Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – August 17, 2015
Last week in the North Carolina House of Representatives we passed another continuing resolution to keep the government open, we passed two bills to increase economic development, and we passed a bill to help Brunswick County police its waterways.
While we were waiting for the weather to change in Raleigh, we were also waiting to get into the details of the budget. We had not gotten the okay from the senior appropriations chairmen on the final number to which we had to balance. So we had to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government past the deadline of August 14th. Senate Bill 560 – 2015 Continuing Budget Authority came to the House floor on Wednesday. It extended the budget deadline to August 31st, which gives us about two weeks to finalize the state budget. It passed the House 113 – 2, then passed the Senate, and was signed by the Governor on Thursday. We are now being told that the senior chairs have a target number for each of the areas. So I should be working this week to finalize the Transportation section, along with the other Transportation Appropriations chairs in the House and Senate.
Two bills that should help our small businesses were passed on Wednesday and Thursday. House Bill 168 – Exempt Builders’ Inventories will exempt raw land in developments that has been turned into building lots from being reclassified for higher taxes when the first lot or house is sold in the development. This should help developers decide to move forward faster. It passed 98 – 17. Another bill, Senate Bill 15 – Unemployment Insurance Law Changes, builds on the reforms we have done in prior sessions. We reformed the laws three years ago so that the state was able to pay off a debt in the unemployment insurance account of $2.8 billion dollars. This will enable all businesses to pay lower unemployment insurance rates to the state, and leave more money in the business to spur growth and create jobs. This bill just adjusted a few of the statutes to conform to the best practices that have come out of the reform. Also, a person receiving unemployment benefits will now have to make 5 job contacts a week instead of 2. This bill passed the House by a vote of 82 – 27.
A bill that had already passed the House to allow Brunswick County to control its navigable waters has been stalled in the Senate. So, the bill formerly known as House Bill 478 was combined into Senate Bill 446 when it came over for a House vote. The bill is about dealer license plates and unmanned aircraft (drones), as well as Brunswick County waterways. This is the way some of our business gets done when good bills are stuck in a committee. This time it passed 106 – 4. This will allow the county to pass ordinances to restrict use of waters when transient boaters park, use facilities free of charge, and create a nuisance. When state and federal authorities exercise jurisdiction, then the county must defer to them. This is for the cases where they are not taking responsibility.
It was a real pleasure last week to meet with Shallotte Mayor Walt Eccard and Alderman Gene Vasile when came to the office to discuss the sales tax redistribution plan and other issues.