Finishing Up Legislative Service

Posted on September 22, 2020 by admin in McGrady, Newsletters, Pandemics, Retirement, Transportation

Having announced last year that this would be my last term in the legislature, my expectation was I’d complete my term on December 31st and begin enjoying retirement. That isn’t the way it played out. Instead, I find myself transitioning to the newly restructured North Carolina Board of Transportation. This restructure occurred following the passage of a transportation bill that reworked NCDOT’s budget in light of COVID-19 and a revenue shortfall resulting from overspending and hurricane-related expenditures. During the legislative session ending in late June, the NCDOT board’s mandate was expanded to provide oversight to the department’s budget, and include appointments to the board by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Team of the Senate.

In years past, the Board of Transportation had a lot of influence in the department’s budget, with individual board members being able to direct how monies were spent in their respective districts. This changed during the Perdue Administration (2009-12) after several board members were implicated in scandals regarding projects which inured to their benefit. Governor Perdue and the legislature restricted the transportation board’s power at that time, and it largely lost responsibility for the budget. The most recent restructuring was meant to give the board back oversight on how monies are spent without giving individual board members responsibility for decisions on individual projects. Hopefully, the right balance has been struck. The DOT Secretary and the entire board was previously appointed by the Governor. In an effort to provide more oversight, the restructuring gives 6 of the 20 seats on the board to legislative leaders.

My appointment to the transportation board was a bit surprising, since I’d been an early critic of the Department’s spending—first, on a salary pilot program that gave the Department flexibility to make salary adjustments and, second, on its decision to expedite transportation funding at a time when its revenues were flat. Although my criticism of the Department wasn’t initially well received by the Department or by some of my legislative colleagues, two audits by NC State Auditor Beth Woods largely supported my critique, Department of Transportation Salary Adjustments and North Carolina Department of Transportation Financial Statement Audit.

During the most recent Short Session, I led the House-Senate effort to revise the NCDOT budget in light of the huge revenue shortfalls caused by the drop in gas tax revenues following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, I led the effort to strike a deal between legislative leaders and Governor Cooper on the board restructuring. When the bill became law, I indicated to Speaker Moore that I would be interested in serving on the NCDOT board, if he wanted someone who would focus on transportation policy issues rather than simply being a political reward, as has been the case of some DOT board appointments made by governors in the past.

Before returning to North Carolina, I served on the same board in Georgia, and as a Henderson County Commissioner, I chaired the regional transportation board, the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization. Arguably, transportation has the largest impact on our environment — air, water, and land; its environmental impacts are my primary interest in board service.

I’m honored by the appointment to the Board of Transportation. My appointment is for a four-year term. While an at-large appointment, there should be no doubt I will continue to pay attention to projects in the mountains, particularly in Henderson County. It is important board members stay in close contact with local officials who likely have a clear understanding of the impact of transportation projects on their communities.

So my public policy work will not end at the end of the year. Rather, it will transition in about two weeks from the General Assembly to the Board of Transportation.

Two of the Senate Pro Tem’s appointments to the board were senators who resigned during the summer in anticipation of the appointments, but I chose not to do that. I am a budget chair, and as the legislature left Raleigh in late June it was anticipated that we’d be back in session soon to appropriate federal CARES Act funds and/or adopt a budget for FY 2020-21. As a failsafe, the legislature adjourned until September 2—a date viewed as about the latest date we could appropriate monies and reasonably expect them to be spent before the end of the year deadline required by the CARES Act. The Speaker wanted me to serve on the DOT board, but he also wanted me to complete the budget work. So I agreed to remain in the legislature until completion of the budget work.

This year, the budget process has been more frustrating than usual. Consistently since late spring, North Carolina was promised Congress would be providing further guidance as to how approximately $900 million in federal funds could be spent and states would likely receive additional appropriations. The failsafe date for the legislature to convene arrived without new guidance or additional federal monies.

As it turned out, my role in that two-day session was limited. First, the legislature’s options for spending the federal monies were greatly limited by Congress’ failure to expand the use to which the CARES Act monies could be spent. The problem with the state budget is plummeting revenues, but the federal monies largely cannot be used to fill revenue shortfalls. Second, long before COVID-19, I’d scored two highly sought after permits — one to paddle the Green River out of Dinosaur National Monument [the Gates of Ladore] and one to hike in “The Wave” in Paria Canyon in Utah. Never anticipating we could be in session in September during an election year, I had planned this hiatus and I was faced with the prospect of cancelling once-in-a-life experiences to be in Raleigh for another budget session.

