Courts and Justice
NEWS & OBSERVER: House Overrides Governor's Veto of Marriage
Bill
It took only minutes Thursday for the state House to
override a veto by Gov. Pat McCrory and immediately enact a new law
that allows certain county officials to avoid same-sex marriage
duties if they invoke "any sincerely held religious
objection."
NEWS & OBSERVER: NC Supreme Court Declines to Take Up NC Ultrasound
Law
The U.S. Supreme Court will not review the ruling that struck down
North Carolina's 2011 ultrasound law.
WILMINGTON STAR NEWS: School Voucher Program on Hold for NC Supreme
Court
A state program that uses taxpayer money to pay student tuition at
private and religious schools is headed for uncertainty for the
second straight year as a North Carolina judge grapples with
whether it's constitutional.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Healthcare Ruling Could Rock the Carolinas or Blow
Over
Within the next 15 days, almost 460,000 North Carolinians
will learn whether they get to keep the federal subsidies that help
them pay for health insurance.
NEWS & OBSERVER: PETA Sues Over Newest Possum Drop
Bill
As expected, PETA has sued to stop a new law meant to allow a
general story owner in western North Carolina from lowering to the
ground an opossum on New Year's Eve.
Economy and Economic Development
WRAL: Surging Dollar to Blame for 'Blip' in
Carolina Comeback
Numbers out this week from the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Bureau of Economic Analysis paint a less rosy picture for the
Carolina Comeback.
NEWS & OBSERVER: Volvo Looked at Three NC Sites for Plant, Sought
Incentives
Volvo considered three North Carolina sites and sought
state incentives for an auto manufacturing plant it now plans to
build in South Carolina, according to N.C. Department of Commerce
records released Friday.
Elections
WRAL: Ex-Senate Candidate Grant runs for NC Insurance
Commissioner
Heather Grant of Wilkes County announced her bid last
Friday to seek the Republican Party's nomination for the
job.
FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER: Retiring Rep. Rick Glazier Draws Praise from NC
Lawmakers
When Democratic state Rep. Rick Glazier of Fayetteville retires
from office this summer, North Carolina will lose a thoughtful,
pragmatic lawmaker who earned the respect of Democrats and
Republicans during his nearly 13 years in the General Assembly,
lawmakers of both parties said last week.
WRAL: Retention Elections for Judges Among 12 Bills
Signed into Law
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has signed a bill offering a new
way for voters to decide whether to keep a state Supreme Court
justice on the bench.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: Main Street Democrats Look to the Middle for
'Pro-Business' NC Voters
With their party on the wrong side of Republican super-majorities
in the General Assembly, growing numbers of Democrats are looking
for relevance and success in the center.
Healthcare
WILMINGTON STAR NEWS: NC Lawmakers Near Familiar Impasse on
Medicaid
NC House and Senate members are nearing the same impasse they
reached a year ago on the best way to overhaul how the state
Medicaid program pays to treat its 1.8 million patients.
NEWS & OBSERVER: Medicaid Payments Will Cost State 9.7
Million
It will cost the state $9.7 million, at most, to help make overdue
payments to 2,500 health care providers who have treated poor,
elderly people on Medicaid.
WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL: House Panel Ok's Warning Labels on Liquids
Used with E-Cigs
Legislation has cleared a second House step to mandate
child-resistant packaging and warning labels on liquids used with
electronic cigarettes and vaporizers.
Regulatory Reform
WRAL: Zoning Limits Heads to Governor's
Desk
A proposal to limit local design and appearance rules for
single-family homes is on its way to Gov. Pat McCrory after winning
final approval in the state House last week.
NEWS & OBSERVER: Vote on NC House Gun Bill
Delayed
What is turning out to be one of the session's more
controversial bills – a proposal to loosen gun laws –
was expected to be approved by the full House after extensive
debate last week, but it was pulled at the last minute.
WRAL: Deer Farming Bill Herded Through
Committee
House leaders are pushing ahead on a bill that would allow the
expansion of deer farming in North Carolina.
Senate Bill 513, the Farm Act of 2015, is a smorgasbord of provisions, ranging from taxes on horse feed to tax policy for immigrant farmworkers to allowing farmers to burn agriculture polyurethane rather than recycling it.
WRAL: Business Registration, Legal Notice Bills too Hot
for NC Senate Committee
A bill that would raise a new fee on virtually all businesses in
the state and another measure that would change how local
governments advertise meetings were withdrawn from consideration
after rolling out in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday
afternoon.
NEWS & OBSERVER: Senate Bill Aims at Bike Lanes, Stream
Buffers
The Senate gave preliminary approval Thursday to
regulatory changes that would free landowners in parts of Eastern
North Carolina to scrape away shoreline vegetative buffers that
reduce pollution in rivers and sounds.
State Budget
NEWS & OBSERVER: NC Senate Republicans Want Budget Plan Approved
This Week
Several budget subcommittees will meet Monday afternoon to unveil
key portions of the Senate proposal. Chamber leaders want the
measure approved by the full appropriations committee Tuesday.
NEWS & OBSERVER: NC Senate Plan Would Add Sales Tax to Services,
Shift Revenue
N.C. Senate Republicans have stuffed a House economic development
bill with 46 pages of their own proposals – including lower
personal income tax rates, a change in corporate taxes and a new
formula for distributing sales tax revenues among counties.
Transportation
MORGANTON NEWS HERALD: Bill Would Require Moped Owners to Have
Insurance
A proposed bill that would require moped owners to get
liability insurance is scheduled for a second reading vote in the
state Senate on Monday.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: NC House Panel Endorses Immigrant Driving Permits
to 'Document the Undocumented'
The House Finance Committee approved a bill last week
that would allow the state to grant driving permits to North
Carolina residents who are in the state illegally.
NEWS & OBSERVER: NCDOT Lets Residents Get New Driver's License
Online
The state Division of Motor Vehicles quietly added the
license renewal option to its website (ncdot.gov/dmv/online) last
week.
TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL: NC Senate Bill to Regulate Ride-Sharing Services
Changed After RDU Criticism
Silicon Valley app-based Uber – a startup that connects
would-be riders with drivers, drivers who often use the platform to
make extra cash in their spare time – isn't sitting idly
as North Carolina legislators discusses insurance requirements for
smartphone-based transportation services.
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