| Legislative
Bulletin |
December
12, 2001 |
 |
Studies
bill gives hints at legislation that may surface next year
Observers
and lobbyists closely read the so-called “studies bill”
adopted by the General Assembly before it adjourns each year
because it specifies what issues the Legislative Research
Commission (LRC) may study during the interim. Often, these
studies turn into bills that are introduced during the
following legislative session. We’ve gone through this
year’s lengthy studies bill and culled out those topics that
will be of interest to NCCBI members:
Insurance and Managed Care Issues: Issues the LRC may
study include high-risk insurance health pools; insurance
availability in beach and coastal areas; moratorium on health
insurance mandates; uninsured motorist coverage; motor vehicle
insurers may not mandate non-original crash parts; workers’
compensation insurance classifications.
Environmental/Agricultural Issues: The LRC will study
deposits on beverage containers.
Government Regulatory Issues: Clear cutting and
development growth management in Raleigh; safety requirements
in state building code; naturopathy; establishing a state
energy program and the use of alternative financing agreements
to finance energy conservation projects in state facilities;
government tort claims; impact of licensure and reimbursement
requirements for licensed psychological associates on health
care and on these practitioners; construction contracts/retainage
reform.
Transportation Issues: Steering and the offering of
incentives with regard to motor vehicle glass repairs; use of
cellular telephones in vehicles.
Election Issues: Providing for a later primary date.
Consumer Issues: Mandatory arbitration provisions in
consumer contracts.
Education-Related Issues: Payment of costs incurred by
constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina
for municipal services, including issues related to storm
water systems, fire protection, and traffic congestion;
reporting threats of school violence.
Civil Law: Distribution of wrongful death proceeds; use
of traffic control photographic systems.
Other: Economic impact of state’s tourism industry;
zero-based budgeting.
Availability of Liability Insurance for Long-Term Care
Facilities, Physicians and Hospitals:
The LRC shall consider: The factors causing and compounding
reductions in underwriting capacity; the underwriting and
marketing practices of insurers and producers writing
liability insurance for long-term care facilities, physicians,
and hospitals; optional methods of risk management or risk
sharing that may be utilized by long-term care facilities,
physicians, and hospitals; the effects of diminished
underwriting capacity in long-term care facility, physician,
and hospital liability insurance on the state’s economy.
Employment Security: The LRC may study issues relating
to the state’s Employment Security Law, with an emphasis on
the unemployment insurance tax. The study may include the
following issues: Changes in the North Carolina economy and
job market and their effect on the balance of the state
Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. What minimum and maximum
balances would be most reasonable for the fund to assure that
it will be adequate but not excessive. Recommendations from
the Employment Security Commission, including the appropriate
low balance in the Unemployment Trust Fund; the average
duration of unemployment in the state and its impact on the
appropriate tax rate and balance of the Trust Fund; the
current reserve of the Employment Security Commission Reserve
Fund, and the proper use of that reserve; the state
Unemployment Insurance Tax base rate, options for adjusting
the rate, and the effect on Trust Fund revenue resulting from
the various options available to adjust the rate.
Additional studies of interest
approved in the study bill include:
Joint Legislative Growth Strategies Oversight Committee: The
committee shall examine growth and development issues and
strategies in order to make recommendations to the General
Assembly on ways to promote comprehensive and coordinated
local, regional, and state growth planning and public
investment. The Committee may study recommendations of the
Commission to Address Smart Growth, Growth Management, and
Development Issues; consider strategies that help communities
and regions maximize the benefits of growth by developing
transportation choices, protecting natural and cultural
resources, enhancing the vitality of downtowns and existing
neighborhoods; analyze legislation from other states regarding
local, regional and state planning and growth management;
assess the viability of a comprehensive statewide growth
policy; determine how to increase the full range of affordable
housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income North
Carolinians; and study the fiscal relationship between state
agencies and the communities in which they are located.
Legislative Alcoholic Beverage Control Study Commission: The
commission shall study the following matters: benefits and
costs of “control” and “license” systems, as
implemented in other states, or privatization of alcoholic
beverage control, with particular focus on which type of
system is more efficient; aspects of organization, structure,
and function of the North Carolina ABC Commission and local
alcoholic beverage control systems, including statutory
authority, policy-making and regulatory functions,
price-setting functions, distribution functions, purchasing,
budget, staffing, capital assets, and other fiscal and
financial matters; schedule, collection and distribution of
alcohol-related taxes and fees, including the taxes and fees
currently applicable and not applicable to the sale of
alcoholic beverages; possible efficiency enhancements to the
ABC system; other issues, including location and zoning of
retail stores, liquor advertising, effects of price on alcohol
consumption, uniformity throughout the state of alcoholic
beverage availability and sales, and direct purchase of
alcoholic beverages from out-of-state wholesalers.
DOT Study of Piedmont Area Commuter Rail Line Acquisition: The
Department of Transportation Rail Division shall study the
feasibility of acquiring rail lines or usage rights on rail
lines in Forsyth, Guilford and neighboring counties for
commuter rail service operated by the Piedmont Authority for
Regional Transportation. The department shall consult with the
authority in conducting its study. The Department shall report
its findings and recommendations to the Joint Legislative
Transportation Oversight Committee by May 1, 2002.
Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee Studies.
This ongoing study commission was authorized to consider a
wide range of issues, including: residential charter schools,
including what portion, if any, of the residential costs
should be borne by the state, and whether nonresident students
should be required to pay tuition; Halifax Community College
service area, including whether additional townships in
Northampton County should be included in the Halifax Community
College service area; teaching personal financial literacy in
schools; classroom experience for school personnel; schoolwork
of suspended students; nutrition in public schools; tuition
rates for noncitizen immigrant students; science, math and
technology education; health care personnel education; the
effects of requiring nine-month contracts of all full-time
community college faculties; review of low-wealth school
funding formula; high priority school assistance;
performance-based licensure program; advisory State Board of
Education members; participation of nonpublic students in
public school extracurricular activities; and higher education
residency requirements.
Revenue Laws Study Committee: Compliance with tax
laws; travel and tourism capital incentive grants; credit card
solicitation; apportionment formula.
Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee:
Medical services to persons with disabilities; prescription
drugs; county share of the cost of Medicaid; long-term care
aide workforce.
Joint Select Committee On Information Technology Study:
The committee shall examine issues related to protections for
personal privacy and security, including the following: (1)
Privacy protection and security of nonpublic personal
financial information. (2) Privacy protection and security of
personal consumer information. (3) Privacy protection and
security of personal information collected on students by or
through schools and their contractors. (4) Privacy protection
and security of Internet use and use of electronic messaging.
(5) Privacy protections and security for children online. (6)
Privacy protection and security of medical records and
personal health information. (7) Privacy protection and
security of personal insurance information. (8) Privacy
protection and security of personal information collected by
the State. (9) Privacy protection and security of credit card
numbers on credit card receipts. (10) Adequacy of the
State’s computer “hacking” laws. (11) The potential
interplay between federal security proposals and personal
privacy considerations.
Environmental Review Commission Studies: Appointment of
local health directors; expanding land and water conservation
options; interconnection of public water systems; storm water
programs and policies; abandoned mobile homes; and alternative
energy sources.
House Select Committee On Various Environmental Rules:
The committee may study any current rule adopted by, or any
rule proposed by, the Environmental Management Commission or
by the Coastal Resources Commission under the Coastal Area
Management Act of 1974, Article 7 of Chapter 113A of the
General Statutes, regarding the following subjects as well as
the process whereby any such rule is adopted: (1) The
creation, preservation, maintenance, and restoration of
riparian buffers, buffers along lake shorelines, or buffers
along the North Carolina coast. (2) Control of erosion and
sedimentation resulting from the DOT engaging in land-
disturbing activities. (3) The process of obtaining an air
quality permit. (4) Any other current rule that the Committee
determines is appropriate for study. The committee shall
submit a final report of its findings and recommendations by
Feb. 1, 2003, to the General Assembly.
Reestablish North Carolina Tax Policy Commission: The
mission of the commission is to study, examine, and, if
necessary, design a realignment of the state and local tax
structure in accordance with a clear, consistent tax policy.
This mission requires: (1) Establishing the principles of
taxation upon which a sound state and local tax structure
should be built for the 21st century. (2) Examining the
current state and local tax structure to determine if it
reflects these principles. (3) Recommending changes in the
state and local tax structure to the extent it does, and does
not, reflect these benchmark tax principles. (4) Recommending
principles and practices to simplify and consolidate existing
taxes to provide uniformity; to ease the administrative burden
on the taxpayer; to maximize taxpayers’ use of electronic
tax payment and reporting methods; and to reduce the costs of
collecting and administering taxes.
Joint Legislative Utility Review Committee Studies:
The committee is authorized to study clarifying and expanding
the allowed uses of the money in emergency telephone system
funds and making other statutory changes for the purpose of
expanding the use of telecommunications systems for public
safety purposes. The committee also is authorized to study
requiring reductions in the emissions of certain pollutants
from certain facilities that burn coal to generate
electricity.
UNC Board Of Governors Study Commission: The
commission shall study the method of election or appointment
of members of the Board of Governors, the length of members’
terms, the number of terms a member may serve, and the size of
the Board of Governors. The commission may examine the
governing boards of other states’ institutions of higher
education.
Election Laws Revision Commission: The commission
shall prepare and recommend to the General Assembly a
comprehensive revision of the election laws of North Carolina
that will accomplish the following: (1) Remove
inconsistencies, inaccuracies, ambiguities, and outdated
provisions in the law. (2) Incorporate in the law any
desirable uncodified procedures, practices, and rulings of a
general nature that have been implemented by the State Board
of Elections or its executive secretary-director. (3) Conform
the statutory law to state and federal case law and to any
requirements of federal statutory law and regulation. (4)
Ensure the efficient and effective administration of elections
in this state. (5) Continue the impartial, professional
administration of elections, which the citizens of the state
expect and demand. (6) Recodify the election laws, as
necessary, to produce a comprehensive, clearly understandable
structure of current North Carolina election law, susceptible
to orderly expansion as necessary.
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