By Meghan Cooke
mcooke@salisburypost.com
The state Legislature’s session may have adjourned in early August, but many questions were left unanswered as proposed legislation was left sitting in various General Assembly committees.
The state budget was the primary concern of most legislators this year, and it remained a source of controversy even after it was signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue.
“I think the budget was the major thing from the time we went down there,” said Rep. Lorene Coates, a Democrat who represents the 77th House District.
Fred Steen, a Republican representing the 76th House District, co-sponsored House Bill 45, which would allow legislators to appprove each line-item expenditure rather than only approving increases. The bill mandated that this zero-based budgeting review should occur at least once every six years.
“We need to make sure we’re getting our bang for the buck,” Steen said.
But the bill died in a House committee.
House Bill 45 was not the only legislation left bottled up in committees. Local legislators say there are several issues they consider unfinished business.
Coates said she was particularly proud of House Bill 594, legislation she sponsored to increase disabled veterans’ property tax exclusion from $45,000 to $65,000. Steen was also a primary sponsor of the legislation.
The bill passed the House unanimously and was sent to a finance committee in the Senate, where it was left when the session ended.
Coates and Steen also partnered to sponsor House Bill 1176, which would require schools with graduation rates less than 60 percent for two consecutive years to offer technical career courses.
Coates said schools that offer such courses have graduation rates of about 87 percent compared to a rate of 70 percent at schools without them. She said the measure is not one that would cost a lot of money because only about 10 schools in the state would be affected.
“We’re trying to improve the graduation rate, and it seems like a pretty easy way to do that,” she said.
The bill passed the House and was sent to an education committee in the Senate.
Steen said the General Assembly lost several opportunities to improve the state.
Sen. Andrew Brock, a Republican representing the 34th Senate District, pointed to a bill that would prevent out-of-state students from receiving in-state tuition at UNC-system schools.
“I’ve long said that we don’t need to be subsidizing any students from out of state,” Brock said.
Also left on next year’s to-do list is Senate Bill 928, Brock said. The bill, known as the Castle Doctrine, would alter existing law to make it clear that unlawful and forcible entry into a home gives the resident the right to shoot without facing criminal prosecution or civil action as a result.
Although the bill passed the Senate, it went nowhere in the House.
Annexation issues were also important this year, Steen said.
He was the primary sponsor of House Bill 498, which would have prevented annexation ordinances from taking effect until a vote of people affected by the proposed annexation showed that more than 50 percent of the voters approved of the annexation. Coates was also a sponsor of the bill, which never made it out of the House.
Annexation will continue to be controversial, Coates and Brock said.
Despite the myriad of issues still up for approval, legislators said the General Assembly’s short session, which begins in May, will primarily involve making adjustments to the budget.
Steen said he suspects the economy might cause more trouble for legislators when they return to Raleigh next year.
“I hope it turns around 200 percent, but we’ve got to be realistic,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to come out of it like a bolt of lightning.”
Although Brock said there was much work still to be done, he will have will have additional duties to juggle beginning in January. He’ll be a father.
“I think I’ll have my hands full with that,” he said, laughing.