APRIL 20, 2001

NCCBI testifies against mental health parity bill
NCCBI Vice President of Governmental Affairs Leslie Bevacqua testified Thursday on H. 808 Mental Health/Chemical Dependency Parity, explaining that the bill would have an unintended consequence of placing a costly mandate on businesses, especially small businesses. A committee substitute has been offered, but there are still concerns with the language being considered. No action was taken on the bill on Thursday.

If the bill were passed, employers could choose to include or not include mental health and chemical dependency coverage for their employees. If they choose the coverage, it would have to be at parity with all other coverage. Many employers offer some sort of mental health coverage now at levels they can afford under their health plans. This bill would mandate “parity,” and, therefore, would require additional coverage that would inevitably add to the cost of premiums.

“I think businesses will look at their overall health care costs and make a business decision as to whether or not they can afford this additional coverage,” Bevacqua told the committee. “In some cases, they will choose to keep mental health coverage as a part of their plan.  In other cases, they may choose to drop it because of the costs. These decisions need to be left up to the employer.”

After reviewing the committee substitute and talking with representatives of the health insurance industry, Bevacqua said she became more concerned about small employers and their ability to afford coverage.

According to representatives from the health insurance industry, for employers with 50 employees or less, mental health coverage is included as a part of the health care package. If that is the case, this legislation would mandate additional coverage for mental health and chemical dependency coverage for smaller employers and would have the potential effect of driving up further the cost of health care.

“Even though this bill is not intended to be a mandate in the traditional sense, I believe that the net effect is that it’s unintended consequence would be that small employers would have to offer health care insurance including mental health parity or offer no coverage at all,” Bevacqua said.

Senate passes two constitutional amendment bills
With little opposition, the Senate on Wednesday passed and sent to the House a constitutional amendment bill changing the state superintendent of public instruction from an elected to an appointed position. The measure, which has the support of NCCBI and Superintendent Mike Ward, passed after little debate and with only two opposing votes. The Senate also passed another constitutional amendment bill that would double the terms of District Court judges to eight years. That measure had significantly more opposition.

The first measure, S. 441 State School Superintendent Appointed, was sponsored by Sen. Howard Lee (D-Orange). It asks voters to approve the switch to an appointed state superintendent during a referendum in November 2002. If voters approve, the change would take effect in 2005, after Ward's current term ends. The next superintendent would be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly. NCCBI has long supported such a change because it believes the state superintendent should be the best educator possible, not a professional politician. The Senate has passed similar measures at least three times in recent years, but each time they failed in the House.

While that measure easily cleared the Senate, S. 712 District Judge Eight-Year Terms, a constitutional amendment bill sponsored by Majority Leader Tony Rand (D-Cumberland), encountered more opposition. It passed by a 31-17 margin largely along party lines. During floor debate, Sen. Rand argued that the terms of District Court judges should be similar to those for Superior Court and appellate judges. Senate Minority Leader Patrick Ballantine (R-New Hanover) suggested that the bill was a way to help Democratic incumbents on the bench.

House panel rejects merit selection of appellate judges
Merit selection of appellate judges suffered a setback Tuesday when the House Judiciary II Committee voted 5-4 against favorably reporting H. 989 Judicial Appointment/Voter Retention. The bill by Reps. Mickey Michaux (D-Durham) and Ronny Sutton ( D-Robeson), which would require a constitutional amendment, would require all Court of Appeals and Supreme Court judges to be appointed by the governor, subject to the General Assembly confirming the appointment. The judge would then serve five to seven years before voters statewide would decide in a retention election whether to let the judge serve a regular eight-year term. If voters rejected a judge, the governor would fill the vacancy with another appointment. Supporters of merit selection of judges, including NCCBI, argue that politics should be removed from the judicial system. The N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers and others oppose the bill. Technically the bill remains alive in the House committee, but observers said the vote discouraged the Senate, where similar bills are pending. The Senate approved merit selection bills in 1995 and 1999, but the House failed to muster the needed three-fifths vote.

House votes to abolish alienation of affection law
The House gave third-reading approval Wednesday to a bill eliminating what supporters said were archaic states law against alienation of affection and "criminal conversation" -- adultery. The vote on second-reading Tuesday was 67-44, with 47 Democrats and 20 Republicans supporting the measure, H. 576 Abolish Alientation of Affection/Criminal Conversation, by Rep. Joe Hackney (D-Orange). Voting against passage were nine Democrats and 35 Republicans. Rep. Hackney said 41 states have abolished similar laws. The law is often used for strategic leverage in alimony and child-support cases, he said.

Senate passes major rewrite of election laws
The Senate on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to a measure that was one of the major recommendations of the Election Laws Revision Commission.  The bill, S. 14 Election Rewrite, Counting and Canvassing, sponsored by Sen. Wib Gulley (D-Durham), had been favorably reported on Monday by the Senate Judiciary I Committee. It now goes to the House. The legislation reorganizes, consolidates and rewrites several sections of state election laws on counting official ballots, canvassing votes, hearing protests, and certifying results. It stipulates that official ballots rejected by a counting machine are to be counted by hand and eye. It authorizes the State Board of Elections to promulgate rules for applying these principles in each type of voting system, and requires that the board direct county boards of elections in the application of the statute and rules. The bill also addressing initial counting of official ballots, jurisdiction of state and local election officials, canvassing of votes, creation of abstracts summarizing the vote, ordering recounts, determining result in case of a tie, filing an election protest, the county board’s consideration of protests, appeals of county board decision’s about protest to the State Board of Election, the ordering of new, appeal of State Board of Elections decisions to Superior Court, and certification of election results. Final passage of the bill came after the Senate, by a 32-16 vote largely along party lines, defeated an amendment offered by Minority Leader Patrick Ballentine prohibiting a candidate from running for more than one office at a time. Ballentine said he offered the amendment because he opposes situations such as occurred in Connecticut last year in which U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman ran for vice president as well as for re-election to his Senate seat.

