Weekly Legislative Report April 13, 2007 There has been considerable discussion at the General Assembly this week about activity by the House on their version of the state budget bill. The House Appropriations Subcommittees have spent the last two months reviewing budget requests from all of the various state agencies. They are now beginning the process of sorting through all of the requests and making preliminary decisions on what will be funded. There has been discussion this week that some of the preliminary House budget proposals may be discussed as early as next week. Former Senator Bill Martin of Guilford County died recently and his funeral was on Thursday in Guilford County. Both the House and the Senate met at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday this week so that many members of the General Assembly could attend Senator Martin s funeral. The House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene on Monday at 7:00 p.m. BILLS OF INTEREST HOUSE BILL 1372, Organ Donation/The Heart Prevails, would require that the decision of an organ donor to have the heart symbol on their drivers license is legally sufficient consent to an organ donation, unless it is revoked by the donor. The bill would require hospitals and rescue and emergency personnel to search injured individuals for donor information. Introduced by Representatives Folwell, Holliman, Clary and Wainwright. HOUSE BILL 1379, Amend Larceny Laws, is identical to Senate Bill 1270, discussed in the March 23, 2007 Weekly Legislative Report. Introduced by Representative Braxton. HOUSE BILL1386, Strengthen Prohibition on Cockfighting, would make it a Class I felony to own, possess, sell or train a bird that would be used for fighting. The bill would also make it a Class I felony to manufacture, possess, buy or sell devices which are used to enhance an animal s fighting ability. Introduced by Representative Allred. HOUSE BILL 1398, Pawn and Metal Transaction Database, would require the Department of Justice to establish an electronic database system, which can be accessed by law enforcement agencies, and would require the reporting of transactions by pawn brokers and purchasers of regulated metals. The bill would require secondary metals recyclers and pawnbrokers to enter complete information within twelve hours after a purchase or a transaction. Introduced by Representatives Hilton, Ray Warren, Spear and Setzer.
HOUSE BILL 1399, Insure Integrity of North Carolina Drivers Licenses, would require those who are applying for a duplicate identification card, learner s permit or driver s license to provide their Social Security numbers to the Division of Motor Vehicles. The bill would also allow a drivers license or duplicate license to be issued for a shorter period of time when the applicant presents a valid passport or documentation showing their legal presence in the United States. Introduced by Representatives Holloway and Dollar. HOUSE BILL 1404, Senior Resident/Chief Judge Salaries, would provide that the salary of Senior Resident Superior Court Judges shall be at least 15% greater than that of other Superior Court Judges and that the salary of Chief District Court Judges shall be at least 15% greater than that of other District Court Judges. Introduced by Representatives Glazier and Love. HOUSE BILL 1406, Landslide Hazard Mapping Program Funds, would appropriate $1.5 million each year to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to produce landslide hazard maps for the thirteen remaining counties of the nineteen western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricanes Francis and Ivan. The Department could also produce landslide hazard maps for other counties with known landslide problems and provide technical assistance to local governments and emergency managers on landslide and other geohazard problems. Introduced by Representative Rapp. HOUSE BILL 1408, Alcohol Monitoring Systems for DWI Offenders, is identical to Senate Bill 1290, discussed in the March 23, 2007 Weekly Legislative Report. Introduced by Representatives Alexander, Barnhart and Walend. HOUSE BILL 1416, Alexander County Justice Center, would provide $4 million to Alexander County for the construction of an Alexander County Justice Center. Introduced by Representative Ray Warren. HOUSE BILL 1417, Critical Incident Planning and Mapping System, would require the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety to establish and administer a statewide electronic planning and mapping system that would store and process information about public school buildings and related structures and would provide the information in a database that can be accessible by emergency response agencies. Introduced by Representative Lucas. HOUSE BILL 1418, Resale of Tickets Via Internet, is identical to Senate Bill 1407, discussed in the March 23, 2007 Weekly Legislative Report. Introduced by Representative Saunders. HOUSE BILL 1426, Amend Massage and Bodywork Therapy Act, is identical to Senate Bill 1314, discussed in the March 23, 2007 Weekly Legislative Report. Introduced by Representative Fisher. HOUSE BILL 1434, Study Excusing Caregivers from Jury Duty, would require the North Carolina Courts Commission to study excusing primary caregivers from jury duty. Introduced by Representative Owens. Page 2 of 5
HOUSE BILL 1439, Misdemeanor/Not Produce Public Records, would make it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a public records custodian to fail to provide copies of public records or fail to allow inspection of the records. Introduced by Representative Cleveland. HOUSE BILL 1442, Increase Juror Fees/Court Costs, would increase the pay for jurors on a grand jury from $12 per day to $30 per day and would increase the pay to $50 (was $40) per day for those serving in excess of five days in a 24-month period for jury service. This bill would also increase by $4 the cost of criminal and civil cases in District Court and Superior Court. Introduced by Representative Faison. HOUSE BILL 1444, Beneficiaries on Motor Vehicle Titles, is identical to Senate Bill 925, discussed in the March 23, 2007 Weekly Legislative Report. Introduced by Representatives Carney, Allen, Dickson and Ross. HOUSE BILL 1447, Funds to Enhance Emergency Services, would give $286,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, which would implement a pilot program for community- based crisis intervention, which would serve the counties of Haywood, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Swain and Macon. Introduced by Representatives Haire and Rapp. HOUSE BILL 