Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – April 27, 2015
This week we debated and passed at least two very controversial bills on judicial elections and abortion, we passed a record number of bills out of committees and directly onto the House floor, and we put in the longest days of the session so far, going over 14 hours.
The week started off in Raleigh very warm, but turned cooler as the days went on. The attitudes of the legislators were also hot and cold, depending on whether our bills were getting passed or not.
The committees were meeting at record speed, some handling over a dozen bills an hour, as well as meeting more often than the usual once a week. We had an additional meeting of the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday, after our usual meeting on Tuesday. This week may require that we have two meetings again. Several times last week I had two meetings at the same time in different rooms or had a bill to present in one meeting while supposed to have been attending another meeting as a member. A large group of Realtors came to visit on Wednesday and I was able to take a few minutes to talk with them about their legislative agenda.
Two very controversial bills came to the House floor for its debate and votes. House Bill 8 – Restore Partisan Statewide Judicial Elections came up Monday night for its final debate and vote. It passed on a party line vote of 69 – 48. This bill identifies the candidates for the NC Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals on the ballot by party. It restores the practice prior to 2004 and gives the voters a little more information to make a decision. Traditionally, over 20% of voters who votered in up-ballot races didn’t bother to vote for judges on whom they had almost no information. I was one of the primary sponsors of House Bill 8.
The most controversial bill was House Bill 465 – 72 Hours Informed Consent By Person or Phone. In spite of the name, this is considered an anti-abortion bill. It requires a 72 hour waiting period for a woman to make a decision to proceed with an abortion, but in NON-emergency cases only. It in no way prevents an abortion, but builds on recent laws on informed consent and a 24 hour waiting period. The woman has to be provided the opportunity to see an ultrasound and wait 72 hours for her final decision. If it is life-threatening to wait, then this does not apply. It also passed on a party line vote of 74 – 45.
There was a disappointing vote in a committee concerning the Grandparents visitation rights bill we were sponsoring. On a tie vote, the bill failed to pass out of committee. This may not be our last attempt to at least let grandparents have the right to ask a judge for visitation.
Several local bills passed for our county and towns. One gives Brunswick County control of the navigable waters within its boundaries and control of abandoned boats and other such problems. Other bills gave some of our towns the right to join the state health plan. This should save them money with little or no cost to the state. They still pay the premiums, but just with a larger group.
Tuesday was my longest day so far, starting with a conference call in Senator Rabon’s office at 7:00 a.m. concerning the connection of Highway 17 in Brunswick County to Highway 31 in South Carolina. After chairing the Transportation Committee at noon and attending meetings all day, our 3 o’clock floor session lasted until 9:30. I feel sure it will not be the last day over 14 hours.