North Carolina Federation of Republican Women - Legislative Report

Brenda T. Formo nc.eagle.eye@live.com


July 8, 2011

Governor Perdue's Actions on Bills

On Jun 30th, the governor vetoed the following bills:

1. "An Act to Increase Regulatory Efficiency in Order to Balance Job Creation and Environmental Protection" (SB 781). The bill includes a "review of existing rules," a "limitation on certain environmental rules," and increases authority for administrative law judges. Specifically, the administrative law judge makes "a final decision or order that contains findings of fact and conclusions of law," related to contested cases. The bill also provides for a "right of judicial review."

In her veto message, the governor stated that SB 781 ""would take final decision-making authority in certain circumstances away from state agencies and instead give it to the Office of Administrative Hearings--a result that the Attorney General has repeatedly declared is in violation of the North Carolina Constitution." Agreeing with the veto, Margaret Hartzell a policy advocate for Environment North Carolina said, "it would handcuff the state's ability to protect its own air and water." (News & Record)

Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger said, "This is a common-sense bill that passed the Senate unanimously. Thousands of burdensome and confusing regulations are creating uncertainty in the private sector and crippling the job-creating businesses that will lead us out of the recession," adding, "We will keep fighting to reform the bloated bureaucracy Gov. Perdue helped create." Berger further commented, "It's just funny that in the Senate, you had (this) bill that was unanimous, that she now decided has constitutional problems. It's curious to me that no one else has seen that."

2. "An Act to Increase Energy Production in North Carolina . . . " (SB 709). The bill is a "compact with the governors of South Carolina and Virginia" and is intended to increase domestic energy production in NC that would create jobs and "facilitate economic growth." The bill also directed the governor to "work with North Carolina's Congressional delegation to advocate for state revenue-sharing for resources off the coast and directed how that money would be spent," which includes a major portion of it going to "jobs training, energy research and conservation," as relayed by WRAL. WRAL has also reported that NC's "offshore energy reserves are thought to be mostly natural gas--the cleanest fossil fuel;" and that NC also has "64 million federal offshore acres," along the coast, that is the "fourth largest acreage in the country."

The governor says that the bill is "unconstitutional on its face," adding that "Before any oil and gas production can commence, the federal government must take action." [We know that the Obama administration has taken action in the opposite direction on energy.] Governor Perdue issued Executive Orders 96 and 97 to study the issues rather than take a definitive action. Executive Order 96 "will reestablish and expand the Scientific Advisory Panel on Energy that will continue to research, plan and provide options for onshore and offshore oil and gas production." Executive Order 97 "will create the Offshore Wind Economic Development Task Force that will make recommendations on state investments and infrastructure needed to take full economic advantage of offshore wind resources in North Carolina." [Wind does not power cars]

Senate President Pro Tempore Berger said, "At a time when North Carolina families and businesses are struggling with outrageous energy costs, Gov. Perdue rejected a golden opportunity to develop affordable and clean energy alternatives that would create thousands of new, good-paying jobs," adding "Once again, she caved to her liberal political allies instead of doing what's best for our state."

3. "An Act Relating to Requirements of Medicaid and Health Choice Providers (SB 496). The bill added a new chapter thereby amending the General Statutes that details requirements for "Medicaid" or "Health Choice" (health insurance program for children) providers. Governor Perdue said she vetoed the bill because "one section of the bill would take final decision-making authority away from the Department of Health and Human Services ('DHHS") and instead give it to the Office of Administrative Hearings ("OAH"), adding that the Attorney General has said it is unconstitutional and violates federal Medicaid law. After a review of the bill, it appears that the governor is referring to "Appeals by Medicaid providers and applicants." Specifically this provision is for applicants seeking "to appeal an adverse determination made by the Department [DHHS]." The "final decision" resides with "The Office of Administrative Hearings" that is required to "make a final decision within 180 days of the date of filing of the appeal." "The burden of proof" will rest with the DHHS in appeals by "Medicaid providers or applicants concerning an adverse determination." The bill passed passed both the House and the Senate with zero "no" votes on Jun 15th and Jun 16th respectively.

4. An Act that moves the Employment Security Commission to the Commerce Department and makes other modifications and changes (SB 532). Governor Perdue said the changes "could have increased the time to process first-time unemployment claims" and "could have ended the flow of federal unemployment funds to the state."

House Speaker Thom Tillis referred to her explanation as "fake and plastic," adding "this bill actually prevents unemployment benefits from being paid to employees who steal money from their employers." The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House on Jun 15th in a vote of 104 to 12 with 3 not voting; and in the Senate on Jun 16th in a vote of 45 to 3 with 2 excused absences.

The governor issued Executive Order 95 that she says "ensures the Employment Security Commission will maintain the integrity of its process for administering unemployment benefits while being administratively housed within the Department of Commerce."

