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Friday Fax – Legislative Update
For most lobbyists, legislative staff and legislators, the Wednesday afternoon House legislative session was sort of like walking down the stairs on Christmas morning only to find that all of your Christmas presents were gone. At 7:00 a.m. that morning the Senate had folded up their tent for the year, thrown the football around and said their goodbyes anticipating that the House would do likewise when they returned later in the day at 2:00 p.m. The House had recessed at 4:00 a.m. while the Senate worked all night until the sun rose. However, the House returned at 2:00 p.m. only to announce that the House would not be signing the adjournment resolution and would instead be in Raleigh next week to finish the "people's business."
Those that work on Jones Street had hurried home for a quick nap, a shower and a few cups of coffee in anticipation of finishing up the legislature for the year. There were some audible gasps when the announcement was made by Speaker Black, but we realized we must push on until the House is ready to leave. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight announced that the Senate would do no more business for the year and that the House could stay as long as they wanted.
As you will read below, a lot of positive things happened this week that were of great importance to NCRMA.
August 26, 2005
1) Votes Not There For Lottery
2) Methamphetamine Issue - One of the Last Issues Standing
3) Violent Video Game Bill Resurfaces
4) Pharmacy Bills Enacted
5) NCRMA Alcohol Initiatives Enacted
6) Identity Theft Measures Approved
7) Local Option Sales Tax
8) What's to Come?
1)Votes Not There for Lottery--Twenty-one Republican Senators combined with five Democrats to thwart Governor Michael F. Easley's major campaign platform of a statewide lottery. It was well into the wee hours of Wednesday morning when the Senate became resigned to the fact that none of the Republicans or the so-called "Lottery Five" would be switching their vote on the lottery. Senate Leaders had held out hope that someone would switch their vote or that two members would not be present in the Chamber when the vote occurred but their hopes did not come true. These 26 opponents of the lottery held tight to their positions despite heavy lobbying from the Governor and a radio campaign from the North Carolina Association of Educators.
Things got really interesting late Tuesday when lottery opponent John Garwood (R-Wilkes) was taken to the hospital and it was discovered that another opponent Senator Ham Horton (R-Wilkes) did not have an excused absence for Wednesday session technically negating his procedural move to "pair" his "No" vote with Senator David Hoyle's (D-Gaston)"Yes" vote for the lottery. This would have resulted in a 25-25 tie and allowed long-time Lottery proponent and 2008 Gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue (D) to cast the deciding vote as the presiding officer. However, in the interest of the Institution Senator Basnight declined to achieve a statewide lottery through this procedural mechanism.
With the legislature not technically adjourned, anything could certainly happen in the next week on this issue, but as we stated above, Senator Basnight has stated that the Senate is through with their work for the year and is reportedly looking forward to next May.
2) Methamphetamine Issue - One of the Last Issues Standing--Just as it has since January, the amount of restrictions that would be placed on cold medicines that can be used to make methamphetamines remained a hot topic issue this week. The Senate signed two Conference Reports and sent them to the House and as their last act before adjourning sent language contained in one of the Conference Reports to the House in a separate House Bill.
The major sticking point appears to be whether there should be any restrictions placed on gel caps, liquids and pediatric products containing pseudoephedrine. Even though none of these products has been found in a single methamphetamine lab busted in North Carolina , two Democratic House members of the Conference Committee continue to want to see these products highly regulated behind the counter with sales limits and a log and severe civil and criminal penalties for violations.
We have continued to meet with House and Senate Leadership to try and fashion a reasonable compromise in light of the media firestorm on this issue that is sweeping the nation. Where this works out could be determined by whether the Senate holds true to their work and does no more work until returning to for the Short Session in May.
3) Violent Video Game Bill Resurfaces--In a move that caught most by surprise, the House Rules Committee approved Senate Bill 2 - No Obscene/Violent Video Game Sales to Minors on Tuesday. The bill was introduced on the opening day of the legislative session by Senator Julia Boseman
(D-New Hanover) and passed in the Senate in early April despite the numerous constitutional issues with the bill. The bill had been sitting in the House Rules Committee since it was received by the House.
Once the bill was approved by the House Rules Committee, NCRMA went to work and was successful in convincing legislators that the bill needed to be sent back to a Judiciary Committee for scrutiny of constitutional issues especially in light of the fact that three federal courts have struck down similar bills in the past three years. Later in the day, the bill was referred to the House Judiciary II Committee where it will hopefully reside for the remainder of the year. If this is the case, we will then have a huge fight on our hands next session especially in light of the upcoming November elections.
In its current form, Senate Bill 2 would make it a criminal offense for a retailer to sell a graphically violent video game to someone under the age of 18. Additionally, it would be an unfair and deceptive trade practice for a retailer to sell a video game that was not accurately labeled with the contents of the game. Retailers would also be required to build a separate area where graphically violent video games would not be accessible to minors.
4) Pharmacy Bills Enacted--On Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning, the North Carolina General Assembly completed work on two bills of great interest to community pharmacy.