1454, Superior Court Judge Elections, would require that each superior court judge be elected individually, which currently occurs for judges on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and District Court. This would eliminate elections where multiple Superior Court judges were elected from the same district. The bill also requires that vacancies would be filled in the next election for a full eight year term which is held at the next election for members of the North Carolina General Assembly. Introduced by Representative Wainwright. HOUSE BILL 1458, No Points for Certain Out-of-State Violations, would eliminate insurance surcharge points for out-of-state motor vehicle violations which have no equivalent charge in North Carolina. Introduced by Representatives Tillis, Holloway, Crawford and Faison. HOUSE BILL 1459, Study Missing Persons with Dementia, would require the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Aging and Adult Services, to conduct a study on the procedures of local law enforcement and health care facilities that deal with persons with dementia or other mental impairments that are reported missing. It would also study ways to coordinate and improve search efforts when a person with dementia or other mental impairments is missing. Introduced by Representatives Parmon, Earle, Hurley and Weiss. HOUSE BILL 1474, Raise Compulsory School Attendance Age, would increase the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. Introduced by Representative Blue. HOUSE BILL 1478, NarTest System Funds, would fund $30,000 to the Lenoir County Sheriff s Office to purchase a NarTest system to analyze drug evidence. Introduced by Representative Braxton. Page 3 of 5
HOUSE BILL 1479, Juvenile Contempt/Procedures and Sanctions, would establish new rules regarding contempt of court by juveniles and would establish new procedures that must be followed by judicial officials. Juveniles determined to be in contempt of court could be ordered by the court to be held in a juvenile detention facility for up to five days or to perform 30-hours of supervised community service, which may be terminated or reduced by the judicial official. The bill would also require that any act of contempt by a child under 6 would not constitute contempt of court. Introduced by Representative Glazier. HOUSE BILL 1481, Juvenile Driving While Intoxicated/Detention and Study Sanctions, would authorize a court to secure custody of a juvenile when they are charged with driving while impaired or underage drinking. The bill would also authorize the Legislative Research Commission to study appropriate sanctions for juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent for driving while impaired or underage drinking. Introduced by Representative Glazier. HOUSE BILL 1482, Amend Civil No-Contact Order Laws, would amend the civil no-contact order laws to define stalking as following or harassing on more than one occasion and would also amend the law to provide that the acts must be committed by a person 16 years old or older. Previous law did not include an age. Introduced by Representative Glazier. HOUSE BILL 1485, North Carolina Illegal Immigration Prevention Act, would enact the North Carolina Illegal Immigration Prevention Act. This act would: (1) require public and private employers to participate in the Federal Work Authorization Program and to verify certain information on all new employees; (2) require the Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the United States Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security to allow North Carolina law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration and customs laws; (3) require jail and detention staff to determine the nationality and immigration status of persons jailed for commission of a felony or impaired driving; and (4) make various other changes in employment related laws related to illegal immigrants. Introduced by Representatives Holloway, Blust, Cleveland and Neumann. BILL STATUS HOUSE BILL 42, Amend Domestic Violence Laws/Homicide Reporting, was enacted into law. HOUSE BILL 46, Domestic Violence/Security, was enacted into law. HOUSE BILL 61, Child Restraint Systems/Federal Compliance, was enacted into law. HOUSE BILL 118, Sex Offender/Test for STD s, was amended to require that a person charged with a sex offense who is ordered to be tested for a sexually transmitted disease must be tested within 48-hours of the court order. Page 4 of 5
HOUSE BILL 328, Flexible Payment/Law Enforcement Separation, has passed the House and will next be considered by the Senate. HOUSE BILL 367, Increase Criminal Penalty/Theft of Metals, was amended to require that the seller of metal give the source and physical address where the metal was bought. A photocopy of the identification of the person delivering the metals must be maintained when a secondary metals recycler purchases copper, brass or aluminum (excludes aluminum cans). The amendment would also increase the penalty from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class I felony if wires or other telephone, telegraph, electrical power fixtures, or cable fixtures are injured. HOUSE BILL 414, Amend Metals Products Regulations, was amended to exempt iron and steel products from the requirements that metal be retained for seven days before they can be sold or altered. HOUSE BILL 573, Authorized Judge/Concealed Weapon in Court, has passed the Judiciary III Committee and will next be considered by the full House. HOUSE BILL 943, Updating of Jury List, was amended to require the State Register to provide each county s jury commission with a list of recently deceased residents of the county at least every two years. This amendment would also require the Division of Motor Vehicles to exclude from the list names for which a drivers license has been expired for at least eight years and would also require the State Board of Elections to exclude from the list of registered voters any voter who has been inactive for at least four years. If you would like a copy of any of the legislation introduced or considered by this year's General Assembly, copies are available on the General Assembly s World Wide Web site: www.ncleg.net. You may also receive one copy of as many bills as you are interested in, free of charge, by calling the General Assembly's Printed Bills office at 919/733-5648. They will need to know if it is a House bill or Senate bill and the bill number. (For example, Senate Bill 8). Eddie Caldwell Executive Vice President and General Counsel North Carolina Sheriffs Association www.ncsheriffs.org Page 5 of 5