Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – May 2, 2011
Last week could be called “Budget Week” in the North Carolina House of Representatives. With all six of the Appropriations Sub-Committees having voted their budgets out to the full House Appropriations Committee, it was time to prepare amendments to the full budget. So, on Wednesday, the full committee (all 88 of us) met from 8:30 to 6:00 with a short break for lunch. In all, 105 amendments were presented. We voted on most of them, while a few were pulled before consideration. After all the amendments were considered, the total amount of the budget allocations did not change. The temporary one cent sales tax is still planned to expire and the corporate tax rate reduction from the Governor’s budget is also in the House budget.
My only amendment was to the water resources capital budget. It was to ensure that the money allocated for the Wilmington port study could not be used for a study of a mega-port in Southport. Already in the budget is a provision that the Ports Authority be moved to report to the Department of Transportation rather than the Department of Commerce. It is thought that this will provide better logistics planning for the state along with roads, railroads, etc. Also in the budget is a provision where the Ferry Division considered tolling ferries which are now free and increasing tolls on the others where appropriate to recover more of their operating costs.
After all amendments were considered, the budget passed on a voice vote. The next step is consideration by the full House. We are scheduled for a 9:00 A.M. session on Tuesday to begin additional discussion and propose amendments from the floor. We will stay as long as necessary to finish and vote the budget out. It will then go to the Senate for consideration, which could take several weeks.
On Wednesday, I had a pleasant break from the nine hour committee meeting. The Brunswick County Republican Women’s Club sponsored a trip to Raleigh to see what their legislators were doing. I was able to meet with them for a few minutes just before they took a tour of the legislative building and had lunch at a famous barbecue restaurant in Raleigh.
A major bill of local interest last week was Senate Bill 110 – Permit Terminal Groins. After a debate on the House floor Tuesday, the bill passed 71 – 46. It was sent back to the Senate for their concurrence (approval), since we had amended it to permit only 3 groin projects. These projects are designed to prevent beach erosion into an inlet due to dredging. The Senate didn’t agree on the limitation of 3 projects, so they voted Thursday not to concur. The bill will now go to a conference committee to work out the differences, and then has to again be voted on by both houses. Sen. Rabon is on the conference committee, and I am hoping the Speaker will appoint me this week as a House member to this committee.
A non-legislative matter came to light last week after an article in the Star-News about the goats on spoil islands near Ocean Isle Beach, and the state’s plans to remove them. My office and the Wildlife Resource Commission received many phone calls and e-mails asking the state to leave the goats alone. My Legislative Assistant, Carla Farmer, made it a point to contact the Commission to see if something could be done. After conversations and e-mails with various agencies, she was successful. The state’s Dept. of Administration and Wildlife Commission have agreed that they will put the removal on hold until they can have a public hearing and can gather more information.