Legislative Update from Rep. Iler — March 5, 2024
Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly saw some activity with the interim committees meeting and conducting business in anticipation of the short session beginning later this Spring. Two of the committees on which I sit held meetings and concluded with interesting sessions.
We held the final meeting of the House Select Committee on Homeowners Associations with the approval of our report to the full House. Our deadline was March 1st, so we met and passed the final report on February 28th with a unanimous vote. Representative Steve Tyson was chairing this meeting, so I made the motion to approve and send the report to the House. This may be the most bipartisan issue on which I have been involved, with input coming from all parts of the state. The report, including a sample draft bill, addresses a handful of issues like HOA transparency, access to budgets, approval of dues increases, foreclosures, access to mediation, and collection of data on complaints.
There was a well-attended meeting on the 29th of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee (JLTOC), of which I am a Co-Chair. It was a hearing with the Commissioner of DMV and members of his staff answering questions from committee members. This committee and the Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations (Gov Ops) are looking into ways to improve service at DMV in partnership with that division within NCDOT. Over 8 million vehicle drivers in our state depend on them to be as efficient as possible. These committees have time for additional activity prior to the short session.
Referring to the DMV issues, the research staff for the Gov Ops Commission had conducted on-site visits across the state to the DMV drivers’ license offices and interviewed the supervisors and customers about issues they are experiencing. The visit to our Shallotte office was Thursday, February 22nd, and I was grateful to be asked to join them. It was very informative.
Being a Co – Chair of the HOA committee has brought a lot of attention. I have received dozens of emails and calls each week with information about incidents in HOA communities across the district and state. I was interviewed half a dozen times before and after our last meeting, so don’t be surprised if I show up in brief interviews on your local TV news. Other members of the committee have had similar experiences.
This is also a good time to thank the news outlets for publishing my update articles each week that we have activity in Raleigh, especially the Brunswick Beacon and State Port Pilot right here in the county. The Star-News, which covers the northern end of the county has chosen to never publish them, as far as I know. They will publish letters to the editor, which are usually critical of what we do. We do have a large email following for those who would like to stay informed on what we are doing.
We anticipate the short session will start sometime in April, after the primary on March 5th and the new tax revenue projection after April 15th.