The N.C. House has sent Rep. Eugene McCombs’ bill to recoup some Highway Patrol expenses to its Finance Committee.
McCombs, a Rowan County Republican, expressed concern Tuesday that the move could lead to the measure’s demise.
After the Finance Committee, McCombs predicted, the bill could be sent to the Appropriations Committee, where chances are it would die.
The Rowan lawmaker said he’s concerned that “people in high places,” such as officials with Lowe’s Motor Speedway and the Carolina Panthers football team, are trying to derail the measure.
McCombs’ House Bill 455 orders “private organizations” to reimburse the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety for half the costs of traffic control and other services the patrol provides at their events.
When McCombs submitted the bill, he cited such places as the Speedway and Ericsson Stadium, where the Panthers play, which routinely use Highway Patrol troopers to manage traffic.
Earlier this month, the House Transportation Committee favorably reported out the bill, and it headed for the House floor. But in the interim, the Fiscal Research Division attached a “fiscal note” to the bill outlining the revenues the state could expect in each of the next five years, if it were approved.
Because the bill involved new revenues, it has been referred to the Finance Committee.
Researchers Kelly Little and Bob Weiss estimated that the bill would lead to revenues of $666,441 for fiscal year 2001-2002. That’s half of $1,332,881 in mileage, meals, lodging and salary the Highway Patrol expects to spend on events for private organizations.
Adjusting for inflation, the revenues to the state would amount to $941,840 annually by 2005-2006, according to the researchers’ estimates.
The research staff based its numbers on events covered by the Highway Patrol in 2000.
The patrol listed 45 events for for-profit or corporate entities that required 2,345 personnel, registering a total of 39,193 hours.
To implement the measure would take a one-time expenditure of $4,000 for computer programming and staff training, but the fiscal note says “internal resources within the existing payroll system” could cover the one-time expense.
The researchers listed two “technical considerations:”
- They note that the Highway Patrol’s main funding source is the Highway Fund. McComb’s bill doesn’t specify if its intent is to supplement or supplant the Highway Fund money.
- The bill provides no definition for “private organization.”
“Presumably, the State Highway Patrol would determine which groups are expected to reimburse SHP for services,” the researchers said.
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