was re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee where additional provisions were added in a Committee substitute approved by that Committee on Thursday, June 5. These provisions would establish a new Film and Entertainment Grant Fund to replace tax credits for qualifying production companies that expire at the end of this year. The bill passed a second reading in the Senate and awaits final approval by the Senate.
Senate Education/Higher Education Committee
The Committee met on Wednesday, June 4, to take up three bills. The Committee discussed S 793, Charter School Modifications, but did not vote on the bill in Committee. S 793 seeks to clarify the process for review for charter applications by the NC Charter Schools Advisory Board, to raise the application fee for charter applications and to require adoption of rules for the charter application process. It also seeks to clarify the appeals process for denials of charter applications and make charter schedules subject to requirement to open meetings and public records laws. The Committee then debated and passed S 815, Ensuring Privacy of Student Records, and S 812, Replace Common Core To Meet NC’s Needs. S 815 seeks to ensure the privacy and security of student educational records. S 812 would appoint a State commission to review North Carolina’s educational standards.
Senate Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee
The Committee met Thursday, June 5, to hear a presentation from DENR regarding Governor McCrory’s Coal Ash Action Plan (S 729); Senator Stan Bingham presided. The meeting was for discussion purposes only, and public comment was allowed. The Committee heard remarks from DENR Secretary John Skvarla; Tracy Davis, Director of Mineral and Land Resources; Linda Culpepper, Director of Solid Waste; and Tom Reeder, Director of Water Resources regarding proposed regulations for dam operators, coal ash remediation efforts and future solutions for combustion byproducts, such as consumption by industry, to protect the State’s natural resources.
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Committee met on Thursday, June 5, to address two bills. S 743 would establish the statutory framework that would allow the Department of Commerce to contract with a private, nonprofit entity for business development and recruitment activities. Additional provisions were added in a committee substitute approved by that Committee on Thursday, June 5. These provisions would establish a new Film and Entertainment Grant Fund to replace tax credits for qualifying production companies that expire at the end of this year. The bill went on to pass second reading in the Senate. S 3 modifies the job maintenance and capital development fund provisions. S 3 received a favorable report in committee and was approved unanimously by the Senate.
In the News
Raleigh News & Observer: Senate proposes replacing film tax incentives with grants
Raleigh News & Observer: NC economic development partnership bill moving forward
Raleigh News & Observer: NC to start test drilling for natural gas to lure energy industry
Raleigh News & Observer: State House votes to replace Common Core education standards
Charlotte Observer: Superintendents to N.C. Senate: Don’t hurt schools to raise teacher pay
Raleigh News & Observer: McCrory says his Medicaid budget has $60 million shortfall
WUNC: House Lawmakers Pass Bill To Discourage Patent Trolls
Raleigh News & Observer: Support grows for moving SBI to Public Safety Department
Calendar
Mon, June 09, 2014 | ||
3:00 PM | Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee -- CORRECTED Agenda: Amend 2013-2015 work plan to require PED to evaluate state government use of personal service contractors and consultants. | 544 LOB |
4:00 PM | Session Convenes (House) | House |
7:00 PM | Session Convenes (Senate) | Senate |
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10:00 AM | Finance, Subcommittee on Occupancy Tax (House) Wilson County Occupancy Tax Increase. (H1244) | 424 LOB |
10:00 AM | Education -- CANCELLED (House) SBOE Rulemaking Clarification. (H1164) | 643 LOB |
12:00 PM | State and Local Government (Senate) | 1124/1224 LB |
12:00 PM | Transportation -- CANCELLED (House) Service of Hearing Order/MV Dealer Licensee. (H1097) | 643 LOB |
1:00 PM | Finance (Senate) | 544 LOB |
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8:30 AM | Finance (House) | 544 LOB |
10:00 AM | Judiciary Subcommittee A (House) Highway Patrol Routine Maintenance. (H1088) | 1228/1327 LB |
10:00 AM | Education/Higher Education (Senate) Charter School Modifications. (S793) | 544 LOB |
1:00 PM | Finance (Senate) | 544 LOB |