NCDP Clips 6/22/18

Post-Parkland bills to increase NC school psychologists appear stalled for this session
WRAL // Liz Schlemmer // June 21, 2018
Summary: Lawmakers focused on improving school safety for months have planned to address a significant shortage of school psychologists, but none of the related bills filed by legislators look like they are going anywhere during this legislative session. "Everyone says we need more school psychologists in our schools for counseling, [to] keep our kids safe, all those good things," said Representative Josh Dobson, who served on the House Select Committee on School Safety.

NC lawmakers want voters to decide on some things, but not funding for school buildings
N&O // T. Keung Hui // June 21, 2018
Summary: North Carolina residents are likely to vote this fall on amendments to change the state constitution, but they won't get a chance to decide on funding for school construction. Calls for a $1.9 billion statewide school construction bond referendum were among the demands made by the 19,000 teachers who marched in Raleigh in May. Advocates for the school bond say the state needs to step up because aging schools are crumbling around North Carolina and some communities are too poor to pay for their school needs. But instead of a school bond, legislators are debating what constitutional amendments to put on the fall ballot before they leave Raleigh next week. Proposed amendments cover such topics as requiring voters to show ID, capping the state's income tax rate, ensuring crime victims' rights and guaranteeing the right to hunt and fish.

NC lawmaker refers to high school girls as 'recruiting' tool, faces backlash
N&O // Lauren Horsch // June 21, 2018
Summary: A North Carolina state legislator faced backlash on social media Wednesday after commenting about a group of visiting female high school students. The students were introduced to legislators in the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday morning after traveling from Anson County to Raleigh for the Future Farmers of America conference. Sen. Norm Sanderson, a Republican from Pamlico County, is chairman of the committee. After the introduction, Sanderson offered advice to the student group from the lectern. "I know for sure that if you continue to recruit young ladies like (those sitting in) the front row, you're not gonna have any trouble recruiting young men," Sanderson said. "We'll have more farmers then we know what to do with."

Democrats' efforts to revise voter ID proposal rejected
N&O // Lynn Bonner // June 21, 2018
Summary: A controversial change proposed for the state constitution gained momentum Thursday as Republican legislators demonstrated their continued commitment to requiring voters show photo identification at the polls. Voters in November would be asked if photo ID for in-person voting should be a constitutional requirement. Legislators would have the power to make the rules, which they could do any time after the election. As they voted to move the proposal to a vote of the full House, Republicans in a House committee knocked down two Democratic proposals, one of which was to wait until next year to write the photo ID rules. Democrats hope to win enough seats in the November election to eliminate Republicans' supermajorities in next year's session.

Voter ID amendment headed toward House vote
WRAL // @NCCapitol // June 21, 2018
Summary: Despite concerns from several groups that elderly, young, poor and minority voters might unnecessarily be denied the right to vote, a House committee on Thursday approved adding language to the state constitution requiring photo identification to vote. House Bill 1092, which cleared the House Rules Committee on a 21-9 vote, is expected to go before the full House on Monday. If passed by a three-fifths majority in both the House and the Senate, the proposed amendment would appear on the November ballot.

Thwarted Before, Republicans Seek Photo ID Through Amendment
US News // Gary Robertson // June 21, 2018
Summary: North Carolina Republicans have been thwarted by veto and federal judges this decade to require photo identification to vote. Now they're hoping state residents will cement the mandate by amending the state constitution. A House committee voted Thursday along party lines for a measure that would ask voters this November to enshrine this voter ID photo requirement in the constitution. The bill's next stop is the House floor in the final days of this year's legislative session. The Senate also would have to approve the idea before the question is submitted to voters. Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed a voter ID law in 2011, but GOP lawmakers couldn't override it. A federal appeals court struck down another law in 2013 signed by Gov. Pat McCrory, calling several provisions racially discriminatory.

If voter ID comes to NC, Apple and Amazon shouldn't
N&O // William J. Barber, Rashad Robinson // June 21, 2018
Summary: Too often, our country’s conversation about racism focuses on words. Take the case of Roseanne Barr, whose despicable comments about a distinguished public servant ignited a national conversation about what our nation’s largest and most powerful companies should be willing to tolerate in the way of racist language and ideology. In response, ABC took immediate and decisive action, canceling their most highly rated series within a few hours of Roseanne’s Tweets. ABC knew it had to do something quickly. Today’s public is closely attuned to the ways our nation’s largest and most prominent companies condone or condemn bigotry and discrimination. This week, as both Apple and Amazon consider opening new corporate campuses in North Carolina, the technology giants face a similar choice: do they align themselves with the N.C. General Assembly’s attempt to add a discriminatory voter ID amendment to the state Constitution, or do they stand with the people of North Carolina and refuse to enable discrimination?

