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Work continued at a slower pace this week at the General Assembly as House leaders continue to work on attaining the necessary votes to override Governor Cooper’s veto of the budget. Legislative leaders indicated they would start considering portions of the budget as individual pieces of legislation to approve and send to the Governor. It appears the General Assembly will consider compensation adjustments for state and public school employees early next week, with possible other piecemeal budget bills following.
While the General Assembly was in town this week, it took action on several pieces of legislation impacting counties, including Medicaid transformation financing, the Farm Act, cooperation with ICE detainers, and social services reform. The Governor also vetoed two bills this week: House Bill 370, which would require local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE detainers, and House Bill 645, which revised regulations for billboards.
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Conferees Appointed for Sales Tax Flexibility Legislation
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As reported by NCACC last week, the Senate voted not to concur with House changes to Senate Bill 681, Rural Health Care, Local Sales Tax Flexibility, Utility Accounts, which includes a provision on one of NCACC’s primary goals—greater sales tax flexibility. This week, both chambers appointed conferees to negotiate a final bill. Because S681 includes several different provisions, it is possible that the conference committee could remove the sales tax flexibility language. NCACC urges you to contact the House and Senate conferees and express to them how retaining the sales tax flexibility language will benefit your county.
Talking points to consider when contacting a conferee:
- Please retain the sales tax flexibility language currently found in S681.
- The provision authorizes counties, subject to voter approval, to levy an additional local option sales and use tax at either ¼ cent or ½ cent within current sales tax caps.
- By supporting local option sales tax flexibility, you are giving each county a choice about expanding their revenue base to meet local needs.
- The tax must be approved by voters in a referendum and it must be placed on the ballot in quarter-cent increments.
- Counties are able to use specific ballot language designating “public education purposes” on the ballot.
- Counties could use the tax for public school capital needs, teacher supplements, community college needs, or any public purpose, depending on the ballot language.
- Counties spend on average 30% of their budgets on education and need this tool to help pay for the high costs of school construction, which add up to more than $8 billion statewide.
- Counties appreciate every dollar appropriated by legislators to help meet these staggering needs.
- Having this additional tool can help counties contribute more toward public education, or various mandated services for residents like social services, public health, safety and more.
For more information on sales tax flexibility, please contact NCACC Associate General Counsel Paige Worsham.
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Social Services Working Group Extended
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A new version of House Bill 935 Social Services Reform (previously reported in the Brief) received a favorable hearing this week in the House Appropriations committee. This version of the legislation directs the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to begin supervisory functions for child welfare and social services in seven regional offices next year, with full regional implementation by March 2022. H935 also appropriates funding for DHHS positions for these regions; requires new county social services board members to attend training sessions and all members to participate by October 2022; and extends the Social Services Regional Supervision and Collaboration Working Group (SSWG) created under the 2017 law.
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Other Provisions Affecting Counties in a Variety of Bills
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Here is a list of other provisions appearing in various bills and impacting counties that received hearings or votes this week:
House Bill 555 Medicaid Transformation Implementation gained approval in the Senate Finance committee this week. The bill provides funding for the operation of the Medicaid program and the transition to managed care during the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium, and makes other necessary changes for the transition to managed care to begin as scheduled on November 1, 2019. The language and appropriation were previously included and approved as part of the 2019-2021 budget. The Senate indicated the bill will be in Senate Rules on Monday afternoon for consideration before a vote on the Senate floor Monday evening.
House Bill 370 Require Cooperation with ICE Detainers passed a concurrence vote in the House on Wednesday before being quickly vetoed by Governor Cooper. The bill would require local law enforcement to comply with detainers and administrative warrants issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill did not include language from previous versions of the bill creating a private cause of action that would allow individuals to sue local governments not in compliance with immigration law.
House Bill 777 Various Retirement Chngs/Wastewater Reform – The House failed to concur with Senate changes to the bill this week. The legislation enacts water and wastewater public enterprise reform and assists distressed public water and wastewater infrastructure systems. Details on this bill can be found in earlier Legislative Briefs. The House and Senate appointed conferees to negotiate a final bill for legislative approval.
The conference report for Senate Bill 553, Regulatory Reform Act of 2019 was submitted last week. The report makes a number of changes related to local government building code and environmental regulations, including requiring landfill operators to be in “substantial compliance” with local government franchise agreements; previous standards required “compliance.” The report also maintains the language that adds aquaculture to the list of activities that can operate in flood hazard areas without a permit; and directs a property tax study for billboards. The report also contains the language substantially similar to and referenced above in House Bill 777 Various Retirement Changes/Wastewater Reform, which was sent to conference committee this week.
Senate Bill 315, NC Farm Act of 2019 passed the House this week and now goes to the Senate for concurrence. The bill deals primarily with the cultivation and sale of hemp, but includes some provisions of interest to counties. Section 20 of the bill expands the definition of agritourism to include “hunting, fishing, shooting sports, and equestrian activities,” which would exempt properties used for these purposes from county zoning regulations. NCACC has opposed the provision and supported a number of amendments to retain local authority. A proposed committee substitute heard in the House Rules Committee on Tuesday limited the definition of shooting sports to only counties with a population of less than 110,000 based on the 2010 census. During floor debate on Wednesday, an amendment introduced by Representative Julia Howard passed with bipartisan support and also requires properties used for “shooting sports” to comply with standards set out by the Wildlife Resources Commission as well as county ordinances.
NCACC will continue to advocate for this amended language to remain in the bill as it moves to the Senate for concurrence. If you have any concerns about potential impact to your county, please contact your Senator and NCACC.
For more information on agricultural issues contact NCACC Government Relations Coordinator Amber Harris.
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Legislation Addressing County Goals Still in Play
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As the session winds down, legislation addressing Association priority legislative goals remains in committee or otherwise awaits action. Please contact your legislators to express your support for these important proposals:
House Bill 431 Fiber NC Act: allows local governments in under/unserved areas to build broadband infrastructure and lease that equipment to service providers. H431 gained approval in the House State and Local Government committee and now resides in the House Finance committee, though no date has been set for its hearing. NCACC encourages its members to call your House member(s), especially any of those on the House Finance committee, and urge them to support counties’ top legislative goal of expanding broadband access to unserved and under-served areas of North Carolina.
House Bill 79 Academic Alignment/Boards of Education & CC: allows local boards of education to align school calendars with the start of the local community college. The bill passed the House earlier in session and now sits in the Senate Rules committee.
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