On the agenda
This Sunday (1/14) I have a story about what’s on the honorables agenda this year. (Click here for the main bar of the story. It doesn't look like a graphic that ran with it got online. See the end of this post for that.) It runs down some of the things that our local (that’s local to Greensboro for new readers) honorables think will be important this year, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, a statewide smoking ban and providing health care to the uninsured.
Stories like these are frequently doomed to falling short since in a place like a state legislature, the agenda is so broad and set by so many folks that you’re sure to overlook something. For example, my story probably doesn’t pay enough attention to the environmental agenda and the steps the legislature might take to address global warming.
To balance out my effort, here are some other agenda stories from the Associated Press and News 14.
A few more thoughts on the upcoming session:
- Ethics is very much on the mind of the honorables as they begin 2007, much as it was when they ended 2006. Consider this from Rep. Pricey Harrison, who e-mailed a few days after I spoke to her for my story:
“I forgot to mention that i plan on working on legislation to tighten up restrictions on 527s. We worked on the issue some last session as part of the ethics reform legislation, but constitutional concerns kept us from passing a stronger bill. I think the fairjudges.net effort and the SBOE's refusal to grant rescue funds has some of us concerned about the potential for mischief unbridled 527s can create.”
I don’t know that it’s a big surprise that the legislature may find itself on an ethics kick again, but my eyebrow is raised.
At the end of last session, I had the sense that there was some ethics fatigue. The bills that did pass were hard to get done and caused a good deal of debate among the honorables, some of it embarrassing. None of the honorables seemed real eager to jump in that creek again, but they certainly seem to have their swim trunks on now.
- Update: The General Assembly will be getting lots of reports like this one from the Joint Legislative Commission on Land and Water Conservation. Thos reports from interim committees will put some issues front and center early on.
This land and water commission, for example, recommends the legislature spend money and offer tax breaks for conservation efforts.
- Also in the slightly surprising to see it so high on the agenda category, global climate change.
Last year, the committee studying climate change seemed to be spinning its wheels during the session. Now, they seem to have some traction as session is about to open in a few days.
It’s still possible, likely even, that solutions pushed by the committee will still have problems. There are a significant number of honorables of the GOP persuasion who don’t buy into the climate change arguments. That provides a baseline of opposition.
Next, some of what the climate change folks might recommend will cost real money. Maybe not “building a new stretch of I-40” expensive, but expensive. And this budget year might not be horrible, but it’s going to be tighter than last go around. So honorables competing for funds might not take kindly to whatever the recommendations are. That’s your potential secondary phalanx of opposition.
Put this in the category of robust debate rather than slam dunk to get something done.
- Immigration. This is a hangover from last year and from the lack of Congressional action. If Congress moves forward on that front, then this issue may get backburnered. If not, expect the Raleigh honorables to move forward, maybe something related to punishing employers for hiring illegal workers.
This figures heavily into the 2008 political matrix. Voters, particularly conservative-leaning ones, increasingly see it as an ongoing and unaddressed issue. Democratic leaders, even those not naturally inclined toward it, would have incentive to take up immigration to insulate themselves from criticism and win political points.
- It’s not on anyone’s announced agenda, but keep an eye out for a bill that would reauthorize something akin to payday lending.
- Keep an eye out for how and if the legislature reforms the rules by which the House and Senate operate, particularly with regard to the committee system and how much power is vested in the leaders of either chamber.
It’s possible, but not likely they could go as far as Rep. John Blust has recommended, or take some more intermediate steps. In an email that Ran Coble of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research sent out, he suggested four ethics-related measures that might be on the table. Here they are, with my comments following the "-":
- ban on special provisions in budget bills – this would be a hard pill for a lot of legislators to swallow. This “special provisions” are a way that legislators can demonstrate their influence and bring home the bacon to constituents. They gave it up last year, but will they give it up permanently? Good luck with that.
- 3 days to study state budget – passing the state budget is the legislature’s single most significant act every year. And, well, it spreads out $19 billion-plus to dozens of state agencies, departments and what not. So of course, the honorables have habitually given themselves as little time as possible to review the final House and Senate budgets as well as the conference budget every year. Having three days to review the thing would allow folks to read through it, offer amendments and rally support or opposition to certain provisions.
- no floaters who can vote on all committees – hey, I’m not elected, but this practice just seemed like cheating to me. Floaters come in handy to the leadership when a committee with jurisdiction over a bill isn’t keen on passing it or is a little too keen on passing it. Floaters can tip the balance whichever way the leadership wants.
- open budget meetings to public – Caution: sausage making in progress. Some of these meetings were open last year, more than in the past. But a lot of the nitty gritty deal making, especially on the final conference budget, happens behind closed doors. I know some folks who are of the opinion that the honorables couldn’t come to an agreement in public, that they just can’t be as blunt and say what needs to be said with folks looking on. There are others – and I’m philosophically much closer to this camp – that think if you’re dealing with public money and policy, most if not all secrecy in the process should be eliminated.
So what should be on the honorables’ agenda? As always, the comment link is open.
Update:A graphic that ran with the story did not publish online. It basically was a rundown of what Greensboro area honorables had on their personal agendas. Here's the text:
Some are modest in their scope, important to a limited audience. Others are more audacious, sweeping changes in state law. Call them pet projects if you will, but the things legislators have the most interest in have a way of getting done most often. One passionate advocate can make the difference between the light of day and the rubbish bin for a piece of legislation. So what do local legislators have at the tops of their to-do lists this year?
- Sen. Phil Berger Ethics: Berger wants to build on the ethics laws passed during the last session, adding a measure to regulate legal defense funds set up by elected officials.
- Sen. Stan Bingham
Malpractice insurance: Bingham would like to set up a state fund to pay malpractice insurance for doctors who volunteer in free clinics. - Sen. Katie Dorsett
Cervical cancer funding: Dorsett might file a bill to provide state funding for cervical cancer vaccinations, which protect against the human papilloma virus. - Sen. Kay Hagan
Financial literacy education: Hagan again wants to push for the state Board of Education to lay out a curriculum teaching financial literacy to high school students. - Rep. Alma Adams
Earned-income tax credit: Adams will push for a tax credit for certain low-wage workers. The credit would be based largely on the federal earned-income tax. - Rep. John Blust
Ethics and chamber rules: Blust wants to reintroduce reforms to limit power of the top House leaders. He wants more done to tighten campaign contribution rules for lobbyists. - Rep. Nelson Cole
Transportation: Cole says the state needs to find ways to repair and expand its highway system while encouraging the growth of mass transportation. - Rep. Pricey Harrison
Renewable energy: Harrison wants to renew a push for state buildings and vehicles to use renewable energy, such as solar power or biofuels. - Rep. Hugh Holliman
Smoking: Holliman plans to introduce a bill to ban smoking in all public places. That would include restaurants, government buildings and office spaces. - Rep. Maggie Jeffus
Community college funding: Jeffus will again push to use the taxes paid on lottery prizes to help fund community college equipment purchases. - Rep. Earl Jones
Stem cell research: Jones will propose a state stem cell research funding bill if federal legislation does not get completed this spring. - Rep. Laura Wiley
Stalking: Wiley has served with a committee working to clarify anti-stalking laws. That bill and ongoing changes to the state’s special education laws are at the top of her list.