In anticipation of the budget session, I worked with staff on budget options. Initially, budget discussions occurred on-line as most things have for the last six months. When the time came for my western sojourn to begin, I checked on flights to return to Raleigh. Ultimately, both my fellow budget chair colleagues and my leadership urged me not to fly back for the abbreviated legislative session since the budget bill was likely to pass with significant majorities and would be signed by the Governor. And that is what happened.

While Congress still hasn’t revised its guidelines for spending CARES Act monies and it also hasn’t appropriated additional monies to the states, North Carolina has apparently completed its budget work for this year. That means I’m now free to take the board seat prior to the early October NCDOT board meeting.

I am now in the midst of making a transition from the legislative branch to the executive branch. I’ve attended several local government council or commission meetings to say good-bye and express my appreciation to local officials for their work with me. In my new transportation board position, I expect to work closely with local government officials but my role will be different.

My legislative office is still working on a range of issues for constituents—many of them involving unemployment compensation issues relating to COVID-19. I’m still working on the proposed Ecusta Trail, and I am still trying to assist in funding projects related to my Henderson County district or western North Carolina. One role I’ve consistently played over the years is as an intermediary in disputes between local governments or involving local governments. Funding shortfalls due to COVID-19 have increased local government pressures and I am using what political and personal capital I have to try to resolve issues before leaving office.

If all goes as expected, I will resign my seat prior to the next NCDOT board meeting in early October. While it is not clear whether the legislature might be called back into session before the end of the year, my immediate successor will be named by the Henderson County Republican Party since I was elected as a Republican in 2018. The Governor will actually make the appointment, but has no discretion and must appoint the person nominated by the local party as long as that person is otherwise qualified — in other words, old enough, not a convicted felon or other otherwise barred from serving. Ultimately, the voters will elect a new representative in November.

A Quick Return to Raleigh

Posted on July 9, 2020 by admin in Budget, Cooper, Gun Rights, Health, McGrady, Newsletters, Pandemics, Spirituous Liquor, Transparency

Following Governor Cooper’s vetoes of nine bills, the legislature came back into session to consider overriding the vetoes. While back in session, the House took up a few other non-veto-related bills.

Aside from a noncontroversial appointment bill and a confirmation of a gubernatorial appointment, the substantive bills included Senate Bill 226 [Delay Certain ABC Permit Renewal Payments]. SB380 [DHHS Block Grants] and SB232 [Repeal Death Investigation Confidentiality/Masks/Health and Safety]. SB226 would allow alcoholic beverage permit holders currently prohibited from operating because of the epidemic to delay the payment of permit renewal fees until 90 days after the Governor rescinds his executive order closing these businesses. Permittees who have already paid permit fees may also request refund of these fees until the expiration of the extended deadline. With the pandemic, the legislature has rolled back various filing deadlines, including tax filing deadlines and motor vehicle registration deadlines. This is just another rollback of a deadline allowing restaurants, bars and other establishments some financial relief from being stuck with costly permits they cannot use.

SB380 has a strange history. It came about when Governor Cooper vetoed legislation his own Administration had sought, SB168 [DHHS & Other Revisions]. SB168 was a bill with a mix of health policies and funding sought by the Administration. The bill passed nearly unanimously, but shortly after passage a tempest in a teapot arose over one provision having to do with death investigation records. The controversial provision provided that death investigation records that were in law enforcement custody would remain confidential when they circulated to the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The issue is fully outlined in a WRAL report.

When the uproar occurred, the legislature started to repeal that confidentiality provision in SB232. In addition to repealing the confidentiality provision, SB232 will allow the wearing of masks for health purposes. This latter issue is necessary because of an anti-KKK law which generally prohibits the wearing of masks in public. Clearly, an exception to the general prohibition about wearing masks in public is necessary when needed for health reasons.

Apparently, Governor Cooper was unsure that SB232 would become law, so he vetoed SB168. However, the vetoed bill also appropriated a range of federal funds passing through the state for human services programs. In vetoing the bill because of the confidentiality provision, the Governor also vetoed needed funding. So SB380 fixes that — re-appropriating the funding.

The first of the vetoed bills to be taken up was HB652 [2nd Amendment Protection Act], a bill that would allow a person who holds a concealed handgun permit to possess and carry a handgun on educational property that serves as a religious place of worship. With a required three-fifths vote of Members present and voting, 69 votes were required to override the veto. The vote to override failed by a vote of 66-48. One has to wonder why House leaders brought up the bill for a vote, when five House members who supported the bill were not in attendance. If they had been there, the veto would have been overridden.

