2016 legislative wrap-up · • maintains total powell bill funding at $147.5 million • provides...
TRANSCRIPT
2016 LEGISLATIVE
WRAP-UP
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Chris Nida NC League of Municipalities
Outline
• 2016 Overview
• What Passed?
• What Didn’t Pass?
• League Updates
• Questions & Discussion
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2016 Overview
• Session convened April 25
• Budget agreement announced in late June
• Chambers adjourned late in evening of July 1,
earlier than in most recent two years
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2016 Overview
• House and Senate agreed to $22.225 billion
spending target for budgets
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• House passed their
budget May 19; Senate
followed suit June 3
• Negotiations continued
until signs of agreement
in final weekend of June
2016 Overview
• Final days of session marked by sometimes
public disagreements between the two
chambers
• Senate adjourned while House was still
considering bills on its floor
• With Senate having adjourned, House soon
followed suit; a number of bills did not receive
final approval by both chambers
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2016 Overview
2016 – What Passed?
• HB 1030 2016 Appropriations Act (awaiting Governor’s signature)
• Grows state spending by roughly 2.8%
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• Provides teachers and
state employees with a mix
of salary increases and
one-time bonuses
• Provides an income tax cut
through expansion of the
zero bracket for income
tax
Budget Agreement
• Eliminates $17.6 million appropriation of state funds to local sales tax
collections, as agreed to as part of 2015 sales tax reallocation
compromise
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• Eliminates light rail cap but
proposes additional
restrictions on state
funding for light rail
projects
• Clarifies 2015 sales tax
base changes, which
would increase local sales
tax revenues
Budget Agreement
• Provides $5.7 million in nonrecurring funds for downtown
revitalization projects in 56 municipalities
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• Maintains total Powell Bill
funding at $147.5 million
• Provides $33.8 million in
nonrecurring funds for
State water and
wastewater infrastructure
grants, and an additional
$8.6 million in nonrecurring
funds for Clean Water
Management Trust Fund
Budget Agreement
• Local Government
Commission would be
authorized to require
local finance officers to
take additional training
in certain
circumstances
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Finance Officer Training
• Intended to address some
concerns with municipalities on
LGC “watch list”
HB 1035/S.L. 2016-84 LGC/Training for Local Gov’t Finance Officers
SB 481 Fund Small Businesses/DOR
Rulings/City Rt of Way
– Provision prohibits cities from charging utility
companies fees associated with permits & inspections
of work in public right-of-way
– League worked with bill sponsors to delay
implementation until July 1, 2017, at rates effective as
of June 1, 2016
– Utility companies argue distributions of utility-related
sales taxes should cover cost of managing right-of-way
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Utility Line Fee
SB 326 Local Gov’ts/Bldgs/Structures/
Inspections. (awaiting Governor’s signature)
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Rental Registration
• Similar to previous years’
legislation restricting local
governments’ ability to
conduct rental registration
programs
• Passed nearly unanimously
after amendments
requested by cities
incorporated into the bill
• Retains city council discretion in determining
when properties are included in district or not
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HB 1023/S.L. 2016-8
Municipal Service
Districts/Statutory Changes
• Requires municipalities to
have hearing if property
owner petitioned for removal
from MSD
Municipal Service Districts
SB 667 Elections Omnibus Revisions (awaiting
Governor’s signature)
– Declares that intent of General Assembly is for all
municipal elections to be held in even-numbered years
beginning in 2020
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Municipal Elections
– Study as to how to
implement this intent is to
be conducted before start
of 2017 General Assembly
session
HB 169 Restore State Claim for Wrongful
Discharge (awaiting Governor’s signature)
– Restores right to sue for wrongful termination in state
court that was eliminated in HB 2
– Rumors, discussion of larger compromise related to
repeal of HB 2 provisions; legislation beyond HB 169
never filed or heard
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HB 2
HB 483 Land-Use Regulatory Changes (awaiting
Governor’s signature)
• Creates statutory vested rights for multi-phase
developments, for a period of seven years
• Final version of HB 483 a much scaled back version of
earlier version of bill, which included several proposals
more objectionable to municipalities
• League, members, private land use litigators worked
extensively with legislators to remove those provisions
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Land Use Changes
HB 972 Law Enforcement Recordings/No Public Record
(awaiting Governor’s signature)
• Resulted from interim study committee
• Does not mandate use of body-worn cameras
• Clarified that police recordings are not public records or
personnel records
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Body-Worn Cameras
• Provides a framework for when a
recording may be viewed or
released and to whom, providing
statutory guidance to law
enforcement officials and courts
HB 630 Drinking Water Protect'n/Coal Ash Cleanup Act –
(awaiting Governor’s signature)
• Second coal ash bill that passed; was a compromise
reached after Governor McCrory vetoed SB 71
• Both bills required Duke to provide a permanent alternative
water supply to homes near coal ash ponds
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Coal Ash
• The League negotiated changes to
SB 71 to allow for a water system
to evaluate its ability to provide
water
• HB 630 included language to take
into account a system’s resources
2016 – What Didn’t Pass?
