State Legislature Narrows the Field

By Nelda Holder –

The last day of April was also the last day for perhaps 1,000 bills in the North Carolina Statehouse.

Out of a total of 942 bills introduced in the NC House and another 713 in the Senate, around 500 survived the crossover date of April 30, when a bill must have passed in one chamber in order to be considered for final passage in the second chamber during this session.

Of course, there are all those exceptions to account for, such as bills that involve spending state dollars to stay alive. Any bill left behind could find its entire content simply shifted to a piece of legislation still eligible for approval. It’s the bill title and number that really move, not always the content.

Focus in Raleigh will now shift to the budget, which means having only 500 or so active bills is a lot more manageable.

Bills that are moving on

Bills that have appeared more frequently in the public spotlight, and which remain alive after crossover, include the much debated HB 465, which passed predominantly along party lines, 74-45, and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill increases the mandatory waiting period for a woman to have an abortion. Instead of 24 hours, women seeking abortions would have to wait three full days after meeting with a qualified professional who has advised her of various state-required provisions.

The bill also imposes new reporting criteria on the part of the physician. (Buncombe County delegation votes: Reps. John Ager-D, Susan Fisher-D and Brian Turner-D, no.)

Another controversial bill, HB 795, that passed on April 29, would “reform and modify” the State Environmental Policy Act. The bill significantly dilutes an existing law that has been something of a standard-bearer in state law, currently requiring an environmental assessment of any project in the state utilizing state funds or state land.

That provision would be changed under HB 795 to call for review of projects that have a $10 million threshold, which evidently would rarely be triggered (Ager, Fisher and Turner, no).

And HB 8, a bill that would return statewide judicial elections to partisan contests– as opposed to the current nonpartisan races–moved on to the Senate (Ager, Fisher and Turner, no).

In the Senate, a bill requiring insurance companies to include coverage for the autism spectrum disorder, SB 676, met the deadline (Sens. Tom Apodaca-R and Terry Van Duyn-D), aye.) And a bill that would address services to substance-exposed newborns, SB 598, also passed (Apodaca and Van Duyn, aye).

SB 343, making student assault on a teacher or other school employee on school property a criminal offense (first offense a misdemeanor and second offense a felony) also crossed the line in time (Apodaca, aye; Van Duyn, no).

Van Duyn’s own bill to make school playgrounds available to the public, SB 315, met the crossover deadline (see April 9 Urban News, “Buncombe County Senators on the Job) . The senator also co-sponsored SB 676 above, along with Sen. Tom Apodaca’s SB 326 plan to increase funding for the state’s job development investment grant program. Apodaca also was a primary sponsor for SB 675, limiting the frequency of parole review. Both bills met crossover.

Read Nelda Holder’s blog, www.politicallypurplenc.com