Tuesday, July 23, 2013

House Rejects Senate’s Sweeping Regulatory Reforms

Carolina Journal News Reports
House Rejects Senate’s Sweeping Regulatory Reforms

Conference committee will have to work out differences quickly


RALEIGH — The state House Monday refused to concur with the Senate’s latest stab at regulatory reform, sendingHouse Bill 74 to a conference committee in the waning days of the legislative session. At the urging of Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, the House chamber voted 109-0 not to concur, even though the version the Senate approved Friday shares many provisions with one passed earlier this month by the House.

The 56-page reaches into numerous corners of state and local government. 

In some areas, it sets broad policy, such as requiring a periodic review of current rules and regulations.

In others, it puts limits on local governments’ authority. One example is a provision blocking cities and counties from requiring companies that contract with local governments to pay wages higher than the federal minimum wage. It also would prohibit local governments from enacting “transportation impact mitigation ordinances,” which could assess fees on businesses that with "large carbon footprints" that do not limit air pollution allegedly related to their employees’ commutes to and from work.

During Friday's Senate debate, Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, peppered Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, about the provisions, saying that Durham had adopted "living wage" ordinances.

“They wanted to make sure that individuals that were providing those services were paying livable wages,” McKissick said of Durham’s contractors.


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