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Legislative
Actions
Bill
seeks payment of most local government reimbursements
Several
leading Republican House members and three Democrats are
co-sponsoring a bill directing the state to release a
substantial portion of the $119 million in local government
reimbursement that Gov. Mike Easley impounded to help balance
the state budget. H. 1454 Withholding of Local Government
Reimbursements, which was introduced Monday, directs the
Appropriations Committee to prepare a budget that subjects
local governments to the same 3.6 percent spending reduction
as the governor required of state agencies. Sponsoring the
legislation are Republicans George Holmes of Hamptonville,
Gene McCombs of Faith, Roger West of Marble, Art Pope of
Raleigh, Rick Eddins of Raleigh, Linda Johnson of Kannapolis,
Danny McComas of Wilmington, Gene Arnold of Rocky Mount, Rex
Baker of King, Don Davis of Erwin, Carolyn Russell of
Goldsboro, Greg Thompson of Spruce Pine, Leo Daughtry of
Smithfield, Harold Brubaker of Asheboro, Bobby Barbee of
Locust, Ed McMahan of Charlotte, Wilma Sherrill of Asheville,
John Weatherly of Kings Mountain, Junior Teague of Liberty,
Gene Wilson of Boone, Frank Mitchell of Olin, Joanne Bowie of
Greensboro, Lyons Gray of Winston-Salem, Joe Kiser of Vale,
Edgar Starnes of Granite Falls, Trudi Walend of Brevard,
Michael Decker of Walkertown, Billy Creech of Clayton and
Jerry Dockham of Denton. Three Democrats also are
co-sponsoring the bill, Zeno Edwards of Washington, Dewey Hill
of Lake Waccamaw and Bill Hurley of Fayetteville. The bill was
referred to the Appropriations Committee.
House
mulls exempting public hospitals from disclosure rules
A
Senate-passed bill that’s awaiting House action would exempt
public hospitals from having to disclose the contents of
contracts for competitive services. The measure, S. 911
Competitive Health Care Information, sponsored by Senate
Majority Leader Tony Rand (D-Cumberland), deletes a sentence
from current law and thereby largely exempts public hospitals
and hospital authorities from provisions of the Public Records
Law. The bill passed the Senate on April 23 and was
referred to the House Health Care Committee on April 25.
Published reports have indicated the legislation stems from a
disagreement between Charlotte’s two major hospitals, the
privately-owned Presbyterian Hospital and the publicly-owned
Carolinas Medical Center, over contracts the later entered
into to be recognized as the official health care provider for
the Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte Hornets and Lowe’s
Motor Speedway.
Floor Votes
and Committee Actions
 The Senate on
Wednesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S.
1002 Campaign Finance Enforcement {Gulley}, a measure
which allows the State Board of Elections to fine people who
make illegal campaign contributions $20,000 or three times the
amount of the illegal donation, whichever is greater. Under
current state law, illegal campaign contributors can be
convicted of a criminal misdemeanor but the usual punishment
is a small fine. The measure now goes to the House.
The Senate on
Wednesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S.
1101 Confirmation of Utility Commission Appointments/Executive
Director {Soles}, a joint resolution confirming Gov. Mike
Easley’s appointments of James Yancey Kerr II and Michael
Satterfield Wilkins to the state Utilities Commission and the
appointment of Robert P. Gruber as executive director of the
commission’s Public Staff. The measure now goes to the
House.
The House on Monday gave second- and third-reading approval to
S. 749 Nursing Home Administrator Act {Hoyle} and the
Senate-passed measure was enrolled. The bill makes technical
changes to current state law on nursing homes.
The Senate on
Monday concurred with House amendments to S. 739
Psychological Associates/Clinical Social Worker Privilege
{Carter} and the measure was enrolled. The measure extends
privileged communications protection in domestic actions to
licensed psychological associates, licensed clinical social
workers and licensed marriage and family therapists.
The House on
Tuesday failed to concur with Senate amendments to H. 438
Clarify Community College Performance Measures {Yongue,
Bonner}, and a conference committee was appointed. The measure
alters one of the 12 benchmarks on which community colleges
are evaluated for performance budgeting purposes.
The House on
Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S. 71
Suspended Students Assigned to Alternative Programs
{Carter} and the measure was returned to the Senate for
concurrence in amendments. The bill directs the State Board of
Education, in cooperation with the Department of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to establish pilot
programs in no more than five counties in which the school
systems place all students who are on short-term out-of-school
suspension are placed in alternative learning programs.