The Conference Report for House Bill 1493 - Pharmacy Quality Assurance Protection Act - as introduced by Representative Nelson Cole (D-Rockingham) was unanimously approved in both the House and the Senate early Wednesday morning. This legislation was an NCRMA initiative and would require pharmacies to create a pharmacy quality assurance program to reduce medication errors in North Carolina while providing some protection from discovery in civil and criminal actions. This legislation becomes effective January 1, 2006.
Late Tuesday evening, the House approved the changes made by the Senate to House Bill 1349 - Raise Ceiling on Board of Pharmacy Fees. This legislation was introduced by Representative Winkie Wilkins (D-Person) at the request of the Board of Pharmacy. After numerous months of discussions and negotiations, NCRMA was finally able to reach some resolution on how much the fee increase would be and the use of the additional revenues. This legislation becomes effective
September 1, 2005.
5) NCRMA Alcohol Initiatives Enacted--On Tuesday evening the House gave final approval to two issues of great importance to retailers selling wine. By a vote of 101-13, the Senate gave final approval to House Bill 1429 - Wine Shipper Fee - as introduced by Representatives Pryor Gibson
(D-Anson) and Jim Harrell (D-Surry). This legislation included a provision at the request of NCRMA which overturns the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission's ruling that wine wholesalers were required to charge retailers a fee to split a case of wine. The Commission's ruling would have potentially cost retailers and restaurants in excess of $20 million in fees. This legislation was a joint effort of NCRMA and the Wineries.
On Tuesday, the House adopted the Conference Report for House Bill 1500 - Wine Tasting Changes - as introduced by Representatives Pryor Gibson (D-Anson) and Jim Harrell (D-Surry) by a vote of 83-31. This legislation will allow retailers to again conduct wine tastings in their stores and was introduced in response to a ruling by the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission that retailers must perform every task of a wine tasting and that wine wholesalers and wineries could not participate in a wine tasting. NCRMA also had language inserted into House Bill 1500 that would allow retailers to rely on biometrics (fingerprints tied to an individual and their birth date) when carding purchasers of alcohol and tobacco.
Although not an NCRMA initiative, NCRMA worked very hard to improve House Bill 1174 so that the retail community could live with its restrictions in the future. On Tuesday, the House concurred with the Senate changes to House Bill 1174 - ABC Permit Issuance and Compliance - by a vote of 108-2. As introduced by Representative Deborah Ross (D-Wake) this legislation is intended to address some bad actor "shot houses" in a distressed and blighted area of Representative Ross's district. The legislation requires the ABC Commission to revoke an ABC permit if the permittee or his employee has been convicted of two or more instances of gambling, disorderly conduct, gambling, prostitution or drug dealing on the premises within 12 months. NCRMA worked very long and hard with Representative Ross to craft this bill to help address the problems in her district and hopefully take the pressure off to implement local control of alcohol permitting.
6) Identity Theft Measures Approved--Also on Tuesday, the House gave final approval to Senate Bill 1048 - Identity Theft Protection Act of 2005 as introduced by Senator Dan Clodfelter
(D-Mecklenburg). This legislation allows consumers to place a freeze on their individual credit reports and requires businesses and governments to dramatically increase the protections placed on the personal information of individuals including how to properly store and destroy this information and what actions must be taken in the case of a security breach of this information. Look for a detailed analysis on the requirements of this legislation coming soon.
7)Local Option Sales Tax--Despite Senate leaders' decision to wrap up legislative business for the year, the House continued work on a handful of bills that could give 48 counties the ability to raise sales taxes. The bills would require a favorable vote in an advisory referendum before allowing county commissioners to raise the sales tax another half penny. The money generated could only be spent on school and community college construction. House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, said the legislation would be voted on before the House adjourns. He said local officials are clamoring for additional money to meet the needs of a burgeoning population of school-age children. Some legislators said they see the House action as an attempt to placate county commissioners and possibly create more pressure for a lottery. So far, the bills have been sailing through the House. A bill giving Haywood County commissioners the right to hold one of the votes passed 87-29. Tentative votes on other bills have been 80-35 and 81-32.
8) What's to Come?--As we said in the heading, we had anticipated that the General Assembly would be wrapping up their business this week and we would be writing our last Friday Fax of the year to you today - the day after school starts in most of North Carolina and a week before Labor Day. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in sort of a "Legislative Twilight Zone." Speaker Black and the House remain adamant that they will stay in Raleigh until the middle of next week to finish the House's business while Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight has sent the Senate home for the year and remains adamant that they will do no more business this year other than passing the adjournment resolution.
There are still a few items of great interest to NCRMA that remain in legislative limbo including: methamphetamines, keg registration, violent video games, local option sales tax referendums for forty-eight counties and an increase in the minimum wage. Keg registration and minimum wage appear to be dead for the year but the General Assembly will address the methamphetamine issue before they leave Raleigh and will hopefully leave the video game bill right where it is until next May. There may not be enough legislative days left for the General Assembly to approve the local sales tax referendums. Again, it all depends on whether the Senate is truly done with their work for the year. Regardless, NCRMA will be there next week protecting your interests as we hopefully wrap up for good until May 9, 2006.
‘TIL NEXT WEEK
Fran Preston
Andy Ellen
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