One should note there are lots of reasons that might lead to a legislator missing a session. Even before the pandemic, it was common for members to have to be away for personal reasons, including deaths of family members or friends. Medical appointments may cause a member to miss a session. With respect to today’s votes, for example, Rep. Ted Davis (R-New Hanover) became a grandfather during today’s session and was absent. While being a legislator is supposed to be a part-time job, in recent years the legislature has had nearly year-round sessions; so periodically most legislators will miss some sessions. When we nearly two weeks ago, no one knew we’d be back so soon.

The second of the vetoed bills to be taken up was HB806 [Open Exercise and Fitness Facilities]. Essentially, it authorized gyms and fitness facilities to resume operations under certain conditions including social distancing and enhanced disinfecting of exercise equipment. The override of the veto failed on a vote of 63 to 51. In this case, if the five House members who had earlier supported the bill had been present, the veto still would not have been overridden.

The third of the bills that was considered was HB686 [Freedom to Celebrate the Fourth of July], a bill that would have allowed parades or firework displays done in accordance with the pyrotechnics’ laws during the pandemic. Again, the override failed, but the vote was not close to getting a three-fifth’s vote, 58-50. On this vote, I voted against override. This bill lacked any pandemic related conditions that had to be met to hold a parade, and that distinguished this bill, in my opinion from the other reopening bills.

Since the two bills that originally passed with the requisite majority failed, HB652 and HB806, it seemed pointless to continue to take votes on the remaining vetoed bills. The Senate took up two vetoed bills, SB105 [Clarify Emergency Powers] and SB599 [Open Skating Rinks/Bowling Alleys] but the overrides were unsuccessful.

Our previously passed adjournment resolution will bring the legislature back on September 3. The reason for coming back is to appropriate the remaining federal COVID funds. The hope is that the federal government will give the legislature more leeway in how those funds can be spent which will allow the legislature to backfill its revenue shortfalls in the budget.

My expectation, though, is we’ll be back in session earlier than that, probably in late July or early August. The Governor’s staff has consistently communicated they expect the Governor to call us back in session upon receiving further direction from the federal government on spending the COVID funds. The Governor recognizes, as do legislative leaders, the easiest way to balance the budget, which is required under the North Carolina constitution, is to allocate the federal funds to cover the state budget deficit. It is also possible that when tax revenues become clear after the July 15 tax filing deadline that the budget picture will become clearer.

The other unknown is whether the federal government will provide additional federal assistance to state and local governments. Additional funding could be used to make up for the transportation cuts made in the most recent transportation budget bill. With Congress typically heading home in August, states — not just North Carolina — are waiting to see if further financial help is on the way.

Returning to Raleigh for Votes to Override Vetoes

Posted on July 6, 2020 by admin in Beer, Business, Children, Cooper, Education, Healthcare, McGrady, Newsletters, Pandemics, Recreation, Transparency, Veterans

While expecting to be called back to Raleigh for votes on vetoed bills, legislators probably weren’t expecting Governor Cooper would veto eight bills. Five of the bills seek to modify various executive orders having to do with the pandemic. Two of the bills involve issues in the bailiwick of the Department of Health & Human Services, and one bill is a gun bill which, among other things, allows persons with concealed carry handgun permits to carry a handgun on educational property that serves as a location of both a school and a church.

To override a veto, each chamber must vote to override by a supermajority of three-fifths of those present and voting. In the House, if everyone is present and voting, 72 votes would be required. In the Senate, the number is 30. Only two of the eight vetoed bills passed with over 72 votes in the House and over 30 votes in the Senate: House Bill 806 [Open Exercise & Fitness Facilities] and HB652 [2nd Amendment Protection Act]. While it is possible there will be votes on one or more of the vetoed bills that didn’t achieve supermajority support, the two bills that did pass with the requisite majorities are expected to be taken up for veto override votes. Since both are House bills, the override votes will first be taken in the House.

Beginning in late March, Governor Cooper issued a series of executive orders seeking to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Schools were ordered to close, as were most businesses. Large gatherings of people were prohibited, which initially closed most churches. Most recently, the Governor ordered people to wear face masks in public. From the beginning, some opposed the orders arguing they were unconstitutional. With the passage of time and in particular the subsequent modification of orders allowing for the re-opening of some businesses while others are required to remain closed, some argued that the orders unfairly allowed some types of activities to resume while not allowing others and advocated for the legislature to overturn or modify the orders or in some way restrict the Governor’s powers.

