| HB 0048 |
Neutral | Expanded Options for the Freeport Exemption |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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4/17/2012 |
House Date Signed by Governor |
W&M |
FIN |
- |
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| HB 48 designates the current freeport law as Level 1 Freeport. It provides for a new level of freeport which is designated as Level 2 Freeport. This new level of freeport applies to business inventory that does not otherwise qualify for a Level 1 Freeport. Other than this, Level 2 Freeport is imposed and operates in the same manner as Level 1 Freeport. It first requires approval by the governing authority. It can be set at 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100% of the value of the property. Finally, it requires voter approval in a local referendum. Level 2 Freeport is completely separate and distinct from Level 1 Freeport. A local jurisdiction has complete flexibility to choose the type of freeport or freeports it desires as well as the percentage value of each of the exemptions. A county could have a Level 1 only, a Level 2 only, or it could have both. It has the flexibility to have the same or to have different percentages of exemption percentage for the exemptions. For example, it could have Level 1 at 100% and Level 2 at 40%. |
| HB 0123 |
Support | Defines Stun Guns as a Weapon when Removed from Law Enforcement Officer |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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5/11/2011 |
House Date Signed by Governor |
JudyNC |
PUB SAF |
- |
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| Under current law, it is illegal to remove a gun from certain public safety officers who are acting in the line of duty. HB 123 makes it illegal to remove a stun gun or taser from these public safety officials. |
| HB 0284 |
Negotiating | Statewide Process Server Certification - Removal of Sheriff's Approval |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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4/14/2011 |
House Withdrawn, Recommitted |
Judy |
- | - |
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| Under current law, the sheriff has the option of whether to allow private process servers to serve certain court papers in the county. To become a certified process server, a person must file an application with the sheriff. The sheriff has to approve a process server to operate in the county.
HB 284 removes the sheriff's authority to decide whether private process servers can serve papers in the county. The applications will now be handled by the Administrative Office of the Courts. |
| HB 0397 |
Support | Open Meetings/Open Records Comprehensive Rewrite |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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4/17/2012 |
House Date Signed by Governor |
Judy |
JUDY |
- |
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| HB 397 updates and re-organizes the open meetings and open records laws. While there are some significant substantive changes proposed in the bill, many of the amendments clarify the requirements of existing law. The bill defines a meeting as the "gathering" of a quorum of a board of commissioners or a committee created by the board. E mail messages between commissioners will not be considered a meeting. The bill also enhances the attorney-client privilege relative to the open records act and revised the cost recovery provisions of the law by reducing the per copy fee for standard-sized paper from $.25/page to $.10/page. However, counties can recover the actual cost of producing non-standard sized documents. For a detailed summary click here. The bill was signed by the Governor and became effective April 17, 2012. |
| HB 0429 |
Support | County Government Infrastructure Financing Authority |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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3/2/2011 |
House Second Readers |
GAff |
- | - |
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| This bill creates the County Government Infrastructure Financing Authority to provide a mechanism through which county governments may lease or purchase on an installment basis infrastructure and equipment at a lower cost. |
| HB 0475 |
Negotiating | Amend Development Authority Bonding Law |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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2/3/2012 |
Senate Read and Referred |
ED&T |
SLGO |
- |
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| This bill renders the decision of development authority boards as final and not subject to review regarding what qualifies as a project and allows development authorities to finance public-private mass commuting facilities. |
| HB 0811 |
Support | Prevent the Redirection of Dedicated Fees |
Powell,Jay 171st |
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3/29/2012 |
Senate Conference Committee Appointed |
GAff |
APPROP |
- |
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| House Bill 811, introduced by Rep. Jay Powell, co-signed by more than 60 House members, and having passed the House by 151-5, would have prevented the redirection of dedicated fees for the Solid Waste Trust Fund, Hazardous Waste Trust Fund, Peace Officer and Prosecutors Training Fund, and Joshua's Law (drivers education training). If dedicated fees were not appropriated for these statutorily-intended purposes, then the fees would be reduced or eliminated, proportionate to the amount that is redirected. To minimize impact on the state budget, the new appropriation requirements would have been phased in.
The Senate Appropriations Committee added a provision that the fee reduction trigger will not kick in until the state's [rainy day] Revenue Shortfall Reserve is at least 7 percent of previous year's state budget, which would be about $1.1 billion currently. The problem is that the Reserve has exceeded this amount only once since 1988.
In conference committee, the Senate insisted upon language that ensured fee reductions would rarely, if ever, kick in. Accordingly, House conferees refused to go along with language they felt defeated the entire purpose of the legislation and have pledged to reintroduce the bill next session.
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