The Republican majority in the state legislature wasted no time in passing a hotly debated bill this week that would transfer economic development funds, money from various Trust Funds and other unused pots of money to the General Fund to reduce the current fiscal year’s budget. Senate Bill 13 – on its way now to Gov. Bev Perdue – also grants the governor authority to hold back an additional $400 million from state agencies. The bill passed with 66 votes, but needs 72 to survive a veto from the governor should she decide to use one. The bill DOES NOT take any money from transportation funds. At the same time, the city annexation issue is at a fever pitch with angry constituents roaming the halls and crowding the committee rooms. Thursday was downright scary!
There are two bills we are following closely. House Bill 45 – Accelerated Cleanup of Industrial Sites – would allow risk-based remediation on the clean up of contaminated sites. In other words, every site would not have to be remediated to the same standards and the level of clean up could be based on planned future use of the property and the real likelihood ( or lack thereof) of danger to the public. This legislation may be of assistance to our industry and we are working to ensure that our interests are covered in this bill. House Bill 45 was heard in the House Environment Committee Thursday and a vote is planned for their next meeting.
House Bill 36 – Public Contracts/Illegal Immigrants – would require contractors doing work for any public body to certify the legal status of each employee who works on a public project and to use the Federal E-Verify Program to confirm such status. In addition, the bill states that the contractor “shall not enter into a contract with a subcontractor who fails to certify to the contractor that the subcontractor shall not knowingly employ or contract with an illegal immigrant to perform work under the contract.” False certification would be a felony and a violation of the law would render a contract void. Violation would also result in the contractor being prohibited from bidding on any State/public work for one year. Tuesday there is a meeting of interested parties to plan a strategy on working this legislation. Among those attending will be the AGC, CAPA, Concrete folks, NC Chamber, and more.
While many CAPA members use E-Verify, it is not a perfect program and mistakes can occur. We must be sure that any legislation ensures safe harbor for a contractor who has followed the process. I also have a lot of concern about getting certain sub-contractors to certify that all their employees are legal. We are trying to work with the bill sponsors to make some changes in the language. As with most proposed immigration legislation, this bill puts all the burden and enforcement on the contractor.
The Transportation Appropriations Sub-Committees in the House and Senate continue to meet jointly Tuesday through Thursday as they hear from legislative staff and NCDOT on all aspects of transportation funding and DOT operation. Tuesday the agenda will include presentations on construction and maintenance. They have a very ambitious schedule for completion of their work and passage of a final budget in June.
I am spending much of each day meeting with the committee chairs and each committee member, and trying to meet all the new freshmen legislators. There are hundreds more lobbyists who are doing the same thing, so getting face time is not easy and requires persistence. With everyone I meet I have one message: I’m here to protect North Carolina jobs. Please keep that as your number one talking point.