WHAT HAPPENED: Things notched up a bit. The legislature made its own funding moves as the budget impasse held. A handful of bills progressed. The governor vetoed one dealing with immigration enforcement. Lawmakers discussed refunding surplus money to taxpayers. But it's still unclear when the 2019 session will close out.
WHAT IT MEANS: As reported by the Insider State Government News Service on Thursday, the General Assembly is expected next week to pass individual funding bills to move on expenditures, like state employee pay raises, that have been caught up in the state budget standoff between legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper, whose spokesperson criticized the piece-by-piece funding efforts as just a way to avoid negotiation.
ON TAP: Top lawmakers meanwhile have eyed the state's budget surplus with
a proposal to return it to taxpayers.
As discussed, the idea is to provide $680 million in refunds that would break down to $125 per taxpayer or $250 to couples filing jointly.
THE SKINNY: With the legislature in efforts to greenlight suspended expenditures, a wholesale agreement between the chambers and the governor seems no closer to reality. All in all, it was a fairly light week for cities and towns at the General Assembly, but read on for the highlights.
SB 315 North Carolina Farm Act of 2019, a large agricultural package with a hemp measure at law enforcement's attention, passed the House this week and has gone to the Senate for concurrence. Most legislative discussions of this bill have concerned a proposal to regulate hemp production and sales in the state through the implementation of a state hemp program. Debates and controversy centered around whether to define non-psychoactive smokable hemp as marijuana. The concern from law enforcement agencies and prosecutors is that smokable hemp looks and smells like marijuana, creating questions about probable cause searches and prosecutions. The latest version includes a provision to make smokable hemp illegal as of May 1, 2020. WRAL has further coverage.
The National League of Cities has opened the application process for leadership positions on its board of directors, committees, councils and constituency groups. "Serving in a leadership position as an NLC Board Member, Officer, Chair, or Member is one of the most rewarding ways for you as a municipal leader to bring your expertise to the service of cities, towns and villages at the national level," the organization says. "By representing your community and contributing your voice, you have the opportunity to impact the direction of the National League of Cities and even national policy." Information on available roles, eligibility and how to apply are on NLC's website.
Local governments around the U.S. and world are players in the climate-change dialogue. But, really, with it such a massive and intimidating issue, what can any individual town actually do? Plenty, it turns out, and a formal collaboration of North Carolina cities is out to show how. Municipal Equation, the League's podcast about cities and towns adapting in the face of change, has returned with a new episode examining how local governments in North Carolina are leading a charge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize other environmental impacts as part of a program called the Cities Initiative, which seeks to remove the barriers to sensible policies and practices. Turns out, a lot of these measures make economic sense, anyway. Listen now!
