Minutes 04-19-2021 Virtual Legislative Breakfast Meeting

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Chair Price said she did not vote for it so someone else would have to speak on it. Commissioner McKee said he does not think it is a bad idea, but the question would be how many terms. Senator Foushee said she is not opposed to it, just thought it was interesting. Chair Price said she knows in other states there are term limits, but she did not want to let the Representatives from Orange County go. Representative Insko clarified that the issue mentioned leadership positions, which would apply to Representative Moore. Commissioner Greene said she wanted to mention an issue that came up at the Transit Policy Advisory Committee last week. She said the state maintenance assistance program and rural operating program money has be en eliminated. She said the impact of that in the current year was $6 million to Chapel Hill and Durham. She said the money is vital and ends up having to be replaced through limited capital budgets. She said she has a statement calling for the General Assembly to fully restore the public transportation budget in those two funds. She said she would appreciate any comments. Representative Meyer said the transit folks have been in touch since it happened. He said this will be revisited during this year's budget discussion. He said he is unsure if the Governor's budget team is proposing to address this through ARP funds or state funds. He said it would be better for it to be funded with state funds because it can go back to recurring funding. Senator Foushee said Senator Murdock is working on this on the Senate side. Commissioner Bedford asked if there would be any work across the aisle in developing the budget, or if Democrats would be shut out after Governor proposes the budget and the school increases. Senator Foushee said there is already some change, but she is not sure how effective it is going to be. She said she represents the Senate Democratic Caucus in the budget discussions, and Representative Adcock was also part of initial discussions. She said she has been invited to several of those meetings. She said even though there is a Representative and herself in those discussions, she thinks the way Senator Berger is framing how the process moves forward, particularly with a cap on what the spend number will be, what will be considered for recurring or one time funding through ARP allocations, there is going to be a trick some way where the discussions will only go so far. She said she hates to be pessimistic, but is leery about what influence Democrats will have, and the process being any different than it has been before. Representative Insko said the Democrats are getting public overtures, but in private will have no impact on the budget. She said there does seem to be in an interest in a public collaboration, but it will be a miss when it comes to the money. Representative Meyer said in the end it will be Senator Berger and Governor Cooper. Senator Foushee said Speaker Moore and Senator Berger want a budget that the Governor will sign. Representative Insko said she thinks they want a budget they can run on in 2022. Senator Foushee said the Governor not signing the budget would mean the legislature has failed to do its duty. She said she believes the Senate Democrats will sustain a veto if they believe it is in the best interest of the state, and Senator Berger knows that. She said she believes they want a budget that the Governor will sign and believes the Senate will work towards that effort. Chair Price brought attention to issue #52 on evictions, which came from the Department of Human Rights and Relations. She said this asks the Representatives and Senator to support legislation that would remove an eviction from a tenant's credit record because it tends to follow them. She said even during the pandemic, when a lot of work has