Agenda - 03-07-2017 - 5-a - Orange County's Proposed 2017 Legislative Agenda

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2 After conducting and closing this public hearing, the Board will likely want to review and discuss the LIWG's proposed 2017 legislative package items and any other items as may be addressed during the public hearing. The Board will then need to consider both legislative matters resolutions based on the public hearing and Board discussion. The first proposed legislative matters resolution (Attachment 2) addresses a broad range of statewide issues. A number of the items in this resolution are continued forward from the Board's 2016 legislative package resolution. The resolution also includes new items not detailed in the 2016 resolution, specifically Item #21 as well as Items 32 through 41. The second legislative matters resolution (Attachment 3) concerns a request for the introduction of a local bill to prohibit hunting while subject to an impairing substance. Following consideration of the resolutions, and in preparation for its March 27, 2017 breakfast meeting with Orange County's legislative delegation, the Board may want to consider identifying three to five specific items from the entire package to highlight for priority discussion. The work of the Legislative Issues Work Group to this point is based on the current information available for the 2017 General Assembly Session. The issues addressed by the Group may evolve and change over the session and require additional attention by the Group and Board of Commissioners. New issues may also arise necessitating additional review. For reference purposes only, staff has provided the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) 2017-18 Adopted Legislative Goals (Attachment 4) which were adopted by NCACC in mid-January 2017. Some of the items in the legislative matters resolution regarding statewide issues (Attachment 2) generally coincide with NCACC's goals and those items are noted in the resolution accordingly. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with holding a public hearing other than the newspaper advertisement costs which were included in the approved FY 2016-17 budget. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated with conducting the public hearing and approving the 2017 legislative package. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board: 1) Conduct a public hearing on Orange County's potential legislative items for the 2017 North Carolina General Assembly Session; 2) Close the public hearing and review and discuss the Legislative Issues Work Group's (LIWG) proposed 2017 legislative package and any other potential items for inclusion in Orange County's legislative agenda package for the 2017 North Carolina General Assembly Session; 3) Approve the proposed legislative matters resolution on Statewide Issues; 4) Approve the legislative matters resolution hunting while subject to an impairing substance; and 5) Consider identifying three to five specific items from the entire package to highlight for priority discussion at the March 27, 2017 breakfast meeting with Orange County's legislative delegation. Pending action by the Board, staff will work with the Chair to draft a cover letter for the materials to be presented to the legislative delegation. Staff will also compile a one page synopsis highlighting the three to five specific items identified by the Board.