The House on
Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S. 731
Transportation Planning {Clodfelter} and the measure was
returned to the Senate for concurrence in amendments. The bill
requires metropolitan planning organizations to develop
regional transportation strategies.
The House on
Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S. 803
Encourage Teacher Education/Active Military {Forrester}
and the bill was enrolled. The measure directs the UNC System,
the Department of Community Colleges and the Department of
Public Instruction to work cooperatively to expand
opportunities for military personnel to take teacher education
classes prior to discharge from the military.
The Senate on
Tuesday concurred with House amendments to S. 264 Require
State Reports Double-Sided {Kinnaird} and the measure was
enrolled. The measure, which specifies that most routine state
reports be printed on both sides of the page, is intended to
reduce state printing expenses.
The Senate on
Tuesday gave third-reading approval to H. 1160 Health
Insurance/Uniform Provider Credentialing {Alexander} and
returned the measure to the House for concurrence in
amendments. The bill directs the state Commissioner of
insurance to adopt by rule a standard form that will include
all the information necessary to adequately assess and verify
the qualifications of various types of health care providers.
The House
Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform Committee on
Wednesday favorably reported S. 10 Ballot Access Changes
{Gulley}, a measure that makes it easier for third parties to
gave access to the ballot in North Carolina. The Senate-passed
measure would reduce the number of signatures third-parties
are required to obtain before their candidates are placed on
the ballots from 2 percent of the total number of registered
voters in the state to 2 percent of the total number of votes
cast in the last election. Approval of the bill came after the
House leadership sent four “floaters” – members who are
ex officio members of all committees – to attend the meeting
and vote for the measure. It passed 12-8 on a party-line vote.
Last week the committee deadlocked 8-8 on the bill.
The House
Finance Committee on Tuesday favorably reported H. 635
Regulate Body Piercing {Mitchell}, a measure that creates
state regulations over tattoo parlors and other places that
deal in body piercing except pierced ears, and H. 1448 Make
Meals Tax Penalties Uniform {Buchanan}, a measure that
specifies that the same civil and criminal penalties apply to
collection of state sales and use taxes also apply to local
meals taxes. The bill further states that the governing board
of a taxing county has the same authority to waive the
penalties for a local meals tax that the Secretary of Revenue
has to waive the
penalties for state sales and use taxes.
The House Judiciary I Committee on Tuesday favorably reported S.
719 TTA Eminent Domain {Gulley}, a measure to provide
quick-take procedures in eminent domain proceedings by a
regional public transportation authority and by the North
Carolina Railroad.
The House Health Care Committee on Tuesday reported without
prejudice S. 390 Education/Physician-Assisted Suicide
{Forrester}, a measure that requires the N.C. Medical Board to
implement policies to train and educate persons licensed to
practice or persons desiring to practice medicine in this
state on issues related to physician-assisted suicide.
The Senate Judiciary II Committee on Tuesday debated but
didn’t vote on H. 576 Abolish Alienation of
Affection/Criminal Conversation-2 {Hackney}, the
House-passed bill that would end so-called “heart balm”
civil lawsuits by repealing state laws against alienation of
affection and adultery. A Wake Forest University professor
told the committee that 45 states have abolished or restricted
lawsuits for alienation of affections and 42 states have done
the same with criminal conversation, the legal term for
adultery. Earlier this month, a Mecklenburg County jury
awarded $1.4 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a
Davidson University wrestling coach who had accused a Florida
doctor of stealing his wife. According to N.C. Lawyers Weekly,
it was the largest “heart balm” award in state history.
The House Insurance Committee on Wednesday favorably reported S.
318 Insurance Producer Licensing {Wellons}, a measure that
changes North Carolina law on the licensing of insurance
agents and brokers to make it conform to a model uniform
insurance producer licensing act written by the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners. The committee also
favorably reported S. 466 Workers’ Comp Amendments {Wellons},
a measure that increases the burial allowance from $2,000 to
$3,500, changes a requirement in the loss costs rate-making
law and amends the rate bureau appeal statute to provide that
member companies are not allowed to appeal bureau decisions on
rates or loss costs.
Correction: We incorrectly reported last week
that S. 241 Health Insurance Termination Notice {Dalton},
a Senate-passed bill that was favorably reported by the House
Insurance Committee, would make it a felony for an insurance
company to terminate a group health or life insurance policy
for nonpayment of premiums without giving notice to members of
the group.
Actually, the bill makes it a felony for the employer to fail to give notice of
non-payment of insurance premiums.
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