$793 Million for Florence Recovery

Posted on October 16, 2018 by admin in Disaster Relief

State lawmakers yesterday allocated $793 million in additional Hurricane Florence relief funding in response to the preliminary needs assessment released last week, bringing the legislature’s total commitment to disaster recovery since the storm to $850 million. For comparison, after Hurricane Matthew, the legislature appropriated $200 million two months after the storm. With this latest action, the North Carolina General Assembly has allocated over $1.2 billion for hurricane recovery since 2016.

Representative McGrady is a primary sponsor of the legislation.

The Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund (HFDRF) appropriates $65 million to provide a state match for federal disaster assistance and another $65 million state match for federal transportation assistance. It spends $60 million on capital recovery funds for public school facilities and $30 million for capital needs in the University of North Carolina system. Another $28 million will benefit local governments, while agriculture recovery received $50 million. More than $30 million was directed to housing recovery support.

Tens of millions more dollars will meet needs in behavioral health, community hospitals, small businesses, community colleges, and mosquito abatement efforts in areas of North Carolina affected by Hurricane Florence. Funding for coastal beach renourishment, dredging needs, marine debris cleanup, and commercial fishermen were also included in the recovery package.

The measure includes a fix for members of the National Guard who participated in the response to Hurricane Matthew. The bill waives outstanding debt service members owed due to accidental overpayments by the Department of Public Safety (DPS). It also requires DPS to reimburse service members who already repaid the department.

As part of the continuing collaboration among state leaders to respond to the historic storm, officials from the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM), including State Budget Director Charles Perusse, briefed key appropriations leaders and fiscal staff in the North Carolina legislature on Thursday. Participants discussed the Governor’s proposal at length in a productive working session.

OSBM told lawmakers that, consistent with the descriptions contained in the Governor’s report, the needs assessment released this week was a preliminary figure that may change based on further analysis and the availability of additional federal aid. OSBM also said that this is a long-term, five-year plan.

The report indicated that more concrete, on-the-ground data will soon be available to update the preliminary needs assessment, which relied in part on computer modeling. As such, some assessed needs may shift considerably over time as federal aid becomes clearer and damage assessments continue. Education needs, for example, are particularly preliminary, and many of the damage assessments will change in OSBM’s final report, lawmakers and staff heard from administration officials.

OSBM is also working on an estimate of how much funding could be spent in the next six months. They indicated that course corrections may be required over time. Based on this information and the Governor’s report, the legislature appropriated a majority of the funding immediately while preserving maximum flexibility to meet the final needs assessments that are currently ongoing.

Most of the funding transfer comes from the state’s record $2 billion rainy day fund.

In a joint statement, state House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) and Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said, “Since Hurricane Florence hit, we’ve sought to take politics out of the relief effort. Today’s historic, bipartisan aid package is yet another step in a collaborative recovery process that we hope will continue.”

State lawmakers convened in Raleigh on Monday for the second time in as many weeks, and are scheduled to go into session again in November. The legislature plans to continue collaborating with state agencies as they finalize their needs assessments for Hurricane Florence.

According to the most recent report on Hurricane Matthew funding, approximately $124 million has been disbursed, $115 million has been awarded, and $121 million remains available out of the total $360 million allocated in prior disaster recovery packages since 2016.

My Perspective on the Proposed Constitutional Amendments

Posted on October 9, 2018 by admin in Courts, Crime, Elections, Gun Rights, Hunting & Fishing, Justice, McGrady, Newsletters, Recreation, Taxes

At the end of the Short Session in late June, the General Assembly passed several bills that placed six constitutional amendments on the ballot for a vote in the upcoming November election. Unlike other legislation, proposed constitutional amendments do not require the approval of the governor; therefore, Governor Cooper didn’t play a role in proposing the amendments.

While proposed constitutional amendments periodically are on the ballot, six is the most to be considered at one time in recent history. Given the range of topics and number of amendments, I was disappointed my constitutional amendment bill, House Bill 3 [Eminent Domain], which passed the House with broad bipartisan support, was not considered by the Senate.