The governor did not sign four other bills, but did not veto them so they become law:

1. HB 845 "A bill reforming the state's half-century-old involuntary annexation law."
2. SB 620 "A bill modifying reporting requirements for lobbyist principals."
3. HB 344 "A bill allowing parents of children with disabilities to claim tax credits for expenses asociated with sending their children to private schools."
4. HB 119 "A bill modifying the state's environmental laws"
(from M2M Politics)

NC General Assembly Special Session

The General Assembly will reconvene for a special session on July 13th. There are important bills that governor Perdue has vetoed that require an override to become law. At the top of the list are:

1. "Abortion- A Woman's Right to Know" (HB 854) was addressed in the NCFRW Grassroots Alert on July 7th, and in the Legislative Report dated Jun 28th. Please call the named legislators in the two emails, as only one vote is needed in the House and one in the Senate for the override.

2. Voter Photo ID (HB 351) - A Legislative Alert was disseminated on Jun 25th. Only four House Democrats are needed for the override. As stated in the Jun 24th Legislative Report, Governor Perdue in her veto message said, "North Carolinians who are eligible to vote have a constitutionally guaranteed right to cast their ballots, and no one should put up obstacles to citizens exercising that right."

It is obvious to at least 75 percent of voters in NC that a photo ID serves to determine "eligibility" of voters, and is a deterrent to those who attempt to vote more than once, or who are not the person they purport to be. (75% is from Elon University polling in April 2011, but Civitas polling since 2006 shows that 83% to 87% of "respondents and voters in every demographic believe that providing an ID card with a photograph is a good idea.")

Redistricting

Redistricting public comment meetings on the proposed Congressional maps were held on Thursday, July 7th from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm. at nine locations in NC; via video-conferencing to all locations and streamed on the General Assembly's website. As an observer for about four hours at the Jamestown (Guilford County) location, there was a remarkable difference in comparison to the meeting held on Jun 23rd for public comments. This time Republicans spoke out in favor of the redistricting maps and commended the Redistricting Committee members and Republicans on their fortitude and fairness in redrawing the maps after Democrat gerrymanding for years. Our own NCFRW members made persuasive comments including Rhonda Amoroso, Starnell Franklin, and Diane Layton. Predictably, NAACP and Democrat opponents continued to use the same provocative and incendiary language when referring to the proposed redistricting, using the following terms: "segregation," disenfranchising minorities by suppressing the black vote," "return to slavery," "packing, stacking, and cracking" minorities; and they also described the plan as "retrogressive change." Both the NAACP and Southern Coalition for Social Justice representatives threatened law suits.

Complete maps will be released on Jul 11th, and on Jul 18th public comment meetings will be held across NC, which will complete the process for the public. We need to go to the meetings to support the Republicans who are being berated and disparaged by the left.

NC Solar Power and Canada's Oil

The Greensboro News & Record reported today that Guilford County is among the final contenders for a National Solar Power company's expansion to build a regional site requiring 4000 acres to build a solar farm, that could include "20 related 200-acre sites" and would be a "400 megawatt project." Company officials said, "it would be much easier to do the deal here than in Florida," and Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance said, that "North Carolina has a very favorable tax climate for landing solar farms."

Skip Alston, the controversial City Council Chairman is an advocate for the project. The building costs are $1.4 billion and it is estimated that the five-year project would create 120 jobs.

(In NC we will build a solar farm and not drill for natural gas, according to the governor's actions in a veto of SB 709)

In related news, the Wall Street Journal posted an article titled, "Canada Has Plenty of Oil, But Does the U.S. Want It?" It seems that Alberta, Canada is experiencing an oil boom as "one of the world's newest petroleum powerhouses." The U.S. has been the "biggest consumer" of the oil, but "may not want the additional oil" because an "energy-intensive process that generates lots of carbon dioxide" takes place in its production. The problem is that environmentalists and many Democrats are against importing it.

U.S. House of Representatives

In House Resolution 268, "Reaffirming the United States commitment t[o] a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and for other purposes," the House passed the Resolution in a vote of 407 to 6 with 13 voting present and 5 not voting.

All NC Representatives voted for the Resolution except Walter B.Jones (R-3rd) who voted against it.

Sources: ncga; News & Record, "Perdue vetoes 4 more bills," by Mark Binker, Jul 1, 2011 and "Perdue vetoes three more bills, total up to 15 for the year," by Capital Beat blog, Jul 7, 2011 and "Solar farm deal looks bright," by Donald W. Paterson, Jul 8, 2011 and "Remapping plan gets mixed reviews," by AP, Jul 8, 2011; civitas.org, "North Carolina's Attempt at Election Reform," by Susan Myrick, Jun 27, 2011; wral, "Part-time NC legislature won't be gone long," AP, Jul 7, 2011 and "Berger: Perdue vetoes 'desperate,' 'indecisive', AP, Jun 30, 2011; M2M Politics, "'Veto' stamped on four more bills," by Barry Smith, Jun 30, 2011; MFR on Redistricting Meeting, Jul 7, 2011; MegaVote: NC 6th, 7/5/2011; house.gov; and The Wall Street Journal, "Canada Has Plenty of Oil, But Does the U.S. Want It?" by Chip Cummins and Edward Welsch, Jul 8, 2011.