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11 <br /> 1 NCACC began the process to develop its 2017-18 Legislative Goals Package in July <br /> 2 2016. As noted in Attachment 1, North Carolina counties have been asked to submit <br /> 3 proposed legislative goals for consideration for inclusion in the package, with a <br /> 4 submittal deadline of September 23, 2016. <br /> 5 <br /> 6 The County's Legislative Issues Work Group (LIWG), including Commissioners Penny <br /> 7 Rich and Mia Burroughs, County Attorney John Roberts, and County Manager's Office <br /> 8 staff, has recently met. The LIWG developed a draft resolution for Board consideration <br /> 9 that outlines several proposed legislative goals for inclusion in NCACC's 2017-18 <br /> 10 package. The LIWG's draft resolution is provided at Attachment 2. The Board will <br /> 11 likely want to discuss the draft resolution and possibly add to, delete from, and/or revise <br /> 12 the language of the proposed goals included in the draft. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 In an effort to assist the Board in considering possible goals to forward to NCACC, a <br /> 15 copy of Orange County's 2016 Resolution Regarding Legislative Matters (Statewide <br /> 16 Matters) is provided for reference purposes at Attachment 3. This Resolution was <br /> 17 approved by the Board on April 5, 2016 and presented to Orange County's Legislative <br /> 18 Delegation for the 2016 General Assembly Session. <br /> 19 <br /> 20 Commissioner Burroughs said the issues listed here are ones the Board has <br /> 21 seen before. She said a few have been updated, and the first two — Broadband and <br /> 22 Raise the Age - have moved to the top, given likely bipartisan support. <br /> 23 Commissioner Rich echoed Commissioner Burroughs comments, and thanked <br /> 24 staff for their support. <br /> 25 Commissioner Jacobs said this package was nicely done, and was updated by <br /> 26 the committee in a timely manner. <br /> 27 Commissioner Price referred to #4: Repeal of House Bill 2 and Expansion of <br /> 28 Protected Classes — Seek statewide legislative action to repeal House Bill 2 and <br /> 29 provide all North Carolina local governments with the authority to include sexual <br /> 30 orientation and gender identity as protected classes in order to protect these classes <br /> 31 from discrimination and discriminatory practices, and asked if this is to allow different <br /> 32 counties the option to consider these groups as protected classes. She asked if the <br /> 33 designation of a protected group applies across the board. <br /> 34 John Roberts said this is included in the hope that the state assembly will repeal <br /> 35 HB2, and if not, then to grant authority to local governments to include gender identity <br /> 36 and sexual orientation as their own protected classes. <br /> 37 Commissioner Dorosin said in attachment 4, NCACC's goals have 5 priorities, <br /> 38 and referred to #3 PE-4: Seek legislation to repeal the statutory authority under N.C. <br /> 39 G.S. 115C-431(c) that allows local school boards to file suit against a county board of <br /> 40 commissioners over county appropriations for education. He said he does not support <br /> 41 this goal, and school districts need to have tools to insure that children are able to <br /> 42 receive an education. <br /> 43 Commissioner Dorosin said to include language that specifically states that <br /> 44 Orange County does not support #3-PE-4. <br /> 45 Commissioner Dorosin said to add this as an additional item to the resolution. <br />