To be placed on the ballot, constitutional amendments require three-fifths votes by each legislative chamber, which means 72 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate. Following the passage of the amendments, two of the original proposed constitutional amendments were successfully challenged in court; therefore, the legislature came back and changed those amendments to conform with the court decision. The two revised amendments were subsequently deemed to be in proper form.

Disagreements ensued over how the amendments would be described on the ballot by the Constitutional Amendments Publication Commission, which is comprised of the Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble (R), Attorney General Josh Stein (D), and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D). The legislature cut short arguments by simply requiring each amendment to be entitled “Constitutional Amendment.”

Except for the income tax cap amendment, none of the proposed amendments have implementing language. For example, if voters adopt the Voter ID amendment requiring a photo ID to vote, the legislature will have to pass legislation determining what constitutes a valid photo ID. Anticipating that one or more of the amendments will pass, the legislature has already scheduled a session after Thanksgiving to consider implementing legislation for any amendments that receive voter approval.

I voted on whether to put the amendments on the ballot, and I originally voted against putting one of the amendments on the ballot, HB913 [Bipartisan Ethics and Elections Enforcement], essentially for the reasons a court subsequently determined to strike the amendment. When that amendment was revised consistent with the court’s decision, I changed my vote to put a replacement amendment on the ballot.

While some of my colleagues probably view their votes as indicating support or opposition to each amendment, my votes only reflect whether I thought the amendments were appropriate for voter consideration. In responding to constituent communications, I’ve shared my thoughts on the amendments and have promised to summarize my thoughts on each one. If you want another take on the amendments, you might read Longleaf Politics’ 6 N.C. Constitutional Amendments You will Vote on in 2018 Explained.

So here is what I think.

SB75 [Const. Amd. – Max Income Tax Rate of 7.0%] lowers the current constitutional maximum income tax rate of 10% to 7%. Currently North Carolina has a flat income tax rate of 5.499%, which will be decreasing to 5.25% for the next tax cycle.

While I am generally against enshrining arbitrary limits in the state constitution, there is already a 10% cap in the state constitution. The original bill proposed a 5.5% tax cap, which many of my colleagues and I believed was too restrictive. The bill was amended to a more moderate 7% maximum rate. With this change, supporters argue it will allow the state flexibility to deal with unforeseen financial challenges, while ensuring that North Carolina maintains a low tax rate. The House passed the proposed amendment by a vote of 73-45, and the Senate passed the amendment by a 34-13 vote, largely along partisan lines.

My view: If voters think a tax cap is needed, then they can put the cap in the constitution, but I don’t like these sort of provisions. I’m not voting for it.

HB1092 [Const. Amendment – Require Photo ID to Vote] requires voters to provide photo identification before voting in person. I voted to put this on the ballot because I believe the only way to require a voter ID is by a constitutional amendment since a federal court having jurisdiction over North Carolina seems to feel any restriction is racially motivated.

The majority of states require a voter ID. H 1092 passed the House by a vote of 74-43 and 33-12 in the Senate.

My view: I support this amendment. Picture IDs are required for all sorts of daily activities, and they will have to be provided free-of-charge by the state. I don’t believe requiring a voter ID is discriminatory.

HB551 [Strengthening Victims’ Rights] (also known as Marsy’s Law) is an amendment that ensures victims of violent crimes receive certain enumerated rights such as being allowed to be present at court proceedings of the accused. While there are already several victims rights laws on the books, the bill sponsor wanted to ensure that these rights are constitutionally protected rights and make their enforcement uniform throughout the state. I voted in favor of H551, which was the most widely supported amendment with a vote of 107-9 in the House and 45-1 in the Senate.

My view: If voters feel that there is a need to explicitly recognize victims’ rights in the constitution, they should support the amendment. The amendment will not really change North Carolina law; in other words, it is not strictly needed. I’ll likely vote for it.

SB677 [Protect Right to Hunt and Fish] would constitutionally ensure that North Carolinians have a right to use traditional methods to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, subject only to certain limitations promoting wildlife conservation and resource management. I voted to put this proposed amendment on the ballot, although one may question why we need to put this in the constitution when no one seems to be trying to stop or thwart hunting of fishing in North Carolina. More than twenty other states have a similar measure in their state’s constitution, so this amendment isn’t uncommon. S 677 passed the House 92-23 and passed the Senate 41-6.

