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Friday Fax – Legislative Update
Trick or Treat! I'll have gravy with my Thanksgiving turkey. Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..
Many long-time observers think one of the above may actually be happening when the North Carolina General Assembly finally leaves Raleigh for the year.
The patience of legislators, legislative staff and lobbyists is beginning to wane. The pace of work has slowed to a snail's pace while Budget negotiators continue to try and craft a spending plan for the 2005-2006 fiscal year that began July 1, 2005.
July 22, 2005
1) Methamphetamine Bill Heads to House Floor
2) Budget Talks Continue - An End in Sight? Part II
3) Wine Tasting Goes to Conference Committee
4) Sales Tax Holiday -Two Weeks Away
1) Methamphetamine Bill Heads to the House Floor -- On Tuesday afternoon, the House Judiciary IV Methamphetamine Committee approved a new version of Senate Bill 686 - Methamphetamine Lab Prevention Act. The new version was the result of numerous Subcommittee meetings. The House version of Senate Bill 686 seeks to find a middle ground between Senate Bill 686 and House Bill 1345. Senate Bill 686, sponsored by Senators Walter Dalton (D-Rutherford) and John Snow (D-Cherokee) would reclassify cold medicine as a Schedule V Controlled Substance thereby allowing these products to be sold only in a pharmacy from behind a pharmacy counter by a pharmacist. Senate Bill 686 is essentially the Attorney General's bill. House Bill 1345, sponsored by Representatives Phil Haire (D-Jackson) and Lorene Coates (D-Rowan) is less stringent and would require certain products to be placed behind a counter or in a locked case and would place sales limits on products containing pseudoephedrine in combination with other active ingredients.
As approved, all cold medicine containing any detectable amount of pseudoephedrine - including gel caps, liquids and pediatrics - would be placed behind a single counter by January 1, 2006. Retailers without a pharmacy would be required to purchase and use a video camera to capture sales transactions. Additionally, there would be numerous restrictions and duties placed on retailers as to how the products could be sold including restrictions on the number of packages that could be sold, training requirements, maintenance of a purchase log and potential criminal and civil liabilities for violating these provisions.
The House Judiciary IV Committee did include one new provision at the recommendation of NCRMA by amending the bill to deny bond to a person charged with manufacturing methamphetamine. The logic behind this amendment was that if meth cooks were not on the street they could not manufacture meth.
NCRMA made comments at the Committee hearing that it was vitally important that legislators balance allowing access to cold medicine for legitimate use by North Carolina's 8 million consumers with restricting access for the .1% of North Carolina's population that are using these products for illegal purposes. NCRMA also stated that retailers would have to make individual business decisions as to whether it was worth continuing to sell these products in light of the economic strain the legislation would place on retailers combined with potential criminal and civil liability.
The bill will now move to the House floor. Law enforcement and child advocacy groups are placing immense pressure on legislators to implement stringent restrictions on cold medicine. The bill will likely pass unanimously due to the political consequences of a "no" vote. It is anticipated that the Senate will not approve of the changes made by the House resulting in the bill going to a conference committee to iron out the differences. While retail has suffered a number of setbacks on this legislation we still have an opportunity to mold the legislation into something that will impose reasonable restrictions on access to cold medicine. Your NCRMA lobbyists have worked tirelessly on this issue and will continue to do so until the ink dries on the conference committee report.
2) Budget Talks Continue - An End in Sight? Part II -- On Tuesday, the House and Senate approved a second continuing resolution to keep North Carolina State Government operating. The Continuing Resolution also addressed many non-controversial education spending items. While everyone was pleased to see the operations of State Government continue many also were saddened to see one of the true pressure points of Budget negotiations removed from discussions. There is a thought that with education spending settled, the House and Senate will retreat to their respective corners until the newly enacted Continuing Resolution expires on August 5, 2005.
The House and the Senate have taken different views on the work of their respective bodies. The House has proceeded with Committee Hearings while Budget negotiations continue while the Senate for a third straight week did not have a single committee hearing. This has resulted in the Senate calendar being empty and Senate Leadership telling Senators that their presence was not necessary at Monday evening's session. NCRMA has three bills awaiting a committee hearing once Senate Committees start meeting again. With no House or Senate Republicans on the Budget Conference Committee, these legislators have been left to catch-up on constituent work and hope for a lobbyist visit every now and again.
Depending upon who you talk to "in-the-know" walking from one building to the next the Budget negotiations are going really well or the House and the Senate are miles apart. The story then changes again from the same people as you retrace your steps 30 minutes later. We told you earlier in the year that it could be a long, hot summer. There is now some thought that it could be a brisk and chilly fall before legislators - part-time legislators that they are - head home for the year.
3) Wine Tasting Goes to Conference Committee -- On Monday, the House voted not to concur with the Senate changes to House Bill 1500 - Wine Tasting Changes. This move was somewhat unexpected but based upon conversations should with House Leadership should not be viewed in a negative light. It is likely that the Conference Committee will make changes to another portion of this legislation that could potentially be beneficial to North Carolina 's wine industry.
To jog your memory, House Bill 1500, as introduced by Representatives Pryor Gibson (D-Anson) and Jim Harrell (D-Surry), would allow retailers to again conduct wine tastings in their stores. In October 2004 the ABC Commission issued a ruling that the industry standard that had been in place since 2001 was in violation of North Carolina law effectively leaving wine tasting stands in most grocery stores empty. NCRMA brought the wineries and wine wholesalers together with the retail community to craft a set of guidelines to govern this activity. These guidelines were then reviewed by the ABC Commission and eventually became House Bill 1500.
4) Sales Tax Holiday -Two Weeks Away -- North Carolina will again hold its Sales Tax Holiday. This year the dates are from August 5th - 7th, 2005. NCRMA has worked closely with the North Carolina Department of Revenue to prepare handy materials, including a poster containing a list of taxed and non-taxed items to place at your registers to help employees and customers identify tax-free items. Please call NCRMA at 1.800.662.7211 to obtain copies of these free-to-members posters to help ensure the weekend runs smoothly for your store, your employees and your customers.
‘TIL NEXT WEEK
Fran Preston
Andy Ellen
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