The legislative week we just concluded contained the bill filing deadline for the Senate. This means that most bills for the biennium had to be filed by April 2nd to be considered in this biennium. There are vehicles that we can use to inject other ideas, and a few types of bills are not subject to a filing deadline. However, because of this deadline, most of us have been consumed with working out last minute details and seeking co-sponsors before meeting the deadline.
Between the House and Senate came 355 new bills. For this session, I now serve as the primary sponsor for 33 bills and I have co-sponsored 40 bills. For a complete list, please look at my website link
https://www.nc48.com/introduced
. In the upcoming weeks, we will be turning our attention to move these bills through various committees. I will feature a few of these for you below.
Following are just some of the stories in which
I thought you might have an interest.
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Senate Page Program Application
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I always enjoy opportunities to introduce students to the inner workings of the General Assembly. The Senate Page Program offers the perfect opportunity for young people to get to know more about how laws are made. It is a week-long experience available to high school students (9
th – 12
th grade) in good academic standing with their school.
Pages have the opportunity to become familiar with the Legislative Complex and the Senate Chamber as they attend daily sessions, deliver messages, and carry out other tasks that are more important to my staff and me.
Colleges and Universities, as well as your future employers, all want to recruit students who have experience beyond the classroom – young men and women who have taken advantage of opportunities to push their boundaries while learning and growing.
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Born Alive Survivors Protection Act
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I believe that we have the moral obligation to protect the sanctity of life. That is why I co-sponsored Senate Bill 359, the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act. This bill provides essential legal protections for some of the most vulnerable North Carolinians, newborn babies. This legislation legally reaffirms that a baby that survives an attempted abortion has the rights of a human being and is entitled to any life-saving medical care available.
Recent legislation presented in New York and Virginia makes it clear that such a bill is needed. Opponents of S359 insist that state legislation is unnecessary. However, the federal law does not explicitly lay out requirements for healthcare practitioners, nor does it recommend criminal penalties for medical professionals that neglect their duty to provide care for the newborn child. Even those who do not acknowledge the humanity of the unborn cannot justify the murder or neglect of children outside the womb.
S359 passed the Senate by a vote of 28-19 including only two Democrats who voted with Republicans.
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The Senate and House Agree on a Spending Number
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Those who have served here for awhile are reminding the rest of us of the days where one chamber would develop a budget and pass it to the next chamber without any prior agreement on the level of state spending. They then go on to remind us how painstaking it was to lower a previously proposed spending amount on any particular line item. To avoid that problem, in my last session and in this one, we have worked with the House to agree upfront on what the spending level should be before we even determine any specific expenditures.
Our agreement for 2019-20 expenditures will total $24.0065 billion, a 3.45 percent increase from last year. Over the previous eight years, spending totals have aligned with what I describe as responsible budgeting: a balanced budget; a robust rainy day fund; lower taxes; and substantial education investments.
With an agreement on next year’s budget total, the latest projections from the nonpartisan Fiscal Research Division estimate revenues will total $24.8 billion next year. The $24 billion figure does not include payments for the state’s debt service, which will come from the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund.
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News Flash; NC Teacher Pay Rankings Are Rapidly Climbing
A report from the National Education Association this week showed North Carolina had jumped ahead of 18 states in average teacher pay over the last five years. In that time, Republicans provided teachers with five consecutive pay raises, representing the third-highest increase in the entire county.
Click Here
to check out the news story on the News section of my website.
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North Carolina Farm Act of 2019
The NC Farm Act of 2019, of which I serve as a co-sponsor, establishes regulatory requirements to allow North Carolina to expand hemp production immediately following federal approval. The federal government recently acted to bring laws governing hemp production in the United States in line with much of the world. Previously, Congress permitted only small-scale hemp pilot programs, which North Carolina adopted successfully.
Federal law requires hemp to contain less than 0.3 percent THC, which is a tiny fraction of the THC contained in marijuana plants. The rule imposed by the 2018 federal farm bill requires states to implement regulation to license hemp producers and to closely monitor the THC levels in their product.
To comply with those requirements, the NC Farm Act of 2019 establishes the North Carolina Hemp Commission, sets forth qualifications for hemp production licensees (including prohibitions on licenses to individuals with past drug offenses), and defines civil and criminal penalties for producers who violate the law. The bill also requires a valid license to market and sell cannabinoid-related products, including CBD oil.
In addition to the hemp provisions, The NC Farm Act of 2019 also:
- Makes changes to rules governing easements;
- Establishes that operators of farm equipment have the right-of-way if cars attempt to pass on the left;
- Increases the maximum size of outdoor farm advertisements near highways and expands the types of farms that can display outdoor advertisements;
- Adds hunting, fishing, and shooting sports to agritourism;
- Brands N.C. Sweet Potatoes;
- Makes various changes to activate permitted for Soil and Water District staff.