Other legislative actions of note

The House gave third-reading approval Tuesday to H. 882 Duck Incorporated {Culpepper}, which creates a municipality just south of Southern Shores in Dare County. The town is to have a five-member town council. The legislation appoints Allan W. Beres, Nancy R. Caviness, Paul F. Keller, Manfred E. Schwartz, and Judith L. Wessel as interim members of the council. The measure now goes to the Senate.

The Senate on Wednesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S. 387 Require Experience of General Contractors {Rand} and sent the measure to the House. The measure requires the Stat Licensing Board of General Contractors to establish minimum experience requirements for license applicants, not exceeding a total of two years.

The House on Wednesday passed a bill requiring Mecklenburg County to share proceeds from a countywide meals tax with six small towns in the county. The measure, H. 715 Redistribute Mecklenburg Meal Tax {Gulley, Saunders, Earle}, allows the six small towns to keep 75 percent of the one-cent meals tax collected in their jurisdictions.

The House on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to H. 355 State Building Code Changes {Dockham, Hurley} and sent the measure to the Senate. The bill provide that the Department of Insurance is not liable for costs incurred in satisfying the fiscal note requirement for changes in the state building code; updates references to organizations whose standards may be used in adopting code provisions; and gives the Building Code Council explicit authority to use standards of international agencies.

The House on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to H. 431 Financial Assistance to Community College Students {Saunders} and sent the bill to the Senate. The measure codifies the need-based scholarship program for community college students, amends the application requirements, and to allow the State Board of Community Colleges to target a portion of the funds to students enrolled in high demand occupations.

The House on Tuesday gave second- and third-reading approval to H. 57 Labeling Campaign Ads {Baker} and sent the measure to the Senate. It addresses how large the type for the disclosure statement must be in a campaign ad in newspaper and clarifies the media’s liability for such ads that fail to include the disclosure statement.

The House on Wednesday passed H. 1002 Hospital Governing Authority {Wright}, which stipulates that county hospital boards are public entities which have the right to sue and be sued. The bill now goes to the Senate. On a related matter, the House Health Care Committee on Tuesday favorably reported H. 1001 Hospital License/Critical Assess Hospital {Wright}, a measure that amends the definition of a primary care hospital to reflect federal requirements.

The House Judiciary III Committee on Tuesday favorably reported H. 1076 Redistricting Criteria {Blue}, a measure which specifies that redistricting plans for the state House of Representatives and the State Senate shall consist solely of single-member districts.

The Senate Judiciary I Committee on Tuesday favorably reported S. 160 Amend Good Samaritan Law/Medical Care {Purcell}, a measure which extends protections under the Good Samaritan law to health care professionals volunteering their time in free clinics. The panel also favorably reported S. 990 No Disclosure of Student Information to Third Parties {Rand}, a measure which bars a person who contracts with a local board of education to provide goods or services from selling or otherwise using for a business purpose any information about students that it gains incidental to its performance under the contract.

The Senate Judiciary II Committee on Tuesday favorably reported S. 1023 Revise Uniform Electronics Transactions Act {Hagan}, a measure which stipulates that consumer transactions are covered by the act. The panel also favorably reported a House-passed bill, H. 142 Amend Marriage Statutes {Sutton}, the measure that broadens the list of persons qualified to conduct marriages; validate a marriage licensed and solemnized by a federally recognized Indian tribe or nation; requires judicial authorization before a 14- or 15-year-old applicant may be married; prohibits marriage by anyone  under 14 years; and make inclusions of race on the license optional.

The Senate on Wednesday gave second- and third-reading approval S. 882 Conform NC Law/Commodities Exchange Act {Carpenter} a measure which conforms state law governing contracts for “futures” to the federal Commodity Exchange Act. The bill now goes to the House.

The Senate on Wednesday gave second- and third-reading approval to S. 402 Keep Alternate Base Period {Horton}, a measure which repeals the sunset provision relating to the redefinition of the base period for unemployment benefits and the one and a half times test. The bill now goes to the House.

The House Insurance Committee on Wednesday favorably reported H. 13 Motor Vehicle Repairs {Sherrill}, a bill that prohibits insurance companies from encouraging insurance claimants to obtain car repair services from particular sources, and H. 1045 Restore Workers’ Comp Stability {Baddour}, a bill to overturn the state Court of Appeals decision in Hansen v. Crystal Ford-Mercury.

The Senate Education/Higher Education Committee on Wednesday favorably reported S. 744 Teach Financial Literacy {Hagan, Bingham}, a bill authorizing pilot projects in up to five local school systems on teaching personal financial literacy. The committee also favorably reported S. 754 Retired Professional Educators Return to Work {Dannelly}, a measure that enables retired school employees to return to the classroom the next year without losing retirement benefits; S. 805 Encourage Retired Teachers to Teach {Forrester}, a bill that cuts from 12 months to one month the time after leaving the classroom when a teacher is considered retired; and S. 933 Simplify Re-employment of Teachers and Principals {Harris}, a measure that contains many of the same provisions as S. 754.

The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday favorably reported S. 265 Prohibit DOT from Burning {Kinnaird}, a measure that prohibits the DOT from burning yard trash and other organic solid waste in highway construction and maintenance projects and requiring DOT to recycle or reuse this waste.

The Senate Health Care Committee on Wednesday favorably reported S. 826 Criminal Record Check Change/ Long-Term Care {Rand}, a measure that repeals the requirement for a national criminal history record check for certain long-term care facilities because of federal requirements limiting distribution of record check results.

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