20 bills remain; next actions posted 3 pm Saturday

As of 2 p.m. Friday, August 31, 2007, 20 bills remain on the Governor’s desk for action by the midnight Saturday deadline.  Any bills not signed or vetoed by then become law Sunday, September 2, 2007. We plan to process Saturday and Sunday the last days of bill signings.  Any bills signed Friday evening will be posted on this site around 3 pm on Saturday. Any bills that might become law without the Governor’s signature might not be processed until after the Labor Day holiday, however.

Our “pending on the Governor’s desk link” might still show those 20 bills until Tuesday, but the “laws enacted in 2007” link will update as soon as the bills are processed here.

The current list of bills pending appears after the jump:

day 29: 14 bills signed

14 bills were signed by Governor Easley Friday, August 31, 2007, day 29 of 30 days post-session for the Governor to act on bills:

2007-518	H820	Amend Interbasin Transfer Law.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-519	H705	School Food Service Equipment/Lease-Purchase.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-520	H1551	State Gov’t Acctability/Internal Control Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-521	H1593	State Health Plan/Plan Yr. Change..	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-522	H206	Bronze Star Special Plate Changes.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-523	S1465	Swine Farm Env. Performance Standards	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-524	S1272	Motor Fuel Tax Exemption For Biodiesel	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-525	S864	Amend Chiropractic Practice Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-526	S831	Wireless Telecommunications Facilities.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-527	S540	Revenue Laws & Motor Fuels Tax Tech. Changes.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-528	S692	Boxing Advisory Commission.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-529	S490	Industrial Machinery – Building Code.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-530	S1362	Amend Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-531	S1435	Amend Funeral Serv. Prac./Other Related Laws.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]

20 bills remain on the Governor’s desk, out of the 208 pending at the end of session.

You can keep up with bills pending on the Governor’s desk by clicking here, and with laws enacted in 2007 here. (that list is totally updated) The Governor has until midnight, September 1, 2007, to act on bills.

34 bills remain

As of 10 a.m. Friday, August 31, 2007, 34 bills remain on the Governor’s desk for action by the midnight Saturday deadline.  Any bills not signed or vetoed by then become law Sunday, September 2, 2007. We plan to process today, Saturday, and Sunday the last days of bill signings.  Any bills that might become law without the Governor’s signature might not be processed until after the Labor Day holiday, however.

Our “pending on the Governor’s desk link” might still show those 34 bills until Tuesday, but the “laws enacted in 2007” link will update as soon as the bills are processed here.

The current list of bills pending appears after the jump:

Override rubber stamp

The North Carolina General Assembly has never overriden a gubernatorial veto. Don’t say we didn’t plan ahead, however.  G.S. 120-29.1(c), enacted along with the veto constitutional amendment in 1995, states:

“(c) If the Governor returns any bill to the house of origin with his objections, the Governor shall write such objections on the measure or cause the objections to be attached to the measure. When any such bill becomes law after reconsideration of the two houses, the principal clerk of the second house to act shall, below the objections of the Governor, sign the following certificate: “Became law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor, ________.m. this ________ day of ________, ________”. The principal clerk of the second house to act shall fill in the time. The enrolling clerk shall deposit the measure with the Secretary of State.”

Being an efficient bureaucracy, we ordered a rubber stamp for this in 1997, which has lain unused in a drawer for a decade.

day 28: 37 bills signed

37 bills were signed by Governor Easley Thursday, August 30, 2007, day 28 of 30 days post-session for the Governor to act on bills:

2007-481	S1147	Dealer MV Inspection/Records/MV Registration	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-482	S1313	Zoning Near State Capitol	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-483	S103	Various Special License Plates	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-484	S613	2007 Technical Corrections Act	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-485	S646	Enact WASC Recommendations	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-486	H291	Sudan (Darfur) Divestment Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-487	S684	Spay/Neuter Funding.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-488	S1457	Bond Lic. Plate Agent/Online Veh. Regist.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-489	H726	Amend Electrolysis Practice Act/Fees.AB	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-490	H1786	Regulate Mixed Martial Arts/Fees.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-491	S242	Reform Tax Appeals	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-492	H769	Unified Carrier Registration/CDL Changes.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-493	S999	DWI Technical Corrections	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-494	S229	Legal Status of Prisoners	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-495	S844	Amend Env. Laws/Env. Tech Corrects 2007	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-496	H779	Increase Contributory Death Benefit.-AB	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-497	H1499	Property Tax and PUV Changes and Studies.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-498	H349	Local School Board Member Removal.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-499	H514	Increase Length Limits for Transit Buses.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-500	H487	Exemption For Baler Twine From Sales Tax.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-501	H488	Alternative Hearing Before School Reassign.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-502	H634	Advance Directives/Health Care POA.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-503	H679	Safety/Emission Inspection Changes.-AB	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-504	H627	Extend Pilot/Clarify LME Functions/LME Admin.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-505	S1364	Scrap Vehicle Purchase/Parts-Records.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-506	S1485	Amend NC Appraisers Act/Fees.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-507	S1527	Amend Insurance Laws/Producers and Bail Bonds.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-508	S1546	Clarify Public Access To Personnel Records.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-509	S301	Expunge DWI Civil Revocation.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-510	H1828	Strengthen Judicial Fund.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-511	S854	Amend Private Protective Services Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-512	H943	Updating of Jury List.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-513	S1351	Clarify MV Franchise Laws/Dealer Termination	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-514	H316	Amend Civil Procedure Rule 45.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-515	H1595	Economic Development Modifications.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-516	H1659	Criminal History Checks/DPI Employees.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-517	H536	Enhanced Training for School Administrators.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]

34 bills remain on the Governor’s desk, out of the 208 pending at the end of session.

