Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – Apr. 4, 2011
Last week in Raleigh was notable for the long debates on several bills. This started Monday night with House Bill 129 – Level Playing Field/Local Gov’t Competition. When a local town or county gets into the business of providing digital broadband as one of its services to their citizens, this bill provides that they have to meet the same requirements as a private company. This is in the wake of many towns that have tried this and had to spend taxpayer dollars to bail out the systems when they lost money. We had a long debate on the previous Thursday, then someone objected to third reading (third vote), and the bill was carried over to Monday. After another lengthy debate, the bill passed on a bipartisan vote of 81 – 27.
Tuesday heated up when House Bill 33 – Consular Documents not Acceptable as Identification came to the floor. This bill says that the Matricula Consular card issued by the Mexican Consulate is not an acceptable I.D. for government and law enforcement purposes in North Carolina when establishing identity or residency. The debate was very vigorous and sometimes harsh. The vote was 64 – 53 mostly on party lines. The bill passed third reading on Wednesday with a vote of 66 – 50.
Wednesday also saw House Bill 111 – Handgun Permit Valid in Parks and Restaurants come to the floor. After another very long debate, the bill passed 76 – 42 with ten Democrats joining all voting Republicans. After another objection to third reading, the bill returned to the floor for a vote on Thursday and passed 74 – 42. (I’m beginning to wonder if objecting to third reading may be another delaying tactic by the minority party.)
Senate Bill 265 – State Health Plan/Appropriations and Transfer was debated at length on Wednesday. This bill contains provisions to transfer the State Health Plan from the General Assembly to the State Treasurer. We are hopeful this move would provide additional full-time and business-like attention to the health plan. The most controversial section of the bill included a provision for state employees and retirees to begin to pay a portion (about 5%) of their health care premiums for the first time. This was discussed for at least two hours on the floor. The vote came down to a party line total of 64 – 51. After another objection to third reading, the bill came back to the floor Thursday for another hour of debate and another party line vote of 66 – 53. Having already passed the Senate, but being modified in the House, the bill will go back to the Senate for concurrence and then to the Governor.
Committees were active again throughout the week. The Transportation Committee, which I chaired, took up five bills and passed four. The fifth bill, House Bill 422 – No High-Speed Rail Money from Federal Gov’t is controversial, as it proposes to turn down the approximately $500 million for high-speed rail improvements from Raleigh to Charlotte. Those proposing this bill say that it will cost the state up to $40 million per year from the highway fund, will save only 15 minutes in travel time and interfere with freight traffic. There is much opposition to turning down money from Washington. This week there will be many speakers on this bill in our Transportation Committee, but I plan to vote it out Tuesday if at all possible. (Our committee is limited to a 50 minute block of time and we are required to adjourn at 12:50.)