North Carolina Legislative Report - August 14, 2015
August 14, 2015
The General Assembly convened for the 2015 legislative session on January 14. Lawmakers returned to Raleigh on January 28 to begin the session in earnest. The MVA Public Affairs Legislative Report on North Carolina will be distributed on a weekly basis to keep you up to date on the latest legislative issues facing the state.
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On The Floor
For legislative action lookup by day, click below:
Committees
House Appropriations Committee
The Committee met on Tuesday, August 11, to address one bill. S 560, 2015 Continuing Budget Authority, continues to fund the government at the levels in the previous continuing resolution through August 31. The bill received a favorable report and passed on the House floor.
House Transportation Committee
The Committee met on Tuesday, August 11, and approved one bill. S 541, Regulate Transportation Network Companies, would regulate transportation network companies (TNC) by requiring a State permit to operate, maintenance of liability insurance for cars, and background checks for drivers. The bill would impose a $5,000 application fee for the permit and a $5,000 renewal fee. S 541 also would add vehicles operated in a TNC service to the list of vehicles that can transport persons for compensation without a for-hire license plate.
House Finance Committee
The Committee met on Tuesday, August 11, and approved seven bills.
- H 38, Judicial Efficiency/Effect. Admin. of Justice, would make several changes designed to create efficiencies and streamline operations in the court system.
- H 191, Occ. Lic./Amend Fee List Barber Examiners Bd., would add $50 to each fee that the State Board of Barber Examiners is authorized to charge under G.S. 86A-25.
- H 504, Moore County Occupancy Tax Increase, would authorize Moore County to levy an additional room occupancy tax of three percent (3%).
- S 15, Unemployment Insurance Law Changes, makes numerous changes to the unemployment insurance laws, as requested by the Division of Employment Security and recommended by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance. Most notably, it would suspend the 20% surcharge for the tax year 2016 if the amount in the State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund equals or exceeds $1 billion by March 1, 2016.
- S 332, Register of Deeds-POA Indexing Fees, would impose an additional fee of $2 per entity to file an instrument with the register of deeds that includes the indexing of more than 20 entities.
- S 446, Dealer Loaners/Unmanned Aircraft/Brunswick Co, would a) provide for licensing of franchised dealer loaner vehicles, b) clarify that agents or agencies of the State or a political subdivision of the State have the authority to procure and operate unmanned aircraft systems upon approval of the State CIO and modify State regulation of unmanned aircraft systems to comply with federal guidelines, and c) authorize Brunswick County to regulate by ordinance the operation of boats and vessels in navigable waters within the County's jurisdictional boundaries.
- S 448, Equalize Tax on Propane Used as a Motor Fuel, would amend the motor fuels tax rate applicable to liquefied propane gas, when used as a motor fuel, by specifying that the gas gallon equivalent of liquefied propane gas is 5.75 pounds of liquefied propane gas.
House Regulatory Reform Committee
The Committee met on Thursday, August 13, to address two bills. H 805, Measurability Assessments, provides for measurability assessments of state programs. H 813, Results First Framework, authorizes the Office of State Budget Management to participate in the Pew-MacArthur Results First initiative and requires state agencies and certain non-state entities to develop, implement and maintain information systems that provide uniform, program-level accountability information regarding the programs operated by those agencies. Both bills received favorable reports and were referred to the House Appropriations Committee.
Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee
The Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee met on Monday and approved two bills. H 117, NC Competes Act, would make changes to the JDIG program, One NC, and the tax laws to incent economic development in the State. The bill would allow for sales tax exemptions for certain datacenter equipment and certain sales of aviation fuel. In addition, the bill would amend the formula used to allocate local sales tax revenues to counties so that 50% of those revenues are allocated on a per capita basis and 50% are allocated on a point-of-sales basis. Currently, 25% are allocated on a per capita basis and 75% are allocated on a point-of-sales basis. H 372, Medicaid transformation/HIE/PrimaryCare/Funds, would change the operational structure and administrative oversight for the Medicaid and NC Health Choice programs, enact the Statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) Act, and provide for the discontinuation of the Medicaid primary care case management (PCCM) program. The new Medicaid and Health Choice programs would feature: full-risk capitated payments to commercial insurers and provider-led entities (PLEs); management by a newly created Department of Medicaid; and oversight by a newly created Joint Legislative Oversight Committee. The HIE Act would require participation from specified providers and create both an HIE Authority and an HIE Advisory Board. The current Medicaid PCCM program would be discontinued to provide funding for increased Medicaid rates to primary care physicians.
In The News
Raleigh News & Observer: NC legislature extends longest budget impasse in 13 years
Raleigh News & Observer: McCrory tries to rally historic tax credit support
Raleigh News & Observer: NC scores high on lobbying transparency
WRAL: Moore: Budget deal in sight
Raleigh News & Observer: Proposed sales tax shift heads to NC House
Charlotte Business Journal: Meck county manager: State's sales tax shift plan remains top priority
Raleigh News & Observer: NC House could put constitutional amendment on back burner
WRAL: Land Rover will likely pass on Southeast US auto plant
Charlotte Observer: Charlotte’s mayoral hopefuls reach out to their bases to raise funds
Calendar
| Mon, August 17, 2015 | ||
| 1:30 PM | Session Convenes (Senate) | |
| 4:00 PM | Session Convenes (House) | |
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| 10:00 AM | Rep. Hall - Press Conference | |
| 11:00 AM | Education - Community Colleges -- CORRECTED (House) Career and College Ready Graduates. (S561) | |
| 11:00 AM | House Committee on Education - Community Colleges | |
| 1:00 PM | Judiciary II (House) Zoning/Changes to Hist. Preserv. Procedures. (H799) | 421 LOB |
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| 12:30 PM | Judiciary I (House) Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits. (S665) | |
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| 4:00 PM | 421 LOB | |
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| 11:00 AM | Rep. Harrison - Press Conference | |
| 3:00 PM | ||