My view: Like with Marsy’s Law, this is simply a question of whether one feels hunting and fishing rights should be enshrined in the state constitution. I’m ambivalent about including it in the text of the constitution.

HB3 [Nonpartisan Judicial Merit Amendment] would put forward a new process to fill vacant judicial seats, which are currently filled unilaterally by the Governor. S 814 does not affect the current process for regular judicial elections. If approved by the voters, this amendment would allow citizens to nominate their fellow citizens for any judicial vacancy, nominees would then be evaluated by a nonpartisan commission. The General Assembly would review qualified nominees and advance at least two names to the Governor who would appoint one of the nominated persons within 10 days.

I voted in support of S 814 because I’m familiar with cases of governors leaving office appointing judges in the last hours of their terms. I am concerned that the General Assembly has not passed implementing language that would give greater detail and assurance as to how this process would take place. S 814 passed the House by a vote of 73-45 and by a vote of 34-13 in the Senate.

My view: Elections have consequences, and our constitution gives governors the power to make appointments. While I’m not sure that there is a huge problem with gubernatorial appointment of judges supporting a need for the amendment, I do like the idea of merit selection of judges. However, my inclination is to vote against this particular amendment.

HB4 [Bipartisan Ethics and Elections enforcement] This amendment would establish a Bipartisan State Board of Ethics and Elections Enforcement. The new board would be modeled after the Federal Elections Commission s by providing for an 8-member board appointed by legislative leaders, with the aim of removing partisanship from the oversight of elections. No more than 4 members could be from the same political party. I was the only Republican to vote against this amendment in its original form, H 913, but I supported putting the amendment on the ballot when it was changed in response to a judicial decision. It passed the House by a vote of 73-33 and 32-14 in the Senate.

My view: Historically, the governor appointed the nine person board with the majority coming from the governor’s political party. For a long time, this system seemed to work. I didn’t feel strongly about the amendment until the current state election board overruled Henderson County’s own election board by adding Sunday voting and also ousting one party’s appointment to the county election board in favor of another appointment. Since hyper-partisanship is now evident on the state election board, I’m supporting this amendment with hopes that an evenly divided board would have to learn how to work together.

With so many constitutional amendments on the ballot, it is important you get out to vote this upcoming election cycle.

Disaster Relief: What Comes Next

Posted on October 4, 2018 by admin in Disaster Relief, Emergency Management, McGrady, Newsletters

In a one-day special session, the legislature passed what is likely to be the first of several disaster relief bills related to Hurricane Florence. Both the Senate and the House voted unanimously for a bill that provides flexibility in the school calendar for counties hit by the hurricane and provided compensation for school employees who otherwise might not get paid while schools are closed in hurricane-affected areas. Senate Bill 2 [School Calendar & Pay/Hurricane Florence] also allowed certain college students who are enrolled in an education preparation program and who are affected by Hurricane Florence to have the clinical internship requirement of the program deemed completed.

House Bill 4 [Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act] creates the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund and appropriates $56.5 million to the Fund, of which $6.5 million is to supplement or replace lost compensation of school lunch employees due to school closures. Regarding elections, the bill extends certain deadlines related to voter registration and allows local election boards to alter the location of early voting sites. The bill also expresses the legislature’s intent to prevent adverse public health impacts related to the emergency of large populations of floodwater mosquitoes and waives certain DMV fees in hurricane-affected counties. Again, this bill was adopted unanimously.

The Governor quickly signed both bills, and work has now begun on another disaster relief package that will be considered by the legislature at a special session on October 15.

One might wonder why the legislature would have to come back in two weeks. Why didn’t the legislature simply appropriate whatever monies are needed to repair buildings, provide housing, and address agricultural losses? The answer is it takes time to assess the losses related to the hurricane. The Cooper Administration, state agencies like the Department of Agriculture, emergency management agencies and local governments are still determining losses. Basically, there was consensus between the governor and legislative leaders on the need for additional time to assess the losses.

