Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – May 11, 2015

northcarolina_sealLast week in the North Carolina General Assembly: we had a reduced schedule of committee meetings concerning bills and more meetings on the budget, we had lots of visits from elected officials and others from back home in Brunswick county, and we found out that there is a budget surplus projected for next year.

The weather in Raleigh was mild and much warmer by mid-week. The attitudes of the legislators were milder than the previous two weeks and warmer in the sense of being friendlier. The arbitrary deadline for passing statewide bills, except financial ones, came Thursday, April 30th. This past week the pressure to get those bills passed was gone, and the pressure to get a budget done was mounting.

After two weeks of double committee meetings we went back to a regular schedule. The crossover deadline of April 30th had come and gone the previous week, so we didn’t have the volume of bills to get through the committees. Instead, we were meeting in preliminary budget meetings every day. In my case, the Chairs of the House Committee on Transportation Appropriations met regularly during the week to compile the transportation budget. The full Transportation Committee took up House Bill 927 – Reestablish NC as the “Good Roads State”. It totally changes the way revenue is collected for highway construction and maintenance, reducing the gas tax at the pump and increasing DMV fees instead. It was for discussion only, and received a lot of debate, questions, and public input.

On Wednesday, two groups of elected officials visited our office to discuss their legislative priorities and suggestions. Board of Education Chair Cooke and Vice-Chair Babson, along with Superintendent Tubb, spent about half an hour with me. Then County Manager Ann Hardy and all Board of Commissioners members: Sykes, Phillips, Cooke, Thompson, and Williams visited about half an hour. It was really good to see these folks from back home and discuss the issues.

One of the issues we discussed was the bill to allow counties to take over sewer districts in certain situations. It does not require them to do it and requires a referendum of the people if a county decides to proceed. Much incorrect information has already been put out about the bill. It is still a work in progress and may change several times before we pass it. Brunswick County commissioners passed a resolution last Monday supporting passage of this bill.

Late in the week the revenue forecasters of the General Assembly and the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) came out with the official revenue forecast. It appears that we have a possible surplus for next year of $400 million. This should allow a raise for teachers and other state employees, as well as other priorities. This is a result of our tax policies, which are finally showing that reducing rates can spur economic growth and increase revenue dollars.

This week we expect to compile the House budget and begin the process of amending it and passing it out to the Senate.