Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – May 4, 2015
Last week in the NC General Assembly we passed a record number of bills due to the crossover deadline, we had several controversial bills, including Sunday hunting and school boards suing counties, and we had two marathon sessions, one lasting until after 2:00 a.m.
In these articles, I often try to compare our activities each week to the Raleigh weather for the week. However, the weather last week was very calm and mild while in contrast we were extremely active and passions were running high. Committees were passing record numbers of bills, which were referred straight to the House floor for debate and votes the same day.
The self-imposed deadline called crossover was Thursday, April 30th. All statewide bills in the House and Senate had to be passed and sent to the other chamber by this deadline, except for Appropriations and Finance bills. Bills containing money, such as the budget, were not subject to the crossover deadline. So, several hundred bills were handled in committee, went to the House floor and were voted up or down quickly. Now the Senate will have these bills to consider in their journey to becoming laws.
Two very controversial bills took a lot of heated debate. One of them passed and one of them failed. House Bill 640 – Outdoor Heritage Act will, among other things, allow hunting with firearms on Sunday. About half of our concerned people in the county were against it, and about half were for it or didn’t care either way. It was a hard decision, but with law enforcement, church members, and even many hunters opposing it, I voted against the bill. However, it passed 83 – 35. The vote was evenly split with both parties dividing almost perfectly on the ayes and noes.
Another controversial bill was House Bill 726 – School Boards Can’t Sue Counties. This would take away the right of school boards to sue their counties when they disagree over the budget funds that are allocated from the counties. Many felt that this put the school board at too big a disadvantage in their budget negotiations, and the bill was defeated by a vote of 52 – 66. While the Republicans were split and the Democrats were mostly against it, I voted against it. The change was too much for most of the people I heard from.
There were many education bills passed, which I supported. They included many subjects, including duty-free time/lunch for teachers, repeal of Personal Education Plans, elimination of the NC final exam, digital learning, and teacher recruitment and scholarships. I supported these efforts and they passed the House. I am particularly glad a scholarship program was included for our brightest students to become teachers. It is not as good as the former Teaching Fellows program, but is a start. Also, eliminating some of the testing and paperwork for teachers is a major concern that I heard often during my visits to all our Brunswick County schools.
This week we will have more normal committee meetings than the past two weeks. I will be chairing the House Transportation Committee Tuesday where we will hear a bill to overhaul the funding for transportation. It will include a reduction of the gas tax at the pump, and adjusting of many DMV fees that have not changed since the 1980s.