The legislature is moving to address losses relating to Hurricane Florence quicker than was done following Hurricane Floyd and Hurricane Matthew. With respect to those hurricanes, it was several months before the legislature appropriated disaster relief. Both the Cooper Administration and the legislature have learned from the recent experience with Hurricane Matthew.

So what comes next?

State Budget Director Charles Perusse provided a broad outline of the areas that may need funding when he spoke to the Senate and House Joint Appropriations about the first disaster relief bills. He said the Administration would be looking at the following areas: Housing, Agriculture, Business, State and Local Infrastructure, Education (infrastructure and operations), Transportation, Natural Resources (includes environment, health and resiliency), Health and Human Services, and Utilities and Recovery Operations. What Director Perusse suggests might need funding is similar to what was funded following Hurricanes Floyd and Matthew.

In fact, if one wants to see what might next be funded, one need only look at the first disaster relief bill relating to Hurricane Matthew, House Bill 2 [Disaster Recovery Act of 2016]. A little over two months after Hurricane Matthew, the legislature appropriated nearly $200 million for housing, resilient redevelopment planning, state matching funding for federal disaster relief programs, small business loans, infrastructure construction (water, sewer, sidewalks, storm drainage), and cleanup operations.

People should expect that the legislature will include additional Hurricane Florence-related funding in future legislation. The legislature is schedule to come back after Thanksgiving, and another disaster relief bill could be introduced then. As with Matthew, the budget next year is likely to include funding related to the hurricane. Following Matthew, the next two budget bills included another $160 million for housing, community colleges, stream debris removal, river gauges, search and rescue equipment and emergency response equipment.

The first monies appropriated for each successive hurricane generally address actual losses related to the hurricane. However, once those losses are addressed, it is likely that funding will be directed at avoiding losses due to future hurricanes or natural disasters. The emergency management folks refer to this as “hazard mitigation,” and they mean things like buying houses, raising houses, and other specific real estate and infrastructure from flooding. Another word that gets used is “resiliency.”

After Hurricane Matthew, the Division of Emergency Management sought funding for detailed mapping of topography and buildings, and additional river gauges to provide real-time water level data. They requested supplemental mapping of new flood hazard areas post-Matthew, supplemental mapping of urban areas subject to flooding, and mapping of water routes in the event of dam breaches.

After Florence, my expectation is that we’ll see similar requests from the Division of Emergency Management. There is broad support for getting people out of harm’s way, and, having reconstructed portions of Princeville, Fair Bluff and other towns after hurricanes, my suspicion is there will be more interest in funding buyout programs.

There is also interest in moving some swine operations out of floodplains and closing manure lagoons in high-risk floodplains. There is already a state program addressing that, but it is oversubscribed. The back-to-back hurricanes have also demonstrated the vulnerabilities of our aging electric infrastructure, and I’d expect to see proposals to address that.

Each hurricane causes unique damages. Hurricane Florence has apparently caused more damage to schools than Hurricane Matthew, but both hurricanes impacted community college enrollment. In the two weeks since Hurricane Florence, it is clear various hospitals were impacted. No monies were allocated for hospitals following Matthew.

The bottom line is that recovery from a major hurricane takes years, and one can expect the legislature will appropriate monies for Hurricane Florence-related issues over the next two years.

With over $2 billion in the so-called “Rainy Day Fund,” North Carolina is well positioned to address the natural disaster. Why have a rainy day fund, if one doesn’t use it to address the damages caused by lots of rain? Unlike when Governor Jim Hunt had to reallocated funds from other areas of the budget to address damages from Hurricane Floyd, Governor Cooper shouldn’t need to raid other budget areas to address Hurricane Florence-related losses or needs.

Hurricane Recovery Fund Approved in Bipartisan Vote

Posted on October 2, 2018 by admin in Disaster Relief, Education, Elections, Emergency Management

Legislation to provide emergency flexibility to schools and elections boards in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, as well as establishing a new recovery fund from the state’s record savings reserve, unanimously passed the North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday.

