Short Session of General Asssembly Winding Down | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report is Barry Smith, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Legislation other than budget moving quickly before session ends

    RALEIGH     With the $20.1 billion budget headed to the Senate floor, lawmakers are beginning to talk seriously about ending the 2012 short session of the General Assembly. Yet a few items remain on their to-do list.

    "As you know, it takes 10 days to two weeks to kind of turn this thing around, shut everything off and turn the lights off an everything," Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said during a Monday press conference.

    The urgency of the remaining items varies. But both chambers appear to be headed toward adopting legislation regulating fracking and making changes to the state's Racial Justice Act, with the House giving its initial approval of the bill Tuesday.

    Jordan Shaw, a spokesman for House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said that a bill regulating the practice of fracking will be in committee on Wednesday and is expected to hit the House floor this week.

    Fracking refers to a procedure known as hydraulic fracturing to dig for underground natural gas. It's somewhat controversial. Some environmentalists question its safety. Supporters, however, say it's safe provided that it is properly regulated. It's also being touted for potential economic and energy benefits.

    Republican majorities in the General Assembly want to make changes to the Racial Justice Act, which allows death row inmates to challenge their sentence if they can show that race played a role in their prosecution or sentencing.

    Supporters of the proposed changes want to remove a broad statistical analysis from being used as evidence to prove that race played a role in their case. Many supporters of the original bill strongly oppose such changes.

    The bill passed a preliminary vote by a veto-proof, 72-47 margin Tuesday. It's set for a final vote in the House today but would have to return to the Senate for concurrence before going to Gov. Bev Perdue.

    Other legislation, including significant changes to education policy and an effort to compensate victims of forced sterilization, is less certain.

    Brandon Greife, a spokesman for Berger, notes that policy issues outside the budget have been put on the back burner for the time being.

    "I think where it stands right now, in light of the budget coming to the floor, policy committees have been suspended," Greife said.

    The House has passed a eugenics bill, where victims of previous forced sterilization would be given $50,000apiece in compensation. The practice, which ended in the mid-1970s, was in use in North Carolina for decades. That bill has yet to be taken up in the Senate.

    A couple of major education policy changes are in various stages of legislation also. The Senate has approved legislation sponsored by Berger that would provide for merit pay for teachers, eliminate teacher tenure and replace it with a system where school boards sign contracts with teachers. That policy change has also been included in its version of the budget.

    House Majority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam, R-Wake, is pushing a tuition tax credit whereby businesses could receive credits for contributions to private school scholarships.

    Greife said the Senate would want to "fully vet" such a bill if it gets out of the House.

    Shaw said that House members saw "a lot of good elements" in the broad Senate education reform plan.

    Legislative leaders had at one time suggested that they might adjourn by June 19. But they're not talking about such an early departure any more.

    They are now targeting the end of June, or perhaps the Fourth of July as adjournment dates.