Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – July 22, 2013
Summer heat covered Raleigh last week like a hot, wet blanket. With heat indexes over 100, we were usually glad to be inside, even in the long meetings that the end of session brings. The Speaker and other House and Senate leaders are trying to finish our business, including the budget, this week and adjourn the long session.
The expected tax reform bill, House Bill 998 – Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, passed both votes in the House by similar margins on Tuesday and Wednesday. After long debate, the votes were 77 – 38 and 77 – 36, respectively, and it went to Governor McCrory on Wednesday for his signature. Now that the tax bill is behind us, we should be able to finalize the biennial budget, hopefully this week. Everyone who pays state taxes should get a tax reduction under this bill. Our counties, towns, hospitals, and other non-profits, who had been concerned, will not be impacted by it. The standard deduction for working families filing jointly increased from $6,000 to $15,000. The cap on the home mortgage interest and property tax deduction, which had been a concern at $15,000 per year, was raised to $20,000. The charitable deduction was not capped. Some warranties and services will now be taxed, but not the extensive list that was first proposed. Other deductions and adjustments should produce welcome relief for all state taxpayers.
Several controversial bills were handled last week, and we can expect a few more this week. Senate Bill 81 – Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the bill which establishes a regional authority to manage the airport was hotly debated, but passed the House 75 – 39. Having already passed the Senate, it became law Thursday. The immigration bill, House Bill 786 – RECLAIM NC Act, was best known for containing a provision giving drivers’ permits to illegal aliens. While other provisions were good, I could not fully support it. At the very end, most of the bill was turned into a study. Even though it passed 85 – 28, I didn’t support it. It is now in the Senate Rules Committee.
A controversial bill expected to come from the Senate this week is the Voter Photo ID bill. I’m not sure which bill number it will have, but this is something we have been promising the citizens of North Carolina for years, about 75% of whom support it. I expect action on it this week, along with another bill with over a dozen changes to our voter laws. The governor vetoed our voter ID bill in 2011. We are determined to have fair elections, and do away with fraudulent activities which most poll workers have seen, but are rarely reported and never prosecuted.
The budget, Senate Bill 402 – Appropriations Act of 2013, should be completed this week since the tax reform bill is done. The appropriations and finance chairs from the House and Senate have been meeting in conference committees for weeks, and the final conference report, the details of which were announced Sunday night, will be on the floor of each house for a concurrence vote. We expect long debate and completion of this long process by Thursday of this week. Then, adjournment for the 2013 long session should take place Thursday or Friday.
I hope to have a final update for this session next week. After that, I will be home in the district in Brunswick County. My only updates after that will be any significant developments in the House Transportation Oversight Committee, which I will be co-chairing during the interim. We have several meetings to study the new criteria for setting priorities for highway construction, under the guidelines of House Bill 817 – Strategic Transportation Investments which became law in June.