North Carolina state House members carried bottled water, sandwiches, and snacks to their desks Wednesday for a marathon session that included some of the most important legislation of the year. The House session ran until almost midnight.
The flurry of activity in the House and Senate was prompted by Thursday’s “crossover deadline.” A bill must have passed one chamber to be eligible for consideration by the other. Any bill that that had not been approved by the House or Senate by the end of Thursday’s session is dead. Buried.
Among the highlights in the House:
Voters in November will consider an amendment to the state constitution that will prohibit state and local governments from using eminent domain procedures on behalf of private development. Eminent domain can only be used for public good—highway rights-of-way, parks, preservation of rivers and wetlands, and the like.
A bill to prohibit corporal punishment in public schools was defeated.
In some instances, insurance companies will be required to provide coverage for mental health issues. After lengthy debate, the House approved an amendment that would exempt small companies with fewer than 25 employees from including mental health coverage in their insurance plans.
Political contributions of $50 or more must be listed with identification and the profession of the donor. An amendment to raise this to $100 failed.
Meanwhile, the Senate:
Approved a bill that would require internet social networking sites such as MySpace to obtain parental authorization for persons under age 18. Approved a bill that would have district attorneys run in non-partisan races as judges do now.
Approved almost unanimously a bill that would prohibit judges from giving a “prayer for judgment” in speeding cases where the driver is clocked for exceeding the speed limit by 30 miles per hour or more. Speeders also would be limited to two “improper equipment” pleas in speeding cases over a five-year period.
TARGETS FOR BULLIES: House Speaker Joe Hackney had to break a tie in a vote on a House floor amendment to a bill that would prohibit school bullying. The amendment first proposed by Rep. Mark Hilton of Conover would have eliminated language that identified targets of bullies. He especially objected to terminology that would have included children and youths targeted for their “sexual orientation” i.e. homosexual. The language in the bill also identifies targets based on “race, ancestry, color, national origin, gender, or physical appearance….”
Hackney’s “no” vote broke a 58-58 tie on an amendment that would have stripped terminology from the bill. The bill passed by a large margin.
DOLE IN HICKORY: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole will be in Hickory June 1 to conduct a workshop on “Making Home Ownership a Reality”. The workshop will be at the Holiday Inn-Select on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard. Sen. Dole, 72, has announced she will run for re-election in 2008.
BUDGET JOURNEY: The House has sent its version of a $20 billion 2007-08 budget to the Senate. But instead of revamping the document, the Senate is expected to run the budget on the floor next week, reject it promptly, and then go immediately into conference with House leaders. Insiders predict that Rep. Ray Warren of Alexander County and Hickory will be named to the conference committee. If so, he will be the first of legislators from the area to have a budget seat in decades. The Legislative leadership hopes to have a budget in place before July 1.