Crime victims, judicial vacancy amendments before Senate
WRAL // AP // June 21, 2018
Summary: Constitutional amendments to expand crime victims' rights and alter how trial and appellate judge vacancies are filled are getting heard in the North Carolina Senate as the legislative session winds down. A judiciary committee Thursday debated two bills that if approved would submit constitutional alterations to voters in November.

Proposal gives General Assembly power over judicial appointments
WRAL // Travis Fain // June 21, 2018
Summary: New legislation on judicial appointments would chip away at the governor's power to fill vacancies on the bench, but only if voters approve a constitutional change later this year. Republican legislators, who have been back and forth over judicial redistricting and other reforms over the past year, have now proposed Senate Bill 814, which would set up a commission to review judicial nominations. That commission would take nominations from the public when vacancies occur, evaluate them and forward names to the General Assembly. Lawmakers would then send at least two names to the governor, who would have to pick one.

NC lawmakers push for prominent role in selecting judges who rule on their laws
N&O // Anne Blythe // June 21, 2018
Summary: North Carolina lawmakers have spent much of the past year hinting at a much anticipated proposal to change how the judges who rule on the constitutionality of their laws get to the bench. The vision was rolled out Wednesday evening in a news release from the office of state Senate leader Phil Berger, a Republican from Rockingham County. Voters would be asked to approve an amendment to the state Constitution changing how North Carolina fills the seats of judges who resign, retire or are forced out before the end of their elected terms. It would shift power from the governor, who is elected statewide, to lawmakers elected in districts.

Marsy's Law would expand court notice requirements for victims
WRAL // Travis Fain // June 21, 2018
Summary: The General Assembly may ask state voters to widen victims' rights in the state constitution, adding more crimes that would trigger notice provisions and allowing victims to file legal motions when they feel the system failed to meet its obligations.
House Bill 551 is known as Marsy's Law, named after a woman killed in 1983 in California. Her family happened across her accused murderer a week later in a grocery store but hadn't been notified of his pre-trial release. The North Carolina Constitution already lays out basic victim rights, including the right to be informed of court proceedings, to be present for them and to be heard. This legislation would expand notice requirements to more offenses, including all felony property crimes and crimes against a person, a broad category that covers threats.

Van Duyn to back Asheville council districts bill if Senate shifts election dates
Citizen Times // Mike Barrett // June 21, 2018
Summary: The state Senate could vote on a bill to elect five of Asheville City Council's seven members by district Thursday afternoon after it picked up unexpected support from the senator who represents most of the city. Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, said Thursday morning she will support the bill if the Senate adopts her amendment to shift council elections to even-numbered years, with the next council election set for 2020. That would increase voter turnout for city races and give incumbents on council more time to get to know their districts before facing voters, she said. "It's not a 50-50 compromise, but I am going to support the bill," Van Duyn said.

Editorial: N.C. Chamber and BEST NC - Speak up and oppose tax rate amendment
WRAL // CBC Opinion // June 21, 2018
Summary: Those who run North Carolina’s largest and most successful businesses know they need flexibility to deal with an uncertain future. Placing artificial limits on revenue sources is bad business, irresponsible and poor management. That is why it is so curious that two of the state’s business leadership groups – the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and BEST NC – have been silent when it comes to a proposed state Constitutional amendment that would cap the income tax rate at 5.5 percent. Let’s be clear off the bat. We are not talking about raising or lowering anyone’s income taxes.

Artificial income tax cap would permanently hamstring our public schools
Progressive Pulse // Kirs Nordstrom // June 21, 2018
Summary: By all accounts, the biggest issue facing North Carolina’s public schools is the lack of adequate funding. Adjusted for inflation, 18 of the 24 biggest school funding allotments remain below their pre-Recession levels, or have been eliminated altogether. As a result, North Carolina’s per-student state funding remains 3 percent below pre-Recession levels after adjusting for inflation. According to the most recent data from the National Education Association, North Carolina’s per-pupil spending ranks 39th in the country, trailing the national average by over $2,400, or 25 percent. More sophisticated measures of school spending paint an even bleaker picture. For example, EdWeek’s Quality Counts report gives North Carolina an F (47th in the nation) for level of school spending. Research from the Education Law Project and Rutgers University reaches a similar conclusion, ranking North Carolina 48th in terms of total school spending.Compared to other states, North Carolina devotes a shockingly small share of its wealth towards funding our public schools. North Carolina’s spending on public schools accounts for less than 2.8 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. By contrast, Vermont makes twice the effort, devoting 5.6 percent of its state wealth to its public school system. Overall, North Carolina ranks 46th in terms of school funding effort; a ranking that has fallen even as the national recovery officially began. Rather than invest when it has been possible to do so, the current leadership of the General Assembly has continued to reduce their commitment to our classrooms and children.

