Along
with the quickened end-of-session pace of this legislative week, lawmakers took
up numerous COVID-19 response bills, many of which affected cities.
Emergency declarations. No local declaration of emergency
would take effect until it had been published on the local government’s website
and submitted to the N.C. Department of Public Safety’s WebEOC critical
incident management system. This new requirement would come under a provision
included in
HB 374 Regulatory
Reform Act of 2020 (Section 20). It came at the request of the N.C.
Retail Merchants Association, which had long pushed for a centralized database
of local declarations of states of emergency. Though the House advanced this
bill through several committees this week, it still faces additional House
committee and full chamber consideration before heading to the Senate.
Budget bills. Both chambers continued to
consider bills this week that would spend down the remaining $2 billion in
previously unappropriated federal funding from the CARES Act. (Cities have
requested direct allocation of a separate pot of CARES Act funding, as detailed
elsewhere in this Bulletin.) Notably for cities, the House held a
discussion-only hearing of
HB 1200
Foreclosure Prev.Grants/Rental & Utility Asst Tuesday. This
bill, supported by NCLM and numerous other stakeholder groups, would
appropriate $200 million for assistance to qualifying renters, homeowners, and
utility customers so they can pay their bills. Action on
another CARES Act
appropriations bill detoured yesterday when the full House voted to
send the bill back to committee, with instructions to consider adding two items
that would amount to unfunded mandates on local government employers: a
firefighters special separation allowance and automatic worker’s compensation
coverage for employees that contracted COVID-19. The League is closely
following this development.
Legal immunity. All N.C. private businesses and
units of government would receive immunity from lawsuits alleging an act or
omission that led to contraction of COVID-19 under
HB 118 COVID-19
Liab. Safe Harbor. The immunity would not apply in instances of
gross negligence, willful or wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing. The
bill, backed by numerous interest groups, passed the Senate this week and awaits
House consideration.
Reopening orders. Both legislative chambers
continued their line of bills this week to override state and local
declarations of emergency related to the terms of how businesses must operate
during the pandemic. Building on prior bills that would allow all restaurants,
bars, and gyms to reopen in accordance with certain operational regulations,
legislators this week took up similar bills to allow the reopening of skating
rinks and bowling alleys (
SB 599 Open
Skating Rinks/Bowling Alleys); amusement parks, water parks, and
event centers (
SB 258 Open
Amusement Parks/Arcades/Venues); and privately-organized
Independence Day celebrations and fireworks displays (
HB 686 Freedom to
Celebrate the Fourth of July). Gov. Roy Cooper signaled his
intention to veto bills of this type, telling the Raleigh News & Observer
yesterday, “I have concerns about these legislative mandates. It’s pretty easy
to vote for a bill that lifts restrictions when you don’t have to deal with the
consequences.”