Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – Feb. 20, 2017
Last week in the North Carolina House of Representatives more of our policy committees began meeting to handle bills, we passed several key bills, and we filed up to 120 bills so far, some of which I sponsored.
More of the policy committees began to meet last week. Appropriations, Education K-12, Finance, Health, State and Local Government, and at least one of the Judiciary committees met to consider, debate and pass bills onto the House floor. Some of the bills passed out of committee the prior week began making it to the floor for votes. Our House Transportation Committee did not meet, but will meet this Tuesday morning. It is my turn to chair this meeting.
On Wednesday the full House took up HB 7 – Strengthen Savings Reserve. This will require that 15% of surplus funds be added to the savings reserve, or “rainy day fund” each year. This fund was depleted six years ago, but since coming into the majority the Republicans have built it to over a billion dollars. This is the fund that takes care of emergencies such as Hurricane Matthew, western wildfires, other disaster recovery, as well as economic recessions. This bill had strong bipartisan support, passing the House 110 – 3. It is now in the Senate Rules Committee.
Thursday we took up House Bill 3 – Eminent Domain. This is a bill for a constitutional amendment to prevent seizure of private property for other than a public use, such as a school or highway. We pass this bill every session, and it gets stopped in the Senate. Many jurisdictions have used eminent domain to take property to give to a developer or other private entity to increase their tax base. This would prevent that practice. Another strong bipartisan vote of 104 – 9 was recorded with all Republicans and all but 9 Democrats voting for it.
House Bill 13 – Class Size Requirement Changes also made it to the floor Thursday. The debate was longer on this issue of giving local school districts more flexibility on reducing class sizes in K through 3rd grade, as required by the 2015-2016 budget. Many districts had asked for this, as had Brunswick County Schools. However, the vote was unanimous, at 114 – 0. It is now in the Senate for action this week.
Approximately 120 bills have been filed so far in the House. I have sponsored or co-sponsored 27 of them. Some of the new ones I am on are bills to give equal tax treatment for government retirees, a constitutional amendment limiting the Governor and Lt. Governor to two total terms, not just two consecutive terms, and DOT/DMV changes. Another bill I cosponsored is House Bill 117 – Protect Students in Schools. This bill is to require criminal background checks for educators seeking licensure in the state, as well as persons seeking to start a charter school. I expect much debate and possible changes to the bill, but believe it is a good step in protecting children from predators. You can view these bills and other information at www.ncleg.net .