Ours is a government of checks and balances, and most constituents who communicated with me wanted me to persuade the Governor to modify or end his orders. Some wondered why the legislature hadn’t moved to check the Governor’s overbroad executive orders. Alternatively, even before the mandate to wear face masks in public, some argued the legislature should support or institute a mask requirement.

Understandably, support for bills in any way restricting the Governor’s powers broke along party lines with Republicans almost always supporting bills overturning or modifying the Governor’s orders and with Democrats mostly opposing any effort to overturn or modify the Governor’s orders. In vetoing each of the bills modifying his executive orders, Governor Cooper had the same message: “Tying the hands of public health officials in times of pandemic is dangerous, especially when case counts and hospitalizations are rising. State and local officials must be able to take swift action during the COVID-19 emergency to prevent a surge of patients from overwhelming hospitals and endangering the lives of North Carolinians. The bill could restrict leaders who need to respond quickly to outbreaks and protect public health and safety. Therefore I veto the bill.”

While there are few that would argue the Governor should have no power to address a pandemic, the majority has consistently voted to modify or limit the Governor’s orders. Most disconcerting for me is the large number of law enforcement officials — sheriffs, district attorneys, and police chiefs — who have made clear they aren’t going to enforce the Governor’s orders. For me, that sounds like the start of a path leading to anarchy. Rather than not enforcing laws or executive orders, it would seem the better path would be to pass laws that modify any orders that are overbroad rather than allowing or condoning civil disobedience. However, the legislature doesn’t appear to have a supermajority on bills to modify any of the Governor’s orders, except perhaps with one exception.

My work with the Governor has resulted in different outcomes. Early on for example, I pushed the Governor to structure his orders in a way that allowed summer camps to open if they could social distance and make sure the virus was not among their camp populations. That effort was disappointing; most summer camps were forced to make a decision to close given the delayed guidance from the Governor’s Office as to what they needed to do to open. Of the traditional camps in the area, only Keystone Camp (girls camp in Brevard), Camp Pinnacle (boys camp in Flat Rock) and Camp Merrie-Mac and Camp Timberlake (related girls and boys camps in Buncombe County) are opening, albeit on a different schedule. Some camps are trying to open late in the summer, assuming we get past the phase three restrictions.

Next, I pushed the Governor to not issue an order that precluded the opening of breweries, wineries and cideries. After much work, the Governor’s executive order allowed for the opening of these establishments, although they had to modify operations to limit large gatherings and increase social distance. I appreciated the Governor’s decision and the work done on this issue by the Governor’s staff.

Finally, I pushed to allow some other establishments to open if they could limit large gatherings and social distance in the same manner as breweries, wineries, and cideries. The Governor was unwilling to allow any bowling alleys to open. He also closed all gyms. While allowing breweries, wineries and cideries to open, he apparently didn’t think bars could change how they operated and simply closed them all. When faced with no willingness to modify orders which closed whole segments of the economy, I’ve generally supported efforts to modify his orders. However, I was the only Republican to vote against one of the reopening bills, HB686 [Freedom to Celebrate the Fourth of July]. My view was the bill was over broad in allowing all parades without including requirements for social distancing or similar restrictions designed to limit transmission of the coronavirus.

HB806 is the only bill relating to the pandemic that appears to have some chance of becoming law. It would authorize indoor or outdoor exercise and fitness facilities, gyms, health clubs, and fitness centers to resume operations under certain conditions. Unlike the Governor’s order which closes certain classes of establishments outright, the bill allows these establishments to open if they meet certain conditions intended to thwart the spread of the virus. The idea is to allow the establishment to open if they can implement certain safeguards, rather than close them simply because they are a certain type of facility.

Initially, the Governor closed hair salons and barbershops. As it became clear that this restriction was going to be disobeyed or not enforced, he modified his order to allow the opening of hair salons and barbershops, if certain conditions were met. My view is the same approach should have been taken with respect to gyms and similar establishments.

My support of HB806 came in light of what was happening in my district. There is a fitness facility in Henderson County that is open despite the Governor’s order. The owners of the facility aren’t trying to flaunt their disobedience of the executive order; they are simply trying to stay in business. They are limiting the number of patrons and continuously disinfecting equipment between uses. They are doing as much, or even more, than other businesses allowed to open during the pandemic and my view is that there is no reason why they should be kept from opening IF they follow appropriate protocols.

