100 Day Plan Legislative Update
North Carolina House of Representatives
100 Day Legislative Update
April 25, 2011
- Budget Priorities
On April 14, 2011 the House and Senate passed HB 383, a continuing resolution budget, without raising tax rates. The measure allows the Governor to allocate funds for spending by State departments at a level that basically does not exceed expected revenues for the 2011-2012 fiscal years in case the House, Senate and Governor do not agree on a formal budget. On Saturday April 16, 2011, the Governor VETOED this measure so that she can demand tax rate increases.
- Protect Health Care Freedom Act
HB 2, protects North Carolinians from the “individual mandate” in the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), passed the House and Senate and was sent to the Governor. She Vetoed the bill. Republican leaders will submit an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
- North Carolina is a Right-to-Work state. Republicans will continue to support laws that secure the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join a union. We will stop SB 386.
- Reducing regulatory burden on small business.
Both House and Senate members have proposed legislation to limit the financial burden of regulation on businesses.
Senate Bill 22 – An act to limit new agency regulatory requirements that result in substantial additional costs. SB 22 passed both the Senate and House and was signed into law by the Governor on March 25, 2011.
House Bill 162 – An act to exempt certain activities related to small-scale processing of agricultural products from wastewater permit requirements. The bill passed the House and Senate and was ratified by the House on April 14, 2011.
House Bill 237 – An act to require economic impact statements on all bills that propose regulatory changes. The bill passed first reading of the House and is before the Committee on Commerce and Job Development.
House Bill 323 – An act to reduce the corporate income tax rate in North Carolina from 6.9% to 4.75%. HB 323 will be considered as part of the budget.
House Bill 800 – An act to create the North Carolina Jobs and Commerce Corporation Task Force to study the implementation of the transferring of economic development activities into a single entity is now before the House Committee on Commerce and Job Development.
The Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Reform held six meetings across the state beginning in Wilmington on March 11th. They heard suggestions from the public concerning burdensome regulations on individuals and business. The last meeting was held on Thursday, April 21st in Raleigh, NC.
- Senate Bill 8 entitled, “No Cap on Number of Charter Schools” passed the House on Monday evening, by a vote of 68 – 51. SB 8 received unanimous support from House Republicans and one courageous Democrat. Charter school legislation now heads to conference with the Senate. Representatives Stam, Samuelson and Brandon are House conferees to work with Senators Stevens, Graham and Soucek.
- House Election Law Committee has held several committee meetings on HB 351, titled “Restore Confidence in Government.” The bill would require voters to provide photo ID before voting and allow more flexibility when applying for absentee ballots. HB 351 passed the Election Law committee and is now before the House Appropriations Committee.
- The House and Senate have each introduced bills proposing a Constitutional Amendment that will protect private property rights. House Bill 8 titled, “Eminent Domain” passed the full House Judiciary committee. Debate on House Bill 8 has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 26th around 2:00 pm. Come watch or listen.
- House Republicans moved one step closer to good government by passing House Bill 61 titled, “Speaker/Pro Tem Term Limits.” This constitutional amendment seeks to cap the number of consecutive legislative terms the Speaker or President Pro Tem of the Senate serves to no more than two. It passed 72 – 46, the bare minimum and now moves to the Senate. The Governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment.
- House Republicans introduced HB 139 entitled, “Limit Contributions by State Vendors” as a measure to discourage pay-to-play politics in North Carolina. The bill seeks to limit the campaign contributions of state vendors to Council of State offices with which they hold contracts. HB 139 passed through Elections Committee on Wednesday and is headed to the floor.
Wondering what is the Republican Party in North Carolina doing to discourage ILLEGAL ALIENS from settling in our state and taking jobs that North Carolinians need.
I’ve asked that question of Gov Perdue but no answer.
How are you going to prevent ILLEGALS from voting in NC elections?
We have about 1/2 MILLION illegal aliens in NC. Every language in the world in my local Walmart. One saturday it was 10 minutes before i heard anyone speaking English..
Walmart sometimes broadcasts over their PA in spanish. I’ve stopped going to my local McDonald’s because English is not spoken by the employees.
Our small towns are losing our Carolina flavor… advertising signs in Spanish discourages english speaking. Asheboro, once a beautiful small town, looks like south of the border. I would like to see a NC law that only English is spoken in the workplace and government and advertising and in schools , no more bi lingual teaching. English taught as a curriculum class only.
It’s upsetting to know that latino groups have had a hand in our redistricting.
I want our NC tax dollars going ONLY to NC citizens who are US Citizens.