Local bills and proposals to amend the North Carolina Constitution dominated the action at the General Assembly this week, with lawmakers mostly done with statewide legislation. Among local bills,
SB 813 Asheville City Council Districts appears to be advancing. The bill would change the system of electing city council members in Asheville from an at-large system to a district-based system of representation with one at-large seat. The Asheville City Council has historically opposed a shift to a district-based system. City voters also rejected the idea in a referendum. The
Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper reports that
Sen. Terry Van Duyn, who represents part of the city, could lend support to the proposal if the Senate adopts an amendment she's putting forth to move those council elections to even-numbered years. Senator Van Duyn has remarked that it would improve the bill, partly in giving the public more time to understand the change, as the proposal had originally eyed the 2019 elections. No one spoke in opposition to the bill before it passed the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday. The Rules Committee is the Senate's customary stop before bills can make it to the floor for votes. In other local bills, a number of annexation matters and charter amendments progressed, including a positive outcome for Wesley Chapel in
a bill that, in a prior form opposed by local officials, would have deannexed property from the town. The town, which communicated its concerns with its legislators, is not mentioned in the latest version of the bill, currently on the House calendar for Monday.
A bill to deannex portions of Stanly County towns, including a substantial part of Badin's population with opposition from the town's government, was removed from the House calendar at the request its author,
Rep. Justin Burr, on Wednesday. That bill may reappear next week.
Constitutional amendment proposals also gained attention this week. Like local bills, they can be approved by the legislature without a stop at the governor's desk. Amendment ideas include a cap on the income tax rate (
SB 75 Max. Income Tax Rate of 5.5%), which in effect could limit state government's revenue and shift the burden of paying for various public needs. Other constitutional amendment proposals, which would require the approval of the state's electorate, concern crime victims' rights in the legal process (
HB 551 Marsy's Law, similar to a law on the books in other states) and a constitutional right to hunt and fish (
SB 677 Protect Right to Hunt and Fish).
Some legislatively approved bills are getting the
governor's veto stamp, and he's outlined his objections to those proposals in
public statements. The legislature, however, can override any of the governor's vetoes per its supermajority and has put many vetoed bills, including the state budget, into law.