What scares me is the specter of anarchy. Between the reaction to the killing of several black men by law enforcement officers, including most recently George Floyd, and the lawlessness around coronavirus restrictions imposed in most states, I feel like I’m living through something I never expected to see in the United States. The rule of law seems to be in question for a country built upon its laws and its checks and balances. Increasingly, both sides of the political spectrum seem willing to overreach, justifying their actions by an “ends justifies the means” approach.

The Governor says to wear a mask yet he is pictured marching in a Black Lives Matter demonstration without a mask. The President says all sorts of inconsistent things, but his actions speak louder than words with his mass political rallies across the country.

Regardless of how one feels about the specifics of any of the bills modifying or revoking the Governor’s executive orders, one should concede these bills are only an effort of the legislature to provide a check on what is viewed by some as unfettered executive power. My expectation as to the override of HB806 is that the seventeen Democrats in the House will fall into line and support the Governor’s veto. Thus, my bet is the legislature will not be able to override that veto.

The override vote on HB652 could go the same way. The bill would allow a person who holds a concealed handgun permit to possess and carry a handgun on education property that serves as a religious place of worship. Additionally, it has provisions related to lapsed concealed handgun permits, concealed carry for certain law enforcement facility employees, and certain emergency medical service personnel. The Governor’s veto message was simple: “This bill allows guns on school property which threatens the safety of students and teachers. Therefore, I veto the bill.”

My guess is this veto surprised some number of my Democratic colleagues since twelve House Democrats supported the bill. My view consistently has been that no constitutional rights are absolute, and this bill involves both the freedom to worship and the right to bear arms. I see no reason why the government should prohibit carrying a handgun on property that may be used both as a school and a church. Having been surprised by this veto, I wouldn’t be surprised if politics causes most, if not all, of the Democratic Members to change their votes to support the Governor.

At this point, House Members have been told to expect votes on Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday, but aside from the override votes it isn’t clear what else might come up. One that might is Senate Bill 168 [DHHS & Other Revisions]. SB168 was a bill sought by the Department of Health and Human Services, part of Governor Cooper’s administration. Following public outcry and two days of protests about a measure that would shield death investigations from public access, the Governor said he has concerns regarding the bill. However, at this point, he hasn’t vetoed the bill and the Department hasn’t requested that the legislature correct the legislation. It would be a simple matter to run a technical corrections bill to fix the language in keeping with the Administration’s current views, and I am expecting some sort of catch-all corrections bill.

Another way to fix it would be to run a separate bill, and the House Rules Committee has noticed a meeting for today to take up SB232 [Tracking Outcomes of Veterans Programs], but has indicated a proposed committee substitute for that bill entitled “Repeal Death Investigation Confidentiality.” This bill is clearly another way of repealing the provision from the earlier bill that sits on the Governor’s desk.

My primary focus this week is still HB671 [Behavior Analyst Licensure], which would provide licensure to those persons who serve autistic children and provide direct payment by insurers. Much of the past week has been spent talking to senators about the bill in hopes of this being one of the last bills that becomes law before we take a break to await additional revenue numbers and/or further direction from Congress as to how the state can spend the federal funds provided by the CARES Act.

Legislators Head Home

Posted on June 26, 2020 by admin in Budget, Children, Disaster Relief, Economy, Environment, Federal Government, Healthcare, McGrady, Medicaid, Newsletters, Pandemics, Redistricting, Regulatory Reform, Transportation, Utilities, Water

The highs and lows of the last week of the session

Shortly after 3 a.m. this morning, the legislature passed its adjournment resolution. Technically, it is still in session as it awaits action by the Governor on dozens of bills passed in the last weeks. Actually, the legislature doesn’t expect to come back in the near term.

Governor Cooper has indicated he’ll probably bring the legislature back when two things happen. The first is when we have hard numbers on which to craft a balanced budget. With the move of the tax deadline to July 15 from April 15, the state is still awaiting actual numbers on which to base its financial forecasts, which should be available two weeks after the filing deadline. The second has to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars Congress appropriated to jumpstart the economy and pay for pandemic-related costs. Although the monies were sent to state and local governments, the appropriations are severely restricted in how these entities can utilize the money. Both Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress say states will receive new guidelines for how federal monies can be utilized; North Carolina will need to backfill some of the revenue losses related to COVID-19.

Between now and July 11, the legislature will hold skelton sessions awaiting action by Governor Cooper on the bills that require his signature to pass. After that, the legislature could come back to take up veto overrides, but will likely wait for Governor Cooper to bring the legislature back in session to adopt a complete budget. Over the past months, a series of Single Shot bills have funded a range of diverse programs, but the budget for FY20-21 is likely to be badly out of balance if revenue projections continue their downward trend. After getting these projections, the Governor presumably will propose a balanced budget and call the legislature back into session.

