• • Week 9 Update
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Week 9 Update

Nine weeks under their belt and more than 2,000 bills introduced! Not a bad start for the 2009 General Assembly. The House bill introduction deadline for public bills is April 8. Bills introduced this week include:

• S 1049 Model Airport Zoning Act Amendments - requires local governments with airports within their jurisdictions to adopt zoning regulations by July 1, 2010.
• H 922 NC Illegal Immigration Prevention Act - includes verification of employee work authorization; required use of the federal work authorization program (e.g. E-Verify); makes it an unfair trade practice to discharge a lawfully authorized employee while knowingly employing an unauthorized alien; and other tax and identification changes.
• H 924 Mecklenburg County/Reimbursement Agreements - allows Mecklenburg County to enter into reimbursement agreements with private property owners for the design and construction of park infrastructure.
• H 954 Currituck Development Rights  - transfer of development rights in Currituck County. Let’s review what we wrote a couple of weeks ago about Chatham County’s TDR attempt: A TDR program includes the establishment of sending zones (land that is in rural areas of the county). The TDR program also requires the creation of receiving zones, which allow additional density to accommodate the development rights that are transferred from the sending zones. Sounds easy, right? WRONG. Imagine trying to get the residents in Currituck County to agree to let you build more density near them. TDR has not worked in Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts or California – all states with a much higher demand for raw land. TDR will not work in Currituck County or anywhere in North Carolina.
• H 1007 Harnett/Subdivision Recreation Facilities – would allow Harnett County to collect development fees of up to $500/residential lot assessed under a subdivision ordinance, BUT it would allow the county to expand the use of those fees to cover the development and construction cost of recreational facilities. Currently, counties must use those fees to purchase land. This bill was introduced in the 2007 session. NCHBA opposed it then and opposes it now. This is a bad precedent for Harnett County to start.
• H 1011 Raleigh Stormwater Assessment – would permit Raleigh to levy assessments against stormwater facility owners for repairs to damaged or failed controls that were required under the city’s stormwater control ordinance.
• H 1022/S 975 Worker’s Comp/Duration of Total Disability – would set a limit to the duration of temporary total disability. N.C. is the only southeastern state (and maybe the only state in the U.S.) without a TTD limit. Of the five worker’s comp bills introduced so far this session, this is the only “good” bill.
• H 1070 Back to Work Tax Incentive – provides unemployment tax relief for six months to any employer who employs an individual who is receiving unemployment benefits at the time of employment. Nestled in the Governor’s budget is the relocation of the Apprenticeship Program from the N.C. Department of Labor to the Community College System. The Apprenticeship Program budget is also proposed to be cut from $1.83 million to $500,000, with a reduction of 16 staff positions. NCHBA has a long-standing relationship with the Department of Labor and supports the Apprenticeship Program. Now is a good time for our members to talk to their respective House and Senate members about the importance of vocational education and training and ask them to sustain appropriate funding for the Apprenticeship Program in the Senate and House budgets.

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Nanny Tracker

S 1067 Sustainable Local Food Policy Council/Goal would establish a goal of 10 percent of the food products consumed in N.C. to be locally produced.  What? A limitation on Pop Tarts? Hershey Bars? What next?!

H 885 No Picketing/Disrupt Residential Tranquility would prohibit persons assembling for the purpose of picketing directed at a single residence in a manner that disrupts the tranquility of that residence.  Not sure what the back-story on this one is.  However, the sponsor is a neighbor of Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.  Coincidence?

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Quote of the Week

"This is more than trying to kill the bill. It's trying to castrate the bill while it's still alive."
Rep. Ronnie Sutton, D-Robeson, opposing an amendment to a workplace smoking ban bill. Point well-made. Ouch!

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