Legislative Update: June 30th

Asheville Chamber Vice President of Public Policy sums up recent legislative activity in Raleigh

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, so I wanted to make sure our members stayed well informed about developments from Raleigh. I just got back last night from there, and it has been an interesting, busy time, as they are trying to wrap up this long session by the end of the week. I will try to remain as concise as possible about the most important bills and updates, as it relates to Asheville and area businesses:

• “Brunch bill”  - Really termed the ABC Omnibus Bill, because it affects a lot of regulatory issues and cleans up some Prohibition-era mechanisms, is better known for allowing alcohol sales at 10 am on Sundays. This bill has passed both chambers of the General Assembly and will allow local restaurants, breweries, grocery stores, etc. to serve alcohol on Sundays starting at 10 am. The last step will be for the County or City to pass an ordinance to allow those sales locally (NOTE: if the County passes an ordinance, the City can just adopt it by resolution; if not, the City would have to pass a separate ordinance). The Asheville Chamber is excited about this opportunity for our local businesses to reap the benefits of this new law and hopes local officials will act swiftly on this prospect. The Chamber would also like to recognize the efforts of Rep. Chuck McGrady, who had his original bill stripped down, but fought back to get language beneficial to a larger group of area businesses passed. We would also like to recognize our entire local delegation who voted in favor or sponsored some version of the bill! 
• Asheville Districts On the floor Thursday for its final reading, and presumably for final approval, is the bill that will order City Council to draw districts in the City of Asheville by November 1, 2017. Thanks to an amendment from Rep. Brian Turner, City Council will be asked to appoint an independent commission (the first of its kind) to do the map drawing, with the hopes of drawing the 6 districts in a fair, even, unbiased way. The Mayor will still be elected citywide. All signs point to it becoming a reality this afternoon, but I will let you all know if it does not pass for some reason. 
• Economic Incentive Modifications - Now under the bill # S 660, this bill seeks to revamp and reconfigure the Tier system used statewide for doling out incentive dollars from the Dept. of Commerce. The original bill was very detrimental to Buncombe and other Tier 3 counties, but the new version seeks to right a lot of wrongs, without punishing areas that are doing well. This bill includes a provision that would untangle the use of the Tier system from other funding programs not related to economic commerce incentives (There’s a recent trend to use the tiers to determine who gets pre-K funding, subsidies, nonprofit grants and even spay and neuter program assistance!). The Asheville Chamber has been at the table as this bill has changed and supports the current version of the bill. We may see it on the floor by tomorrow, but it may not occur this session at all. Stay tuned… 
• Workers’ Comp reforms - Please see an update on recent State Supreme Court ruling affecting Workers’ Comp reforms of 2011 from the NC Chamber: 
• A recent ruling from the North Carolina Supreme Court unravels the balanced workers’ compensation reforms achieved in 2011. Instituting the most dramatic changes to workers’ compensation since the 1980’s, this decision comes as a major blow to the business community. Not only will this ruling cultivate a system hindered by gridlock, but it will also force costs to skyrocket. The State of North Carolina’s insurance fund alone will have to pay more than $20 million per year due to these changes.
• The 2011 workers’ compensation reforms restored balance in a no-fault system, made sure workers received timely access to benefits, and drove costs down. Sadly, this ruling expands liability and obliterates those changes, turning the negotiated workers’ compensation reform on its head.
• The repercussions of this ruling will be crippling to the business community as the 2011 reforms are undone. Our team is already hard at work fighting to secure a legislative fix to this ruling and will not stop until one is achieved. If you’re ready to join the fight, please add your business to this coalition of organizations and businesses strongly urging the General Assembly to correct the decision swiftly.
• We are monitoring these changes closely and trying to help achieve a legislative fix…

Legislative Update: Chamber advocates for preserving municipal funding

The Chamber advocated for preserving current municipal funding levels for Asheville/Buncombe County last week at the North Carolina General Assembly House Finance Committee meeting.

Two weeks ago the Senate rolled out their budget, which included policy to change the method by which sales tax is distributed around the state.  Generally speaking, under current law 80% of sales tax collected from the purchase remains in the county of the point of sale with 20% being distributed around the state on a per-capita basis.

The new Senate proposal would change this formula over four years such that 80% of the collected tax would be distributed around the state on a population basis with 20% remaining at the point of sale.  This would create major problems for all the municipalities of Buncombe County with revenue projected to decrease by more than 10% over five years (since the Senate’s financial projections use the same assumptions state wide, this number could actually be larger depending on what Buncombe’s actual numbers turn out to be).  Due to the county being a regional center for jobs (did you know that only 58% of Buncombe’s workers live in the county?) and the high level of tourism spending, the county experiences high revenue levels relative to its population.  Under the Senate’s proposal, a majority of sales tax revenue collected would leave the county and would thus not be available to pay for needed items such as infrastructure improvements, maintenance and other services needed to support the high number of visitors and workers that the county and city experience. 

During the House Finance Committee meeting, the Chamber was recognized for its participation and support of the House’s desire to have the Senate’s sale tax redistribution proposal removed and other funding mechanisms considered.  The Chamber’s Public Policy department attended the hearing and other meetings with elected officials with the Mayor of Asheville and other City staff. 

The Chamber commends the Senate for working to address funding disparities among North Carolina counties.  However, we encourage them to find a way to better fund the state’s rural areas without devastating the economic engines and job centers of our state.  The Chamber is now working with the other adversely affected areas of the state to build a coalition and encourage the NC General Assembly to find a better way to address funding needs around the state.

NCGA: Public Policy Update

What a crazy week it has been, both at the North Carolina General Assembly and around the country. The Chamber does want to send our thoughts and prayers out to all those affected in Massachusetts and Texas. You can see from the picture outside the NCGA that flags flew at half mast this week.

The NCGA reconvened on Monday, April 15 with the House passing the Asheville water legislation on a 72-39 vote. The legislation has now cleared the House and will head to the Senate. Legislation affecting Asheville continued into Tuesday with the Senate passing the Asheville ETJ bill (H224). This bill will take away the City of Asheville’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction area in Buncombe County. H224 had already passed the House and was later ratified and became law on Wednesday.

The other hot topic of the week was H589 or VIVA (Voter Information Verification Act). This bill will require photo identification for North Carolina voters and has been the source of great debate among the parties. The bill cruised through committee with Republican support and can be expected to appear on the House floor as early as next week.

The Chamber is also closely watching several education bills. The House’s version of education reform (H719), which would change teacher tenure cruised through with massive bipartisan support (113-1). The Chamber has also strongly advocated for local school board control of spending and has been closely watching S373, which would allow for more local control of budgets. This bill passed out of the Senate Education Committee with a favorable report and is heading to Appropriations.

Finally, the Chamber was thrilled at the Governor’s transportation announcement on Thursday. It appears that there is support both from legislative leadership and the executive office to change how road money is distributed in the state. This has the possibility of allowing for the I-26 Corridor Project to be completed at a faster pace. The Chamber believes that the I-26 Corridor is critical for the success of WNC business, and to prove the point the Chamber will be hosting a forum on the issue.

The I-26 Corridor Summit will take place on Thursday, May 9 from 8:15 AM until noon at the NC Arboretum. You can learn more about the event and register here.

Please feel free to contact the Chamber’s Public Policy department at anytime with questions or concerns at jjoyce@ashevillechamber.org.