Regardless of the Governor’s actions, the adjournment resolution brings the legislature back on September 3 for fairly limited reasons, including appropriating whatever COVID funds come from the federal government. The adjournment resolution apparently leaves little room to take up much additional legislation.

A great number of bills passed in the last 10 days, and hopefully some number of the new laws will receive press coverage. For example, funding for Medicaid is a significant part of the budget affecting many people, Rep. Josh Dobson (R-McDowell) and Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell), both mountain legislators, played huge roles in successfully moving that funding forward.

I had a trifecta of major, complicated bills pass towards the end of the session. The first to pass was a bill to provide a balanced budget for transportation infrastructure and repairs in light of a several billion dollar deficit based on revenue projections. Following audits of the NC Department of Transportation, reforms to the department’s cash management system were also clearly needed and legislators were interested in providing more oversight of the department’s spending practices.

House Bill 77 [DOT 2020-2021 FY Budget/Governance] adjusted the two-year budget adopted last year to bring it in line with revenue projections and implemented various financial governance provisions, including a restructuring of the Board of Transportation.

Recognizing a huge problem with the transportation budget which primarily gets its funds from gas taxes and federal monies, House and Senate budget chairs decided to work together to make huge cuts to balance the budget. It was a difficult and painful task. I was given the lead in convening the meetings and guiding the process. After numerous meetings to negotiate the budget cuts and requirements for increased reporting and transparency from the Department, the only apparent issue that could likely cause the Governor to veto the bill was a change in the composition of the NCDOT board. Currently, the Governor appoints all the board members, but the proposed legislation gave the legislature appointments, albeit not a majority of the board.

Initially, the Governor signaled he’d veto the bill over the board appointments provision, but to his credit he engaged with legislative leaders on that issue and a compromise was struck. The Governor will appoint 14 board members, one from each DOT Division, and the Senate and House will each have three appointments. My view is that there has been far too little compromise between the Governor and the legislature on a range of contentious issues, but the transportation funding bill is one example of where compromise led to the passage of significant legislation.

The second leg of the trifecta was HB308 [Regulatory Reform Act of 2020]. Every session, the legislature takes up one or more bills that include numerous changes in law sought by various state agencies and other interests. These bills usually get bogged down in partisan wrangling and become legislative Christmas trees decorated with ornaments — the ornaments being changes in law sought by well-heeled lobbyists on behalf of their clients. Per usual, this year several regulatory reform bills moved through the legislature, including HB308, Senate Bill 374 [Regulatory Reform Act of 2020] and SB419 [Technical and Other Changes].

I was appointed chair of the conference committee on HB308, and with agreement from House and Senate leadership, that bill became the vehicle for reconciling all of the regulatory reform bills. In other words, the three bills were merged. Additionally, some number of narrowly crafted provisions originally included in SB553 [Regulatory Reform Act of 2019] from the last session, which was vetoed by the Governor, were included in the consensus bill.

It wasn’t a simple process to merge the bills; some things put forward by the House weren’t acceptable to the Senate and vice versa. Staff played a huge role in sorting these out, and surprisingly when House and Senate conferees came together, we, more quickly than I expected, agreed on the provisions that would be in the bill. It would have been easy to load this bill with provisions that would draw another veto from the Governor, but the conferees were about fixing problems or addressing issues mostly brought forward by departments reporting to the Governor, for example, environmental provisions from the Department of Environmental Quality.

For me, the experience of putting together the compromise was a bit surreal. In my earlier years, I’d spent a lot of time trying to defeat these types of bills, but now I was leading the effort to pass one. I communicated regularly with the various departments and vetted provisions put forward by them. In the end, the bill passed the House and the Senate unanimously. Since the bill largely provides changes in law sought by the Cooper Administration, the expectation is the bill will become law.

Finally, one of the One Shot budget bills dealt with environmental issues. At its heart was a water/wastewater bill, HB570 [Water/Wastewater Public Enterprise Reform], I worked with Sen. Newton (R-Cabarrus) on, which provides funding to repair failing water or wastewater systems run by local governments. The bill had passed both chambers several times, but since it had strong support it kept collecting those Christmas ornaments, which then thwarted passage of a clean bill.

The same happened with this bill, HB1087 [Water/Wastewater Public Enterprise Reform].