Impact fee compendium

In addition to the Occupancy tax compendium posted earlier today, our Research Division has also put together a compendium of local acts relating to development impact fees (current as of the end of the 2005 legislative session) research by a legislative intern in 2005 showed that between 1985 and 1991, 22 cities and three counties were authorized to levy development impact fees, but none were enacted between then and 2005. (some were amended later)

CAVEAT: We are not sure whether the table has been updated to include later amendments to a listed local act. On our list of things to do for next year is to Shepardize the table to update it.

House Bill 1761 vetoed

Governor Easley has vetoed House Bill 1761, the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund.  The bill has been returned to the House of Representatives for further action.

A copy of the veto message is here.

Unlike the United States Constitution, there is no pocket veto, the Governor must call the General Assembly back into session to allow it consider overriding the veto.  The Governor must reconvene the 2007 Regular Session to start no later than Tuesday, September 11, unless by that date a majority of members in each house sign a petition declaring the a reconvened session is not necessary to reconsider passage of the bill. At a reconvened session, the only bills that can be considered are those that have been vetoed.

The Constitution requires a vote of three-fifths of the members present and voting to override a veto. The House acts first, the Senate only gets the bill for action if the House votes to override. Article II, Section 22(1) of the North Carolina Constitition provides:

“[A]ll bills shall be read three times in each house and shall be signed by the presiding officer of each house before being presented to the Governor.  If the Governor approves, the Governor shall sign it and it shall become a law; but if not, the Governor shall return it with objections, together with a veto message stating the reasons for such objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections and veto message at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider it.  If after such reconsideration three-fifths of the members of that house present and voting shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections and veto message, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by three-fifths of the members of that house present and voting, it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor.  In all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively.”

Information on past vetoes is here, more information on reconvened sessions here.

Occupancy tax compendium

The North Carolina General Assembly by local act has authorized 74 counties, 76 municipalities, two townships, and two special districts to levy room occupancy taxes. The staff of the Research Division has put together a 55-page compendium of the acts relating to those 154 jurisdictions, covering the name of the entity, date of enactment, the maximum amount of the tax, how the proceeds are allocated, the governing body responsible for the allocations, and a column for special notes.  Included for each act is a hyperlink to the actual local acts or acts. The compendium is updated through actions of the 2007 General Assembly.

Due to the formatting style of the linked MsWord document, you have to do CTRL+mouse click to jump from the document to the actual local act.

Also, please see our development impact fee local act compendium post.

Past vetoes

I had a couple of calls today asking for a list of past vetoes, which our legislative library has helpfully kept. North Carolina was the last state to give the Governor a veto, the General Assembly approved a constitutional amendment and implementing statute in the 1995 session, voters approved it in 1996, and it became effective in 1997. Delaware had been the most previous state to have no veto, they granted their Governor a veto in the early 1900s.

 Under the Dome has helpfully catalogued the past vetoes:

Making legislative appointments, changing mortgage lending laws, changing teacher certification, compensating billboard owners, changing teacher certifications, selling an airport site to Currituck County for a dollar and granting access to state buildings to employees associations.

day 27: 16 bills signed

16 bills were signed by Governor Easley Wednesday, August 29, 2007, day 27 of 30 days post-session for the Governor to act on bills:

2007-465	H1912	School Bus Retrofits in Nonattainment Areas.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-466	H1739	Notice and Rights Re Sch Suspens/Expulsion.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-467	H1529	Actuarial Valuation/Retiree Health Benefits.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-468	H1488	Amend Psychology Practice Act.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-469	H38	Silver Alert System/Missing Persons Alert.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-470	H1652	Special Plate for E-911 Telecommunicators.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-471	H1688	Amend Combined MV Registration and PT System.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-472	H1650	Increase Membership/Acupuncture Licensing Bd.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-473	H1685	Adlt Care Home or Nursing Home/Expedited Con.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-474	H1707	Detention Officers Courthouse Firearms.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-475	H1718	Cities Enact Fair Housing Ordinances.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-476	H177	Comm. Coll./Participate in Energy Loan Prog.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-477	H63	Property Tax – School Capital Leases.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-478	H1308	Lifetime Cert. After Teaching 50 Years.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-479	H1322	Fire Chiefs/EMS Director: Crim. Requests.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-480	H1738	Advisory Comm./Hosp. Infection Incidence.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]

Interestingly, the first 9 bills (SL 2007-465 through 2007-473) were signed between 3 am and 4 AM.

72 bills remain on the Governor’s desk, out of the 208 pending at the end of session.

You can keep up with bills pending on the Governor’s desk by clicking here, and with laws enacted in 2007 here. The Governor has until midnight, September 1, 2007, to act on bills.