Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler

The first week of the 2017 General Assembly began last Wednesday at noon. The first full week will began Monday of this week.  Last week we received our committee assignments and our gavels for the committees we will chair, saw several important bills filed, and had a chance to sponsor or cosponsor several bills.

Getting back to Raleigh at the beginning of a new session is always interesting. There are a number of new faces in the House and the Senate, which makes every session a little different.  We had Spring-like days last week, and the atmosphere among our colleagues was also warm.  No exciting debates or divisive votes were held, but several important bills were introduced.

First, on Wednesday we received gavels for the committees we will chair this session.  I am a Chairman for the Transportation Committee and the Appropriations Committee on Transportation. The Transportation Committee handles the bills dealing with transportation issues and is a large committee with around 45 members.  The Appropriations Committee on Transportation deals with the transportation budget, which averages almost $4 billion per year.  Both committees have more than one chair.  There is an oversight committee which I chair, along with the Senate, called the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee.  This committee meets during the interim, and not normally during session.

Other committee assignments include the large Appropriations Committee, of which I am a Vice Chair.  Also, other committees for me include Election and Ethics Law, Education K-12, Environment, and Insurance Committees.  I am pleased to return to these committees on which I have served in prior sessions.

Last week was also the first opportunity to introduce and sponsor new bills.  House Bill 3 – Eminent Domain Constitutional Amendment will put a constitutional amendment on the next election ballot to help protect private property from unjustified seizure.  I am a co-sponsor of this bill.

House Bill 13 – Class Size Requirement Changes will give local education administration units more flexibility in the next school year in their efforts to comply with the reduced class size requirements we passed in prior sessions.  It should not be construed to mean we are for larger classes, but just responding to local requests for more time in meeting smaller class size requirements. I am a sponsor on this bill.

This week we will introduce more bills and begin to hear some of the new bills in committees.  They have to be passed out of these committees with a positive vote before they are heard on the floor of the House.  The Senate will be doing the same, so we may see several hundred bills introduced and voted on very quickly.

As is my custom, I plan to issue one of these updates every week while we are in session.  I hope the information is useful and beneficial for the readers each week.