SB 846 Change the LOST Adjustment Factor
• Eliminated county-specific adjustment factors in
local sales tax and eliminates annual state
appropriation of $17.6 million to local sales taxes
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• Elimination of state
appropriation was in
final budget
agreement; adjustment
factor changes were
not
Sales Tax Changes
SB 778 Performance Guarantees/Subdivision Streets
• Restricted traffic improvements municipalities can require of new schools, and required NCDOT to reimburse schools for cost of improvements
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• Zoning changes for
schools removed from bill;
League worked with
legislators on drafts of bill
extensively
• Passed House, never
considered by Senate
School Streets
SB 868/HB 100 Local Government Immigration Compliance
• Established process for attorney
general to investigate complaints
of alleged noncompliance with
state immigration laws, including
E-Verify
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• If determined that local government was not complying with state laws, cities could have lost Powell Bill funding and counties capital funding for schools
Sanctuary Cities
HB 3 Omnibus Constitutional Amendments • Proposed three separate constitutional amendments for
the November 2016 ballot
• One proposed amendment
would change eminent domain
language and allow it only in
event of “public use;” another
would cap state income tax rate
at 5.5%
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Constitutional Amendments
SB 897 Asheville City Council Districts
• Bill filed late in session by retiring Rules Chairman Sen. Tom Apodaca
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Asheville City Council
• Proposed changing the method of election for Asheville City Council to district-based system
• House opted not to pass bill after impassioned speeches on final day of House session
SB 46 Jacksonville Occupancy Tax
• Top session priority of Majority Leader Sen. Harry Brown
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Jacksonville Occupancy Tax
• Would have allowed City of Jacksonville to spend greater percentage of occupancy tax on capital project
• House Finance rejected over lengthy discussion of occupancy tax purpose, uses
SB 875 Town of Sunset Beach/Deannexation
• Local bill filed by Senate Finance Committee Co-Chairman Sen. Bill Rabon
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Sunset Beach Deannexation
• Would have deannexed several parcels of property from Town of Sunset Beach, against wishes of Town
• House Finance Committee declined to vote on bill after members indicated they would not support
HB 954 Terminate Agreement for Tolling of I-77
• Terminated contract for tolling of I-77 and
redirected funds from specific projects to pay off
any costs associated with termination
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• Passed House by 81-
27 vote
• Never considered by
Senate
I-77 Tolling
SB 363 Wage & Hour/Local Gov’t Assessments
• Amended existing special assessment for infrastructure
authority to allow developers to pay cost of infrastructure
up front and allow local governments to use assessment
to repay developers
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• Bill proponents
worked with NCLM,
NCACC & LGC to
address concerns
• Never Considered by
Senate
Special Assessments
HB 1029/SB 810 Economic Development Changes & Study
• Created 11-member workgroup to review research and recommend revisions to current method for evaluating a community’s economic distress
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HB 1028/SB 844 Eliminate
Use of Development Tiers • Replaced current tier system
with index developed by Dept.
of Commerce
County Tier System
SB 821 GSC Tech. Corrections 1
• Contained language that would have transferred the certification
requirement to the local government; and
• Would not require a new certification within 180 days for
contracts/purchases with entity already certified
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• 2015 law prohibited cities from doing
business with any entity on Treasurer’s
list of businesses with $20M invested
in Iran
• Requires cities to have contractor
certify they are not on that list for every
contract/ purchase over $1,000
Iran Divestment
HB 1134 Admin Changes Retirement
System/Treasurer
SB 887 Admin Changes Retirement
System/Treasurer
• Both would have changed the retirement
eligibility for new hires (after January 1,
2017) from service-based to age- based
(to retire without reduced benefits)
• Based on federal requirements that
defines “normal retirement age” as 50
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Retirement Systems
• At the end of June, the House and Senate appointed one
group of conferees to try to reach agreement on
provisions of one large reform package
• Included in those negotiations were provisions from: – SB 303 Regulatory Reform Act of 2016
– HB 169 Regulatory Reduction Act of 2016
– HB 593 Amend Environmental Laws
– H 763 Military Operations Protection Act of 2016
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Regulatory Reforms
• Ultimately, many provisions
proved too controversial to
reach any agreement
• SB 303 Regulatory Reform Act of 2016 – House’s version of regulatory reform
– Included:
• Many land-use reforms related to:
Rezonings
Subdivision changes
Land use violations/statute of limitations
• Buffer-related study
• Public records: can fulfill requests exclusively with information
published online
– The League worked with House members, resulting in some
changes to address concerns regarding the land-use reforms
– Passed House on June 16, Senate did not concur with proposal
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Regulatory Reforms
• HB 169 Regulatory Reduction Act of 2016 – Passed Senate June 13; House did not concur with proposal
– Originally provided cumulative financial impact ceilings on what
rules can be adopted by the APA
– Repealed landfill bans on electronics and the requirements to
recycle
– Later converted to HB 2-related bill
• HB 593 Amend Environmental Laws – Passed Senate on June 23; House did not concur with proposal
– Exempted additional surfaces of landscaping material from the
definition of BUA in the implementation of stormwater programs
– Included solid waste amendments related to franchise
agreements, and a study of landfill capacity and solid waste
disposal efficiency
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Regulatory Reforms
League Updates
Staffing Updates
• New Government & Public Affairs Division – Rose Vaughn Williams, Associate Director of Government
and Public Affairs
– Communications Team • Scott Mooneyham, Director of Public Affairs
• Ben Brown, Advocacy Communications Associate
• Kristin Milam, Creative Services Associate
– Grassroots Team • Vickie Miller, Grassroots Coordinator
• Will Brooks, Grassroots Initiative & Civic Engagement Associate
• Risk Management Services – Bob Haynes Retiring effective October 31, 2016
Lobbying Updates
• Contract
Lobbyists join
NCLM
• Joint Municipal
Caucus
Formed
Grassroots Advocacy
• Exponential Growth in
NCLM Grassroots
Network – Thank You!
• Grassroots Advocacy
is key to NCLM
lobbying efforts
• Join LeagueLINC at
www.nclm.org.
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2016 Annual Conference
Register here: http://www.nclm.org/meetings-training/Pages/Annual-Conference.aspx
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