Raleigh Report is a regular newsletter offering extensive legislative information from the NC Council of Churches. Click here to subscribe.
Payday Lending What It Is, How It Harms People, Why We Don’t Need It Back Payday lending, sadly, could be coming back to North Carolina. It was banned […]
If you are interested in attending, but have not pre-registered, you may call our office at 919-828-6501 on Tuesday, April 9 until 5:00 p.m. Gene Nichol, Director of the Center […]
Yesterday morning the Senate Rules Committee unveiled a committee substitute for SB 10 which would effectively kick off all of the members of several influential commissions, including the Environmental Management Commission, the Coastal Resources Commission, the Utilities Commission, and the Lottery Commission, and then enable the General Assembly and the Governor to appoint new members.
After a one-day organizational meeting in early January, the 2013 General Assembly convened in earnest last Wednesday. Bills introduced and advanced during these first two days give a taste of things to come. Note especially the bills affecting the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, weakening the benefits of unemployment insurance, and extending the presence of guns.
One of the most insidious proposals coming up in the General Assembly session is the one to require people to show photo IDs in order to vote. It has the […]
You probably already know that the General Assembly goes into session on Wednesday, January 30. They’ve already had a one-day organizational meeting. You probably also already know that this will […]
The General Assembly on Monday overrode Governor Perdue’s vetoes of three bills. By doing so they gutted the Racial Justice Act, revised the budget for 2012-13, and moved ahead with fracking. The outcome was not in doubt in the Senate. In fact, several Senate Democrats had excused absences and didn’t even show up for the votes. The drama was in the House.
The General Assembly has passed S 820 and sent it to the Governor. This is the bill that would move North Carolina farther down the road toward extraction of natural […]
The House of Representatives has voted 73-47 to gut the Racial Justice Act. The vote was on S 416, a bill originally about using tire retreads on school buses. The […]
George Reed, Editor Robert L. Mason, Intern Associate Fracking Clean Energy and Economic Security Act Domestic Energy Policy Underground Injection Ban Fracking Contracts/Against Public Policy Sale of Children Senate’s Budget […]
Two time-sensitive issues for advocates: 1) A vote to override the Governor’s veto of the Racial Justice Act could come up any time. 2) There is a lobby day tomorrow […]
The General Assembly leadership is committed to having this short session truly be short, and there’s talk of adjourning by early July. In fact, an adjournment resolution was introduced yesterday with a target date of June 19. This session, which starts in May of even-numbered years, is primarily to tweak the second year of the budget adopted the year before. In addition, certain bills which were introduced last year (mostly ones which passed in one house) can be considered. For a new bill to be introduced this year, it must fit into one of a few specific categories, with most new bills having to do with budgetary matters or coming from a study commission which met during the interim. Finally, pending veto overrides are also thought by the House and Senate leadership to be eligible for consideration.
A Legislative Advocacy Toolkit is now available from the Council. The toolkit provides a wealth of information for people of faith who want to be effective as grass-roots lobbyists, especially […]
The General Assembly convened this past Wednesday for its regular “short session.” As always, the primary purpose of the short session is to tweak the budget for the fiscal year […]
Several additional legislative days have been announced. Among them are: HKonJ, People of Color Justice and Unity Legislative Day is Wednesday, May 23. The opening session will be at Raleigh’s […]
Council Friends— I am writing you with a last-minute appeal to get to the polls for next Tuesday’s election, when voters decide whether to amend the state constitution, defining marriage […]
The lead case applying the historic and ground-breaking NC Racial Justice Act (RJA) concluded today with a judicial finding of race discrimination in the operation of the death penalty in […]
The newly formed House Select Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy met for the second time in as many months on Wednesday, January 25, 2012. The focus of […]
The 2012 Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Assembly is this Saturday, February 11. We’ll gather at Shaw University in Raleigh starting at 9:30 and march to the Legislative […]
Governor Perdue has called on the General Assembly to restore three-quarters of a cent of sales tax which the General Assembly allowed to expire last year and to use the […]
Late this morning, Governor Bev Perdue vetoed the bill which would have gutted the Racial Justice Act (RJA). The RJA is a two-year-old law which allows defendants in death penalty […]
The General Assembly has returned for another mini-session, this one scheduled to last a couple of days. (The one in early November concerned itself with revising the newly re-drawn districts […]
The General Assembly met for three days last week in its second mini-session following adjournment of the regular long session. This session was supposed to be the “Constitutional Amendments Session,” but when the dust cleared, only one constitutional amendment had been approved – the one which defines marriage so as to exclude people who are gay or lesbian not only from marriage but also from civil unions or other similar committed relationships and which could also prevent local governments and even private companies from granting partner benefits to anyone not in a two-gender marriage
The General Assembly returned to Raleigh in July for what was, in reality, Round Two of its 2011 Long Session. The primary tasks were to take up overrides on bills Governor Perdue had vetoed and to adopt redistricting plans for U.S. Congressional districts and for the state House and Senate.