The bill drew support from environmental advocates because it settled a potential problem with North Carolina receiving its share of a class action lawsuit arising out of Volkwagen’s settlement of claims relating to modifications of emissions controls on its vehicles intended to skirt air quality laws. Additionally, for the first time, priority was given to efforts to fund mitigation of flooding that occurs when hurricanes hit the NC coast. Having had a series of hurricanes that have struck many of the same areas of North Carolina, legislators are now willing to consider adding flood storage capacity by potentially purchasing low-lying land rather than allowing development of these lands that will likely flood again.

In recent years, it has been unusual to get broad bipartisan support for large, multi-faceted bills, but how one handles a bill can determine whether a partisan fight breaks out or whether special interests manage to insert controversial provisions into otherwise broadly supported legislation. The regulatory reform and water/sewer infrastructure bills passed unanimously, and the transportation bill, while not garnering unanimous support, received strong bipartisan support in both chambers. My view is this happened in some part because we worked to solve problems and vetted drafts of the legislation with the Cooper Administration and with Democratic leaders. How these bills were crafted and the substance of the bills drew praise from both Republican and Democratic legislators. Another example of a complicated bill that got bipartisan support is the recent passed election bill, HB1169 [Bipartisan Elections Act of 2020], shepherded by Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett) and Rep. Holly Grange (R-New Hanover).

Not unexpectedly, the legislative session ended with some of the usual shenanigans. Conference reports on bills in controversy came to the floor during the wee hours of the morning on the last day. Agreements conferees believed they had weren’t fully reflected in the bills that came to the floor, but in our haste to adjourn the House and the Senate couldn’t always get on the same page. There was an education omnibus bill SB113 [Education Omnibus] that addressed the school calendar issue, for example, but another bill, SB212 [Capital Approprations/R&R/DIT/Cybersecurity] included another provision relating to school calendars that no one highlighted when presenting the second bill. Handling bills in this fashion is not transparent, and is simply wrong.

My greatest disappointment was the failure of the Senate to pass my autism bill, HB671 [Behavior Analyst Licensure]. North Carolina is the only state in the entire country where persons who provide services to autistic children cannot practice independently and be directly reimbursed for their work. In North Carolina, behavior analysts must work under the supervision of some other licensed professional, usually psychologists, and insurance companies don’t compensate behavior analysts directly. Since other states usually license behavior analysts and allow either licensed or nationally certified behavior analysts to be paid directly by insurers, it creates a deficit of practitioners in North Carolina leaving a population of autistic children who need services without resources.

During the past six years, I and others have filed bills to correct this and it seemed that this year, the legislation would finally pass. In the wee hours of the morning, I was informed by the Senate there wasn’t enough time to take up HB671, and that is a bitter pill for me.

A more difficult issue is the issue of nonpartisan redistricting. In the House, a majority of Members are supporting one of several nonpartisan redistricting bills, including HB140 [The FAIR Act] and HB69 [Nonpartisan Redistricting Commission], both of which I’m a primary sponsor. Given the adjournment resolution that passed, it is hard to see a realistic opportunity to change how we draw the congressional and legislative districts upon the completion of the census next year. We may have lost our best opportunity to adopt some form of nonpartisan redistricting as many other states have done.

As I leave town, I feel proud of the role I played in passing the transportation funding bill, the regulatory reform bill, and the water/wastewater infrastructure bill. Conversely, I’m despondent about what happened on the autism bill and not hopeful that nonpartisan redistricting will be addressed before this legislator finally heads home later this year.

These latter setbacks pretty much confirm I made the right decision to move in another direction with my life. My record over the last 10 years speaks for itself, but there may be no realistic way to accomplish my goals on autism and nonpartisan redistricting during the remainder of my term representing District 117 in the House.

Funding Bills Move Forward Amidst Curfews and COVID-19

Posted on June 4, 2020 by admin in Agriculture, Budget, Children, Cooper, Education, Health, McGrady, Municipal Government, Newsletters, Pandemics, Recreation, Transportation, Utilities

Last Sunday, after enjoying a hike on an isolated section of the Mountains-to-Sea trail, I returned to Raleigh intent on drafting more one-shot budget bills to fund various programs and projects impacted by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. My expectation for the week didn’t include helicopters in the sky and loud bursts of noise that sounded like gunshots, but were likely fireworks and other incendiaries. My expectation was there would be long hours huddled with colleagues on bills, but the reality would be a citywide curfew, requiring early closure of the legislative offices each day and once again relegating some part of my work to Zoom or WebEx video conferences.