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Spotlight on Staff
I am excited to introduce Jack Mitchell. Jack joined my Raleigh office in January 2019. He is currently a sophomore at North Carolina State University, where he is pursuing a degree in Political Science. Jack previously attended Grimsley High School in Greensboro, NC, where he graduated near the top of his class. Since moving to Raleigh to attend NC State he has gained experience as an intern with a nearby law office, while also taking a full course load with the hopes of graduating in the spring of 2021. In his new role here as an intern, Jack hopes to learn about the world of politics and government so that he can one day pursue a career where he has the opportunity to advocate for the advancement of the matters that he values most to make a positive difference in the world.
In his free time, Jack enjoys playing and watching sports. He participates in intramural sports and is a big supporter of all NC State athletic teams. Jack also loves to spend time hanging out with his friends and traveling home to visit with his family.
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Senate Bill 390: DuPont State Forest-Financial Study, which requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to study the finances and operating model of DuPont Forest and to create a plan for a sustainable income stream that will help preserve the protect the Forest.
The discussion on this topic began before my first election and seemed to have ended prematurely when that year’s session was coming to a close. Fortunately, Rep. McGrady was able to secure the appropriations needed to address the most pressing concerns at that time.
Some citizens had rather not see us collect any fees for the use of this WNC gem. I am sensitive to those ideas and remain open to listening. With annual visitation now around one million, I believe that we owe it to our taxpayers, and to the future of the forest, to have a thorough dialog on how to best fund the future, maintenance, capital, and infrastructure needs. There is no doubt that our taxpayers will be willing to fund those needs. The questions I believe we should now ask are- how and by whom. This means, do we continue to fund the needs from only the income taxes of NC citizens, or should we invite out of state visitors to help us financially support the needs of the forest by all of us through a nominal fee for usage. It appears that about half of the forest’s visitors are from out of state.
My bill sets out four issues included in the study, as well as an entry fee that will favor North Carolina citizens and require out-of-state visitors to contribute towards the sustainable operation of the Forest in proportion to their use of facilities and amenities funded by State taxpayers.
Legislative action was needed to ensure those receipts are used for capital and maintenance needs and include capital projects and operational changes required to improve the safety of visitors who currently park on the roadside. A major overflow problem has created a safety hazard and damage to the popular Forest facility.
I’d like for the Forest Service to look at some other models in North Carolina and in other states where they charge nominal fees and to consider the feasibility of something similar at DuPont. And then let’s make an informed decision and see whether or not it’s an advantage to North Carolina taxpayers who have already acquired and funded the park. Out-of-state visitors make up at least 50 percent of visitors to the Forest.
This report and recommendations will be submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agricultural & Economic Resources, as well as the Fiscal Research Division, by February 1, 2020.
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Immigration
I introduced
Senate Bill 637: 48 Hour Hold for Certain Criminal Detainees, a bill requiring individuals charged with the most violent crimes and who are subject to a detainer request be held for 48 hours and to require reporting by law enforcement. The bill also creates a criminal penalty for one not to follow the prescribed protocol.
Under these provisions, those who commit a felony or impaired driving offense are subject to the statutes outlined in this bill until they can provide proof of legal status in the United States. The administrator in charge of the detainment facility is required to contact ICE if they are unable to verify the legal residency of the detainee. After alerting the agency, a 48-hour hold is needed at the request of an ICE representative to allow time to check the status of the individual. If at any point during this process the person held can produce documents to prove their legal status, they should be released as long as all other pretrial conditions are met.
The administrators of the facilities are required to contact ICE officials each time they are unable to verify the status of those arrested for felonies or impaired driving offenses. Willful failure to do so will result in a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Beginning on October 1, 2020, the person in charge of each jail and prison will report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety annually. These reports will allow the legislature to track the number of contacts each facility had with ICE, and be able to see how many undocumented people were found through this process. The report also requires the administrator to report on the number of times:
- Queries are sent to ICE
- ICE responded to said questions
- ICE submitted a detainer request
- A prisoner was held for the full 48 hours
- A prisoner was kept when they would have otherwise been released
- Someone was held but inevitably was able to provide proof of legal status
- ICE took custody of the individuals being held following notification from facility administrators
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I was successful in amending
Senate Bill 231: NC Military Business Center Funds, to recognize Buncombe County as a Military Economic Zone. The bill requires the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Department of Commerce to conduct a study on whether creating economic zones is feasible in and around communities that host and support military installations, methods of incorporating existing programs into prospective military zones, and opportunities to leverage the unique and valuable characteristics of regions and communities that support military zones.
While it’s essential that areas surrounding North Carolina’s military zones are economically viable, it’s also vital that regions with high concentrations of retired military personnel are also financially sustainable. The bill that was initially presented, the interests of Western North Carolina were about to be ignored one more time. As Chairman of the Senate’s Commerce & Insurance Committee, I couldn’t let that happen.
Retired military personnel typically migrate towards areas with a Veteran’s Hospital. In most cases, the Veteran’s Hospitals are near a military installation. Since the Veteran’s Hospital in Oteen, N.C. is about 250 miles from the nearest military facility, Buncombe County is the exception. The military veterans of our region deserve an economy that will offer them excellent job opportunities after they have so gallantly served our country. My changes to this bill will help ensure that those opportunities will be available to our WNC veterans.
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