The 2011 session of the General Assembly adjourned around midday on Saturday, June 18. Legislative leaders and the media are trumpeting the efficiency of the session and the fact that this is the earliest adjournment since 1973. But that is misleading since they aren’t really finished with their work. The adjournment resolution calls them back into a special session on July 13. At that time, they will take up the thorny issue of redistricting as well as controversial bills from the just-ended session which remain in conference committees and any bills vetoed by the Governor.
The focus of this issue is a handful of the most important items currently under consideration at the General Assembly. These are issues that are under challenge by the current majorities in both houses.
The office of Rep. Garland Pierce, who is also a Baptist pastor, sent me the following message in italics about an opportunity to come to Raleigh and express your opposition […]
Rev. William Barber, president of the NC NAACP, organizer of the HKonJ movement (of which the NC Council of Churches is a partner), and pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church in […]
State Deadline Passes and Most New Bills Introduced
New Bills Edition: Attack on Workers Comp by New Bill H 709/S 544 misnamed Protect and Put NC Back to Work.
Budget Edition: Last week the chairs of the House Appropriations Subcommittees started revealing their plans for the 2011-13 budget. Not surprisingly, their plans differ in significant ways from the budget proposed by Governor Perdue. The most important difference is that the House leaders will not approve the continuation of any of the emergency tax increases enacted in 2009.
The drumbeat of bad bills continues. Suffice it to say that it’s a tough year for those of us who have advocated for public policy decisions promoting social justice, protecting vulnerable people, and caring for God’s creation. We can’t respond to every bad idea or bad bill. On many of these issues, we feel like we are butting our heads against a wall. Our tendency may be to throw up our hands in despair.
New bills on the budget, care of creation, criminal justice, election and campaign law, gambling, guns, health and health care, immigration, mental health, developmental disabilities, substance abuse services, public eduction, and taxes.
Governor Bev Perdue on Saturday vetoed H 2, the misnamed “Protect Health Care Freedom” bill. (It should be called the “Freedom to be Uninsured and Unable to Get Health Care” bill.) The bill was an attack on federal health care reform and purported to remove North Carolinians from the mandated purchase of health insurance, which is the basis of federal reform which will move millions of uninsured Americans into the ranks of the insured.
Health Benefit Exchange Bills Introduced; Other New Bills; Updates on already introduced bills.
Bills needing immediate attention; Updates on other bills; Information on contacting legislators.
The 2011 General Assembly convened Wednesday for its long session. The politics of this session will be unlike any we have ever known because Republicans are now in the majority in both the House and Senate, and the Governor – with a veto – is a Democrat. We’ve not been here before.
Also in this Raleigh Report: Photo ID to Vote, Health Care Reform, State Budget and more.
Yesterday was the deadline for Governor Perdue to sign or veto bills passed by the General Assembly in the last weeks of the session. Interestingly, yesterday she let a bill become law without her signature.
Also in this Raleigh Report: Domestic Violence, Environment, Gambling, and more.Unfortunately, the childhood obesity epidemic is drastically affecting North Carolina. In 2009, North Carolina ranked 14th worst in the nation in childhood overweight and obesity for children ages 10-17, with more than one-third (33.5%) of our children being overweight or obese.
Also in this Raleigh Report: Domestic Violence, Environment, Gambling, Health, Housing, People with Disabilities, Public Education, and more.
Let’s get one thing straight: there is no worthwhile distinction to be made between video poker, currently banned in North Carolina with one notable exception, and the electronic “sweepstakes” game parlors sweeping the state.
Long-time members of the Raleigh Report network will grieve with me the passing this week of Bertha “B.” Holt. From 1975 to 1994, B. represented Alamance County in the state House of Representatives. The Council recognized her service by presenting her with our Faith Active in Public Life Award in 1987, the second year it was given.
Here’s a quick update on the state budget process: the Senate passed its version of the budget on May 20, eight days after the summer session convened. The House finished its version on June 4. A Conference Committee is now putting together the final budget.
The summer’s “short session” of the North Carolina General Assembly convened on May 12, a continuation of the 2009 session. Its primary task will be to adjust the 2010-11 budget adopted last year, though it can also take up bills that made it through one house last year, bills coming from study commissions, and bills amending the state Constitution.