Pulling monies from various cash reserves and unspent appropriations, budget writers continued their work on a diverse group of budget bills. In the House, one of those bills, House Bill 1087 [Water/Wastewater Public Enterprise Reform] addresses the problem of failing water and sewer systems across the state operated by local governments that lack the financial strength to fix the systems. If the systems fail, state waters could be polluted or drinking water could be unsafe to drink. However, water or sewer rates cannot be raised sufficiently to make the capital improvements.

Bills of a similar nature moving in the House—meaning bills directed at narrow budget issues, include HB1136 [Fund for NCSSM – Morganton Campus 2020-2021], HB1071 [Funds for DPI for ADM Growth], HB1218 [Salary Related Contribution/Debt Service Funds], HB472 [NCSU Match and NC A&T Match], HB1229 [UI Program Integrity/Temp. ABAWD Time Waivers], and HB1189 [Driver Education COVID-19 Response]. The Senate is moving a range of similar bills: Senate Bill 811 [Connect NC Park Facilities Operating Funds], SB812 [Agriculture Science Center Funds], SB814 [NC Promise Tuition Plan Fund] and SB816 [Funds for CC Enrollment Growth/FY 2020-2021].

Two of the bills are of statewide importance, HB1071 and SB816, which fund public schools and community college enrollment. Some of them have a specific impact on western North Carolina. For example, HB1136 funds the new North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, NCSSM, in Morganton and SB814 continues funding NC Promise, keeping tuition rates stable at Western Carolina University and two other university units.

What makes this process very confusing for anyone trying to follow it is that one doesn’t have one document, albeit a several hundred page document with all of the appropriations, showing what is being funded and where the funding is coming from. The source of funds for these bills are a variety of sources ranging from the federal CARES Act relating to COVID-19 to clawing back monies expected to be unspent at the end of this fiscal year on June 30, 2020.

Separate from the budget process, another set of legislators are working to balance NC Department of Transportation’s cash flow and budgetary issues. The revenues coming from gas taxes will not be adequate to fund transportation projects, and the trust funds are badly out of balance. As the House full chair with responsibility for transportation, my time is split between the one-shot bill process and the transportation funding reform process.

With one shot budget bills moving forward at a time when it is difficult to hold committee meetings and work with colleagues, there aren’t as many non-budget bills moving. One that is moving is SB390 [DuPont State Forest – Financial Study] which my senate colleague, Sen. Chuck Edwards, sponsored. The bill directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs to study DuPont State Recreational Forest’s operating model and create a plan to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for the forest.

At a minimum, the bill requires (1) a financial model based on North Carolina or other states, (2) an entry fee that favors North Carolina citizens and requires out-of-state visitors to contribute in proportion to their use of taxpayer facilities and amenities within the forest, (3) a recommendation for legislation needed to ensure that Forest receipts are used only for the Forest’s capital, maintenance and operational needs, and (4) recommendations for capital projects or operational changes needed to improve safety concerning roadside parking.

When a bill moves to the other legislative chamber, someone serving in the other chamber must carry the bill on the floor, and I handled this bill for Sen. Edwards. The only change to the bill relating to DuPont State Recreational Forest was changing the reporting date from February 1, 2021 to August 1, 2021. The bill was used as a vehicle for channeling additional monies from the sale of surplus lands into the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Parks & Recreation Trust Fund. I was glad to be complicit with this effort to add additional funding to those trust funds.

With all of the House Members from Buncombe County working from home this week, I also carried a Buncombe County-related bill sponsored by Sen. Edwards: SB267 [Buncombe 1/4 Cent Sales Tax Use Restriction]. This bill arose from the outcry of Buncombe County residents when it was learned that an additional sales tax approved by the voters for construction at AB Tech was used for other purposes. Local officials huddled, and this bill will rectify that situation. The bill is supported by all of the legislators — the two senators and three House members — in the delegation.

What will happen next? The first of the budget bills will hit Governor Cooper’s desk by the end of the week. Some of them — particularly early on — are noncontroversial, but some of them may trigger vetoes. The expectation is that we’ll stay in session in June and then adjourn, but I’d make no bets on our schedule over the coming month or months. While some colleagues have no appetite for taking up other non-budget related bills, others like myself, hope to take up some legislation introduced in the last year’s session.

My hope is we make time to take up other issues, including my bill for licensure for behavioral analysts who serve persons as the primary provider of services for children with autism, HB671 [Behavior Analyst Licensure]. One of my goals during my tenure in the legislature has been to increase insurance coverage of treatment options for this community.

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