As a senior budget writer, Representative McGrady had a large part in crafting the new law.

Election registration deadlines were extended in the bipartisan House Bill 4 [Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act] to accommodate voters displaced by the storm and local boards were given flexibility to adjust polling places, replace one-stop early voting sites, and adjust absentee ballot distributions to deal with facilities damaged by Hurricane Florence.

School districts in counties under federal disaster declarations were extended up to 20-day waivers for making up missed class time in the bipartisan Senate Bill 2 [School Calendar & Pay/Hurricane Florence]. Other school districts that missed class time but were not in the most hard-hit areas will only be required to make up two days of school.

The disaster relief legislation also requires school employees be compensated the same as if they had worked any scheduled instructional days deemed completed by the public school unit during September and October of 2018.

A $56.6 million initial funding transfer was made to a new Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund to provide the state match for federal disaster assistance programs. It will also cover missed compensation for some school employees and make a down-payment on the costs of relief in North Carolina counties designated under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United States.

The legislation also allows the waiver of any fees assessed by the Division of Motor Vehicles for duplicate drivers licenses or identification cards, applications for certificates of title, registration plate replacements, applications for duplicate registration cards, and late payments of a motor vehicle registration renewal fee.

It further addresses immediate needs to mitigate and prevent large populations of floodwater mosquitoes from emerging in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Those mosquito control efforts include mosquito abatement activities, integrated mosquito management activities, education regarding mosquito bite avoidance, and distribution of materials for prevention measures.

The legislation directs state agencies to strive to acquire goods and services from historically underutilized business vendors, whether directly as principal contractors or indirectly as subcontractors.

State House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) thanked his colleagues for the bipartisan effort in response to the storm and recalled his damage assessments with representatives in regions impacted by Florence.

“Every one of you, I’ve seen what you do and mean to your communities, and I thank you for your service to millions of North Carolinians,” Moore said. “It’s always good to see partisanship and some of the crazy divisions we let ourselves get into have been put aside for everybody to work together. This special session is an example of that.”

Legislature to Convene October 2 for Hurricane Relief

Posted on September 25, 2018 by admin in Disaster Relief, Education, Emergency Management

Great Seal of the State of North Carolina The North Carolina General Assembly will convene Tuesday, October 2, 2018 to begin considering disaster relief legislation in support of victims of Hurricane Florence.

Lawmakers supported calling the extra session next week to address pressing needs for education communities, provide policy flexibility to storm victims, and prepare for a fourth disaster recovery act since 2016 as well as federal relief funding from the U.S. Congress.

State House Speaker Tim Moore said the upcoming session was important to begin work on key reforms and emergency funding packages that state legislators have experience addressing after Hurricane Matthew hit the state in 2016. “The disaster recovery process is familiar to North Carolina lawmakers from both a budgeting and policy standpoint,” Moore said, “and we are ready to get to work passing key reforms and preparing funding to accelerate the storm recovery and help victims through this difficult time.”

North Carolina has saved a record $2 billion emergency reserve fund for natural and economic disasters. The state legislature appropriated over $360 million for Hurricane Matthew recovery the last two years.

Education leaders in the North Carolina legislature held a press conference with state Superintendent Mark Johnson on Monday to detail proposals that would alleviate concerns among education communities about attendance makeup requirements and income instability for teachers due to missed class time after the storm.

State House and Senate leaders “are working together, both houses and both parties, on a comprehensive disaster relief bill to get the immediate needs addressed,” said House Education Committee co-chair Representative Craig Horn (R-Union).

North Carolina lawmakers continue to work closely with their state’s federal delegation to prepare for a Congressional relief package and clear potential legal and fiscal obstacles to appropriating impending aid.

On Sunday, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Richard Burr (R-NC) applauded the U.S. House for granting their request for a $1.68 billion “down payment” on Hurricane Florence disaster relief in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. The relief includes $1.14 billion for North Carolina and $540 million for South Carolina.

Legislative leaders have expressed support for additional reforms that provide flexibility for storm victims including delaying upcoming small business tax deadlines and adjusting vehicle title replacement policies through the DMV.

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