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The Nortll Carolina League of Miuucipalities Page 1 of 16 ~~ ~~_~_ ~,riti _C~~~~ d,~~ a~~ , a ti= t`i;~'; ;,_,~, ~~r ~~'~`i,~_-1~~._ ,~.~~.`i i_.,1 ,~-i~ ,E~.~,~ _t~. _ _. ~' ?.~~"_ I~n~j7':7 ~ li,~'~7~uIJi?~'~7~ '~7 '7 U~a~l~~.`~i~ ~~.~~~i~r l ,ta,~ '.{:,i:~ ~I'~ r:rIJ~.1r~_,: !~_`l!~7~i;rt,_ -- _ _ _ QveFVi~w ~~ Legal~~Advc~ca~;y ~ lntargovernlnental ~~ ~nvironmear~+l ~~ [nsurance ~~ [nd'svitlual ~~ q NORTH CAROLINA LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALffIES y :, } ~} ELECTRONIC EDITION NC GENE.R.AL ASSEMBLY Bulletin #29 August 24, 2007 ~~ ~ei'>oei'af ASSC,1'1~1~f,/ ACO~®l,ll'1'1S Legislative Wrap-Up The General Assembly adjourned its 2007 Regular Session on Thursday, August 2. In the final few days of the session, the legislature passed Medicaid relief for counties, restored municipal growth to the "sales tax swap" in the budget, enacted new landfill regulations with accompanying statewide tip fee, and passed new rules on interbasin transfers. When the dust settled, there were some disappointments, but the League had also accomplished several of its major legislative priorities for the session. Of particular note are new authority for cities and towns to deal with substandard nonresidential buildings and new authority to set up special trusts to handle non- pension benefits for municipal retirees, acost-savings measure. Over 3,600 bills were introduced during the 2007 session-a record number. The League monitored over 1,100 of them and fought many battles to preserve municipal revenues and authority. We were successful in avoiding a number of bad bills during the session and were involved in improving many others. We very much appreciate the hard work of our legislators, and we thank the many members of the General Assembly who supported the municipal position on bills and worked with us in various ways. We express our thanks as well to the leaders of the two bodies, House Speaker Joe Haclrney and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, and the members of their staffs, for their many courtesies during the session. We also appreciate the willingness of other members of the House and Senate leadership to work with us on municipal issues. It would be impossible to list the many members of the House and Senate that worked with us during the legislative session but we have attempted below to give special recognition to those who sponsored or provided special assistance on legislation of interest to municipalities. The following are highlights of the state budget and of actions taken on priority municipal issues by category. If you need a copy of these or any other bills, please contact the Legislative Printed Bills Office at 919-733-5648 or the League office. Remember that bills and legislative calendars are available on the internet at http://wtivw.ncleg.net. Please feel free to contact the League staff if you have any particular interest or concern regarding-any piece of legislation. Note on Status of Legislation Throughout this Legislative Bzdletin, legislation that has become law is delineated with its session law chapter number after the bill title (e.g. SL 2007-1). Even though these acts have become law, some have delayed effective. dates, so always check the legislation itself. Some bills mentioned below were ratified by the House and Senate but have not yet become law. Bills are presented to the Governor on the day following ratification for approval or veto. During the session, if the Governor signs the bill or takes no action on it within 10 days after presentation, the bill becomes law. http://www.nchn.org/LegaUBulletin/2007/08-24-07.htln 8/28/2007