By: Rep. Brenden Jones
Last week was a busy week in the General Assembly. Below is a summary of key bills I introduced or sponsored, key actions taken by committees on which I serve, and key House votes.
Key Bills Sponsored / Introduced
HB180: National Guard Reemployment Rights/Arbitration
HB184: Certain Town/Sewer Fee Collections
Key Committee Actions
Transportation Committee: HB81: STI/Regional & Division Weighting
Judiciary II Committee: HB65: Require Active Time Felony Death MV/Boat
Key House Votes
HB5: Unemployment Insurance Technical Changes
HB14: Community College Boards of Trustees
HB97: Arts Education Requirement
Tuesday was a busy day for committee meetings, beginning with the first official meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Caucus at 7:30 am. The purpose of the caucus is to help grow the agriculture community and support rural communities across the State.
This was immediately followed by the Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety Committee, which met at 8:30 am Tuesday. Various government officials gave presentations on the JPS budget, such as prisons, their costs, capacity, etc.
The Transportation Committee met at 11:00 a.m. The following bills were considered:
HB 81: STI/Regional & Division Weighting
HB 92: Blue Ribbon Committee / Transportation Funding
HB 95: GTP Truck Deliveries to Port/Night Travel
The Judiciary II Committee met at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The following bills were considered:
HB65: Require Active Time Felony Death MV/Boat
HB98: Criminal Offense/Vandalize Fire and EMS Equipment
During session Tuesday, we took up HB5, entitled Unemployment Insurance Technical Changes. It was simply an act that made technical, administrative and clarifying changes to the unemployment insurance laws.
On Wednesday, I was visited by individuals from the Coastal Carolinas Health Reliance, which serves portions of Columbus and Bladen counties.
During session Wednesday, we took up various technical and modification bills, including but not limited to:
HB14, which modifies the appointment methods of certain community college boards of trustees
HB92 which is an act to establish the Blue Ribbon Committee on transportation infrastructure funding, as recommended by the House Select Committee on Strategic Transportation Planning and Long Term Funding Solutions.
After brief meetings in my office Thursday morning I headed to the Appropriations Committee, where the Governor’s Budget Director presented the Governor’s proposed 2017-2019 budget. Following this, session was held and we concluded business on a number of bills, including HB12 and HB98.
North Carolina’s Business Ranking on the Rise:Thanks to common-sense, pro-growth tax reforms – reforms which included reductions to both the corporate and individual tax rates – the nonpartisan Tax Foundation recently moved North Carolina’s tax climate up to the 11th most competitive in the nation. This is a remarkable leap for our state, as we previously fell in at a dismal 44th in tax competitiveness. Now, North Carolina offers the lowest corporate rate in the nation among states which levy one, enabling our job creators to do what they do best – create more jobs.
North Carolina investors – and newly implemented laws that have boosted intellectual property protections for in-state companies — were major factors in the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s decision to rank North Carolina as a top-10 state for both high tech performance and entrepreneurship and innovation in 2016.
Forbes awarded North Carolina the distinction as the #2 “Best State for Business.” And in 2016, we appeared in the top-five of two other influential lists of the best places in the nation to do business: CNBC’s “Top States for Business” and Chief Executive’s “Best States for Business” surveys.
About Author
