Major changes are going down in the state capital.
Back on Junes Street in Raleigh for the summer “Short Session,” the state legislature has wasted little time passing proposals which can be deemed controversial, even retaliatory.
The Senate moved quickly on its proposed budget bill mid-week last week, passing it early Sunday morning. The bill moved to the House, passing the first reading on Tuesday.
Containing what is heralded as the largest teacher pay raise in the state’s history, the plan gives teachers as much as an 11 percent increase, but the bitter takeaway for teachers will be giving up tenure.
Eliminating teacher assistants in classrooms is another harsh blow in the scheme to fund the $470 million teacher pay raises. Except for kindergarten and first grade, all teacher assistants get the ax.
New Hanover County Rep. Ted Davis Jr. said in a Tuesday night text, “I do not support the Senate’s proposed Budget, especially as it relates to teacher pay, elimination of teacher assistant positions, and pay for other State employees.”
Pay raise proposals for state employees who have not seen raises in the last six years were not as generous, with just $809 per employee cited by detractors, after benefits are factored out as not enough of an increase.
Davis and fellow Rep. Rick Catlin said they expect the House will make many changes to the proposed budget and send it back to the Senate for further consideration.
The controversial Senate budget provides $200 million more in Medicaid spending, but to meet base federal income standards cuts some of those who are now eligible.
The Senate budget proposal has the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and crime lab moving from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to an administrative agency, the Department of Public Safety, under the direction of an administrator appointed by the governor to a long term.
Attorney General Roy Cooper oversees DOJ, and this smacks of a political move against Cooper, who has not announced but is a potential Democratic candidate for governor in 2016, and has been critical of the legislature.
Do we need to be reminded the SBI has conducted investigations into the activities of the last three governors? Cooper said in a letter to the legislature that SBI agents are currently conducting investigations into legislators and the Department of Public Safety, the very agency the Senate proposes the SBI be moved to.
Moving the SBI to public safety would remove accountability to voters, replacing it with accountability to the governor. Right now the SBI is also investigating coal ash spills and Duke Energy. Need it be pointed out Duke Energy was the governor’s employer for 28 years?
Garnering major attention in Raleigh was the guilty plea Tuesday by former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon. Cannon pled guilty to public corruption and admitted he took bribes totaling $50,000-$70,000 in cash, gifts and trips in exchange for public influence. The four-year investigation is not over, FBI and U.S. Attorney office investigators said publically they are following a trail of evidence to flush out anyone else who is connected to this scandal.
Legislators approved omnibus tax law changes, creating a new tax on broker assisted vacation rental accommodations and e-cigarettes, and ending the collection of privilege license tax by cities.
The measure does away with the municipal privilege license fee charged by municipalities to businesses. Opponents have said this could cripple city governments and major cities stand to lose millions in local revenue, with Charlotte looking at a $20 million hit.
Proponents say the privilege licenses fees are applied inconsistently. Despite the fact that the City of Wilmington will lose $1.7 million in local revenue, Reps. Catlin, Davis and Susi Hamilton each voted for the measure, which passed the House 84-29. On Wednesday, Catlin said in a phone interview, “That was a concern of mine and many other folks. I was assured by the committee chair [finance] that we could come up with a compromise before this is applied.” In the Senate the affirmative vote was 38-7, with Sen. Thom Goolsby also voting yes.
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory last Thursday, May 29, and takes effect July 1, 2015. The town of Wrightsville Beach collected $16,000 on privilege license taxes last year. Town Mayor Bill Blair echoed Catlin saying, “It appears to me some kind of recalculating will make up for the difference.”
Realtors are scrambling over another provision taxing vacation rental accommodations effective immediately in this same legislation (House Bill 105) which requires a new 4.75 percent state tax on the short-term rental of a private residence, cottage, or similar accommodation listed with a real estate broker or agent on or after June 1, 2014. The tax is for rentals of 15 days or less duration. Local government officials were in Raleigh on Wednesday to meet with legislators in the annual statewide Town Hall Day.
Legislation lifting North Carolina’s moratorium on fracking for natural gas passed on the fast tract, despite protests outside. Senate Bill 786 passed its final vote 35-12 with Goolsby voting yes.
Catlin, an environmental engineer and hydrogeologist said in a June 3 email, “I had technical and public health concerns that could not be fixed at the speed this legislation preceded. That’s why I voted no.” It passed the House 64-50.
Catlin said he will continue to try to fix these problems next year as the rule-making process continues. The bill was sent to the governor on Friday for signing. Fracking permits could be issued as soon as the 60th day after the state Mining and Energy Commission finalizes the rules.
The political implications of this General Assembly have only magnified with the first three weeks of this short session.
Historically the Senate, House and governor’s office have not always seen eye to eye, but with the actions taken by the Senate these past few weeks, it is becoming ever more clear that the most powerful person in state government is Senate Leader Phil Berger, followed by House Speaker Thom Tillis who is challenging U.S. Senator Kay Hagan for her seat in November.
What if Berger and Tillis’ Republican buddies in the Senate served up their controversial budget proposal so Tillis and the House could save the day with a compromise plan that everyone could accept?
Ah, politics.
