Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – July 8, 2013
After getting the surprise news that the House of Representatives had last week off in Raleigh, some might think that there was nothing for us to do. However, almost every representative and senator takes this time back at home to meet and talk with the citizens we represent.
The Senate was meeting in Raleigh on their normal schedule. The conference committees on the tax reform bill and the budget bill also planned to meet last week. I know Senator Rabon was hard at work on both of these bills, as he is Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Monday and Tuesday were filled with correspondence with constituents, both directly by e-mail and through my Raleigh office. I was also able to meet with a community group concerning one of our greatest area assets, the Maritime Museum. As usual, there were many phone calls to return. Wednesday was filled with many duties at home, as my wife Jackie and I prepared for July 4th family visitors.
The July 4th parade in Southport, sponsored by the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce was the highlight of Thursday, followed by beach time on Oak Island. (One thing many residents of Oak Island can agree on is that we spend more time on the beach when we have visitors than at any other time.) The business community in the Southport – Oak Island area seemed to agree that this was the busiest July 4th week they can remember. It was good to hear from many of our local small businesses that business is up strongly this season. I am hearing the same good news from our other coastal communities in the district, from Southport – Oak Island in the east to the Sunset Beach – Calabash area in the west.
While we in the district were enjoying the holidays, the Senate and the conference committees got a lot done last week. The tax reform bill, House Bill 998 – Tax Reduction Act, was being revised in Senate committees. Some of the controversial provisions have been dealt with, and it may be in the House this week for a vote for us to concur with the new Senate version. As a result, every person or family who pays state taxes will get a tax cut. If you currently pay a small amount of taxes, you will get a small tax cut. If you pay a large amount of taxes, you will get a large tax cut. If you pay no state tax, you will not get a tax cut. It’s that simple.
Under the new proposal for House Bill 998, Social Security is not taxed. The bill phases in the reduction in the corporate and personal income taxes. It keeps the sales tax distribution to counties, so the counties and towns are not hurt. Families will get a larger deduction for dependent children and a larger standard deduction. It keeps the deduction for charitable deductions, and caps the deduction for mortgage interest and property tax at $15,000. This should usually only impact homes of $700,000 value and above. Most non-profits, such as churches and community hospitals will not be affected, although a few very large non-profits may be, depending on the dollar value of their sales tax refunds. The food tax, about which there has been a lot of speculation, is not changed.
The tax proposal, although almost finalized, is still a work in progress, as is the budget. Budget talks should be going on most of this week, once the tax issue is finalized by our House vote. I am planning on three more weeks in Raleigh to get our work done. Please keep up with us and all these bills at the General Assembly website at www.ncleg.net.