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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

If the Senate having its budget out the chamber door just barely a week after convening isn't enough proof that legislators are serious about getting out of town soon this summer, then chew on this: Gerry Cohen, the director of the General Assembly's Bill Drafting Division, reports that requests for bills through the first week of the session were down 31 percent from a similar period during the 2008 short session. Cohen also reports that requests to the Research Division experienced a 21 percent increase, which he attributes to the high number of study committees that met during the interim. Leadership in both chambers has made it clear it intends to get out of town quickly. Rank and file members appear to have gotten the message.

BUDGET SAILS THROUGH THE SENATE

Exactly one week after convening, the Senate took the first floor vote on its budget proposal Wednesday and saw the measure pass with an overwhelming 32-17 margin that included three Republicans backing the spending plan. The Senate passed its budget in third reading on Thursday. The Senate proposal does not shift some of the Local Management Entities’ administrative costs to counties, restores $40 million in state-funded community mental health services and continues investing in local in-patient bed capacity. All of these items were in Governor Beverly Perdue’s budget proposal as well.

The Senate did make changes to the way the county share of the lottery money could be distributed. The Senate appropriated the full 40 percent of lottery proceeds to counties, but gave counties the flexibility to use the funds for classroom support. This is part of the Senate’s plan to help protect teaching jobs. Current statutory language limits these funds to school capital facility expenditures. The budget also includes a special provision that allocates all the county school construction lottery funds on a straight per pupil basis, setting aside the statutory formula that reserves 35 percent of these monies for counties with effective tax rates greater than the statewide average.

The Senate budget also raised fees related to filing for elective office, including County Commissioner. The new fee will be 1.5 percent of the salary. The additional revenues would go to the State Board of Elections and the State Ethics Commission to help cover operating costs for those two agencies. The change also impacts the filing fees for statewide elections as well.

The House will take up the budget next week, and in fact, House Appropriations committees were meeting before the Senate finished with the budget to get a jumpstart on their spending plan. All signs are pointing to a speedy House budget process as well.

COMMISSIONERS CONVERGE ON CAPITAL FOR COUNTY ASSEMBLY DAY

More than 200 county officials from across North Carolina gathered in Raleigh on Wednesday for the Association’s annual County Assembly Day. President Pro Tempore of the Senate Marc Basnight (Dare) and Speaker of the House Joe Hackney (Orange) addressed attendees. Rep. Hackney jokingly – we hope – told the crowd that he had come to “give Medicaid back to the counties.” Sen. Basnight, a longtime proponent of environmental issues, discussed the possibilities of wind energy and urged counties to consider alternatives to oil.

Veteran political reporter Scott Mooneyham, editor of The Insider, and Hunter Bacot, director of the Elon University Poll, participated in a panel discussion about the state of North Carolina politics and the factors that will influence the General Assembly in 2010 and the fall elections. Bacot told the audience that he expects some changeover in the Legislature after the elections in the fall, but he does not think a lot of the anti-incumbency anger will show up at the polls. He noted most of the anger appears to be directed to the federal government and predicted a very low turnout. For more on County Assembly Day, check out the Association’s weekly legislative review video, This Week at the General Assembly. The video report will be posted on the Association’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/ncacc1908) by 3 p.m. Presentations and issue papers from the session are also on the Association's Web site at www.ncacc.org/countylines/2010/06/countyassemblyday.html.

BILLS OF INTEREST

The Association has created a section on its Web site to track bills of interest to county officials. Visit www.ncacc.org/legislation/about.html for updates on key legislation.

Bill:	H524
Sponsors:	Luebke (D30); Starnes (R87); Goforth (D115); Jones, Earl (D60)
Title:	ANNEXATION - OMNIBUS CHANGES
Progress:	2nd Chamber: Reported from Committee
Status:	05/17/2010 – Senate Committee On Rules and Operations of the Senate
Position:	Support
Category:	Legislative Goal
Comments:	H524 represents the House’s vehicle for omnibus changes to the state’s annexation laws. The current version of the proposed committee substitute accomplishes a large part of the Association’s annexation goal in that it increases the standards for urbanizing areas, it establishes June 30 as the effective date for an involuntary annexation, it includes a provision for a referendum, and it requires the provision of water and sewer services within three years. The bill was amended by the House Appropriations committee to include joint utilities planning. It was pulled from the Senate Finance Committee and re-rereferred to the Senate Rules Committee on May 17.