Legislative Actions
Get updated on other committee actions and floor votes
State law
changed to help Wachovia-First Union merger
The
House and Senate rushed to the defense of Wachovia and First
Union by amending and then passing a pending bill on
securities dealers, creating a change in state law that would
make it nearly impossible for Sun Trust Bank of Atlanta to
continue trying to derail the proposed merger of the two North
Carolina-based banks.
The amendment to S. 795 Repeal Chapter 78b/Amend Securities
Act {Hartsell} was proposed Wednesday by House Majority
Leader Phil Baddour (D-Wayne), who spoke forcefully on the
floor in favor of the Wachovia-First Union merger. The House
then approved the amended bill by a vote of 111-1 and returned
it to the Senate for concurrence in the amendment. The Senate
went along Thursday, voting 49-1 to approve the bill, and the
measure was speedily signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley.
The bill amends
the Business Corporation Act to say that any provision giving
anyone other than the directors and officers of a public
corporation the right to call a special meeting of
stockholders must be in the articles of incorporation. It
cannot be in the bylaws. Proponents of the bill said it
is needed to protect a public corporation from having a small
minority of stockholders force a special stockholder meeting
on such a short schedule that the corporation could not get is
proxy materials approved by the SEC and mailed in time to
defend itself in a "hostile takeover."
Currently, state law allows the owners of 10 percent of a public
company’s stock to call for a special shareholders meeting
if the company’s articles of incorporation or bylaws permit
such meetings. Such meetings are common during hostile
takeovers as a way to get the takeover bid before
shareholders. The bill changes that to allow such shareholder
meetings only if allowed by a company’s articles of
incorporation, which are controlled by a company’s board of
directors.
The bill also
modernizes the Control Share Acquisition Act to cover
transactions other than a statutory merger or share exchange. This
gives a corporation and its allies greater flexibility in
responding to a hostile takeover attempt.
House
panel approves toll roads bill
After
debating and refining the measure for three weeks, the House
Transportation Committee on Wednesday favorably reported a
bill that would create the North Carolina Turnpike Authority
and empower it to build and operate toll roads in the state.
The measure, H. 644 Toll Road and Bridge Authority Created
{Bowie}, also would allow private companies to build and
operate toll roads under the supervision of the authority.
The legislation says the Turnpike Authority would be governed
by a board of directors composed of the secretary of
Transportation and six individuals appointed by the governor.
The authority would issue bonds to raise money for building
new highways and bridges, which would then be repaid from toll
revenue. To address the concerns of some committee members
opposed to toll roads, the bill says toll booths would be
removed from toll roads once enough revenue is generated to
retire the bonds and a maintenance fund is established.
Last year the General Assembly passed a bill allowing a toll
road to be built by a private company as a pilot project. The
state Department of Transportation last week tentatively
awarded a contract to a Virginia company to build a 3.7-mile
long toll road and bridge north of Hickory.
The increased interest in toll roads and bridges in the
General Assembly reflects legislators’ frustration with the
increasing backlog of highway needs and their inability to
appropriate revenues for new highways because of the budget
shortfall.
Also Wednesday, House Transportation favorably reported S.
9 Interstate High Speed/Rail Commission {Plyler},
legislation which created a panel of legislators from Virginia
and North Carolina to explore ways to facilitate establishment
of high-speed rail service between the two states.
DOT cash management study bill advances
The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday
favorably reported a bill that authorizes a study of the
Highway Trust Fund Act of 1989 and directs the Department of
Transportation to use cash flow financing to the maximum
extent possible to fund highway construction projects. The
goal of the bill, S. 901 DOT Cash Management/HTF Study
{Gulley}, is to reduce the combined cash balance for the
Highway Trust Fund and the Highway Fund to a target level of
$40 million for the minimum daily combined balance, and $115
million for the average combined daily balance. The
bill also calls for the establishment of necessary management
controls to facilitate use of cash flow financing, such as
formation of a financial planning committee, development of a
monthly financial report, establishment of appropriate fund
cash level targets, review of revenue forecasting procedures
and reduction of accrued unbilled costs.
House votes to allow red-light cameras in Raleigh
The question of whether
Raleigh, like Charlotte, should be allowed to use cameras
posted at intersections to catch red-light runners – an
issue the House rejected earlier this year – again sparked
bitter debate in the chamber Wednesday. But the outcome was
different this time, with the measure winning approval on a
vote of 68-41, largely because of an amendment directing that
the money from the $50 fines will go to the county schools
instead of city hall.
S. 243 Red Light Cameras/Certain Municipalities {Plyler},
a Senate-passed bill that originally added the towns in Union
County, Albemarle, Concord, Pineville and Nags Head to the
list of places where the cameras are allowed, was amended in
House Rules to add Durham and all the towns in Wake County to
the list. But the Wake County delegation, which is sharply
divided on the issue, couldn’t reach agreement. Some members
of the delegation oppose the cameras because they believe they
are used by local governments as a cash cow.
A compromise was offered that proceeds from the $50 tickets
issued by red-light cameras will go to the Wake County
schools, not the individual city governments. In all other
places where the cameras are allowed, the proceeds go to the
city governments. Local governments typically hire a private
contractor to install the cameras and operate the system. The
private companies bill offenders caught by the camera and get
to keep $35 of the $50 civil fine.
Rep. Sam Ellis (R-Wake), who previously opposed red-light
cameras, offered the compromise giving the money to the
schools and voted for the amended bill, which now goes back to
the Senate for concurrence in the amendments.
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