Post-Super Bowl Legislative Update 2/6/15
By Unknown
Welcome to your Post-Super Bowl
Legislative Update --
PS This new larger font is sponsored by Womble Partner Chris Geis.
Your Womble Carlyle Government
Affairs Team Member, Angel, is just happy that the Carolina Panthers are
back in the running! Now that the Super Bowl is over, professional
football is starting anew. So it is in Raleigh with the 2015 Legislative
Session officially underway! This week new committee chairs got trained
to run committees, members started drafting and filing bills, and each chamber
dipped its toe in the water and acted on legislation; the Governor delivered
his biennial State of the State Address to a Joint Session of the General
Assembly in all its finery; and there are new velvet ropes and rules
restricting access to the House and Senate chambers….
Give us a call if you or your
client has a question. Although time is marching on it’s never too late
for a legislative game-changer -- even at first and goal on the 1 yard
line a pass can be intercepted.
Wishing you a weekend of big
horses, cute puppies, ____ cowboys and cold beverages.
PS This new larger font is sponsored by Womble Partner Chris Geis.
PPS Laura was for the Patriots
all along.
Typically the legislative session starts
off slowly with the members, staff and public getting their sea legs. For
example Angel and Laura have been showing new members how to navigate the
legislative complex. This year is no exception with little official
legislative action and lots of activity around the margins. Things will start
hopping soon enough!
State of the State Address
Each biennium, the Governor addresses a joint session of the
General Assembly along with the Supreme Court, the Council of State and his
Cabinet. The purpose is to discuss the current state of our state as well as
highlight his plans for budget initiatives and more for the coming
legislative session. In the State of the State address on Wednesday night,
Governor McCrory highlighted the falling unemployment rate and new jobs,
vowed to raise teacher base pay to $35,000, asked the legislature to provide
funding for economic incentives including the historic tax credit, and
pledged to work with lawmakers to find new funding sources for road
construction and maintenance. He also asked the legislature to consider two
bonds costing around $2.4 million for roads and state buildings. He managed
to rub a little bit of salt into the wounds of Seattle Seahawks fans while
encouraging legislators to pass Medicaid reform this year saying, “Let’s not
take another pass this year. Let’s run it up the middle and win a victory for
families across North Carolina.” He had to stop for applause. We were
interested to then see the Governor depart slightly from a normal
gubernatorial agenda to continue to press for reforms for “puppy mills” – an
issue near and dear to Mrs. McCrory. Stay out of the dog house, Governor.
Constitutional Amendment
Civics Note: **A constitutional amendment must pass with
three-fifths of the House and three-fifths of the Senate approving. In the
House that’s 72 votes (regardless of attendance) and 30 votes in the Senate.
This differs from a vote to override the Governor’s veto, which requires only
three-fifths of the members present and voting, which can be a very different
number.
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