NC Legislative Update
By Cady Thomas
Activity Updates
Last week the House Committee appointments were made, and a number of Democrats were given chairmanships to various committees. Many speculate, like in this article, the appointments are a strategic move because the House Republican Leadership is one vote shy of the supermajority and will need at least one Democrat to vote with them on any veto overrides.
NCDOT Transportation Summit
The N.C. Department of Transportation’s annual summit was held last week and Gov. Cooper focused on electric vehicles and the federal infrastructure money coming to NC for high-speed rail between Raleigh and Richmond, VA and the funds to replace the Alligator River Bridge on US 64.
Bills and Legislation
Lien Agent
I am meeting with Representative Dean Arp this week to discuss changes to the Lien Agent Law to ensure our members get paid for their work. More updates will be provided as we proceed.
C-PACE
A bill was introduced this week. SB 42 authorizes Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing for commercial property owners to make energy efficiency upgrades to property and have the repayment made through property tax assessments over time.
Election News
The current NC Attorney General, Josh Stein, announced he will run for governor in 2024. Current Governor Cooper is term-limited and cannot run again in 2024.
While they have not announced, current Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and Current Treasurer Dale Folwell could be candidates in the Republican primary for Governor.
Declared Candidates
With Commissioner of Labor Josh Dobson’s announcement, he is not running again, both Representative Ben Moss and Representative Jon Hardister have thrown their hat in the ring.
In anticipation of Lt. Governor Mark Robinson running for governor, Hal Weatherman has announced he is running on the Republican ticket and Former Rep. Raymond Smith, former Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey and Delmonte Crawford have announced their run on the Democrat ticket.
Read Politico’s take on NC’s swing state status.
Other Important Items
NCDOT Spending
NC Treasurer Dale Folwell announced that the NCDOT repaid all of the loans taken from the Highway Trust Fund by December 31, 2022. “The early repayment of the loans to the Highway Trust Fund is a tribute to the leadership of Secretary Boyette and the professionalism of his staff,” Folwell said. “The turnaround from the previous administration is quite welcome.”
The NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency has a new person leading the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Richard Trumper joined as Senior Advisor for Disaster Recovery last week. Trumper was the executive director of disaster recovery with the Office of State Budget and Management.
COVID
Numbers as of January 25, 2023
- 3,412,543 total cases
- 28,040 deaths
- 1,114 people – 7-day average of those hospitalized
- 74% of adult population fully vaccinated, 63% of total population fully vaccinated