Tax burden may shift under GOP cap proposal. These business owners are worried.
N&O // Rob Christensen // June 20, 2018
Summary: The North Carolina legislature, in a Donald Trumpish mood of economic populism, is considering a constitutional amendment to place a new cap on state income taxes. Similar moves have been carried out in California with Proposition 13 limiting property taxes in 1978 led by Howard Jarvis and in Colorado in 1992 with the passage of taxing and spending limits led by Douglas Bruce. But the North Carolina effort is not being led by some iconic “I’m-fed-up-and-I’m-not going-to-take-it-any-more" guy. The Tar Heel drive is led by Americans for Prosperity, a group started by the wealthy Koch brothers.

Allen Johnson: John Blust calls B.S. in the General Assembly
Greensboro N&R // Allen Johnson // June 19, 2018
Summary:Praise from an incorrigible liberal heathen like me might be viewed as a kiss of death for someone like John Blust. But I must give home boy a belated shout-out anyway. Blust, a devout conservative, railed last week in a 14-minute speech against his GOP colleagues in the state House about railroading a shameful piece of legislation that protects billion-dollar hog farms in North Carolina from legal actions by their neighbors. It was one of Blust’s finer moments, every bit as memorable as his tortured opposition to state Sen. Trudy Wade’s attempted takeover of the Greensboro City Council through Senate Bill 36. Defiant, indignant, eloquent, witty, outraged, inspired, tenacious, Blust quoted Winston Churchill, invoked the Book of Exodus and alluded to “The Wizard of Oz.” Clearly pee-ohhed to the nth degree, Blust lit into his GOP colleagues with a rhetorical broadside that WRAL thankfully posted on the web.

Are the I-77 toll lanes finally about to die?
Charlotte Agenda // Andrew Dunn // June 20, 2018
Summary: Even though work crews are actively laying asphalt, there appears to be momentum in Raleigh toward reaching a deal to change or cancel the project. The toll lanes — two in each direction between Uptown Charlotte and Mooresville — have been under construction for nearly three years and are scheduled to open late this year. But for the first time, state leaders appear to be finding the money to make the lanes free for use. Two different proposals in the General Assembly would fund a modification or cancellation of the contract between North Carolina and a toll road operator currently building the lanes. The state Department of Transportation has indicated they’re closing in on a deal this summer.

Early judicial candidates’ filings purged; they must re-register after SB757 veto override
Progressive Pulse // Melissa Boughton // June 21, 2018
Summary: House lawmakers voted along party lines Wednesday to override a veto of a partial judicial redistricting bill, effectively purging those candidates who filed early on in the process. Shortly after Senate Bill 757 was enacted, the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement sent a letter to 10 judges notifying them of the change in law and what steps they needed to take next. “To effectuate the provisions of Senate Bill 757, the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement Office has cancelled your Notice of Candidacy and will begin the process of reimbursing the applicable filing fee,” the letter states. “If you wish to participate in the 2018 General Election under judicial districts established by current law, you must submit a new Notice of Candidacy within the filing period … which ends at noon June 29.”

Lowering the income tax cap would come back to haunt N.C. when the next recession occurs
Progressive Pulse // Patrick McHugh // June 18, 2018
Summary: Among the proposed ballot initiatives hanging in the air as the 2018 legislative session draws near its end is a move to change the North Carolina Constitution to lower the income tax rate cap . While this proposal has not received a great deal of attention, it could have profound and long-lasting impacts on the fiscal health of state and local governments. The proposal would dramatically reduce our ability to respond to changing economic circumstances, a problem that will likely be felt most acutely whenever the next economic downturn occurs. It is not clear when the next downturn will happen, but current risks and historical precedent indicate that the run of growth will not last forever. The current economic expansion is already one of the longest on record and, if there is one thing we know about economic conditions, it is that they are bound to change. Prolonged periods of growth tend to create what economists call “irrational exuberance”, a collective forgetfulness that long-term decisions should be calibrated to deal with bad times as well as good. “It’s just the time when it feels like all is going fabulously that we make mistakes,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. Dramatically lowering the maximum income tax rate permitted under the North Carolina Constitution is a good example of irrational exuberance, because it is likely to come back to haunt us whenever this run of growth comes to an end. Lowering the income tax cap would tie our state’s fiscal hands when the next recession occurs, effectively forcing the state government to increase sales taxes, franchise taxes, fees, and other levies when the next recession creates a hole in public finances. Local governments could also be forced to increase property taxes if state funding dries up during the next recession.