Study Bill
Foreshadows Issues for Next Legislative Session
One
important piece of business the General Assembly
takes care of before adjourning each year is
deciding which issues and topics to study until
the legislature reconvenes the next year. All
these topics are lumped together in the so-called
"Study Bill," a measure that's closely
watched because it's seen as a reliable barometer
of forthcoming legislation. Often, the issues to
be studied stem from legislation that was
considered in one chamber or the other but which
failed to be ratified. This year's bill, S.
787 Studies Act of 2000, directs the
Legislative Research Commission to research and
issue recommendations on the issues summarized
below. Where applicable, the specific bill is
listed in parentheses that caused the study.
* Governmental and personnel issues,
including salaries and benefits of Department of
Correction employees (H. 1782 - Gibson), and the
receipt and use of federal funds under Title VI
of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (S.J.R. 1274
-Jordan).
* Insurance, managed care, and other
health care issues, including insurance
availability in beach and coastal areas (H. 1835
- Redwine); employer-sponsored, self-insured
group health benefit plans (S. 1429 - Dalton,
Miller); and parity in health insurance coverage
for mental illness and chemical dependency
benefits (H. 1567 - Alexander; S. 1254 - Martin
of Guilford).
* Education issues, including
placement of and providing a special education to
children in group homes (H. 1833 -Hurley, Morris;
S. 1540 - Rand).
* Health and public safety issues,
including pregnancy and drug abuse (H. 1846 -
Sherrill), and social anxiety disorder (H. 1652 -
Edwards, Wainwright).
* Economic development issues,
including the state's travel and tourism industry
and the economic benefits of that industry
(Warwick).
* Environmental/agricultural issues,
including small family farm preservation (H. 1623
- Mitchell; S. 1342 - Albertson).
* Water supply issues, including
the source and supply of groundwater and surface
waters in North Carolina including interbasin
transfer of water, pollution of groundwater and
surface waters in North Carolina, progress toward
controlling pollution of groundwater and surface
waters, technology available for use in related
areas, statewide public and private use of water,
and water capacity use area issues. (Warwick,
Rand, Odom, Albertson).
* Election laws, including a
study of second primary elections, the cost to
taxpayers to conduct second primaries, voter
turnout, impact on elections, and other related
matters.
* Revenue laws, including the
simplification of all state revenue and tax
forms; tax credits, including adjustments to and
credits for ad valorem taxes, to encourage
production of affordable housing; the
establishment of an investment advisory committee
to serve as a liaison between the General
Assembly and the State Treasurer and to assist
the Treasurer in setting investment policies for
the state; the homestead exemption (H. 1700 -
Warner, Hurley; S. 1484 - Hoyle); simplification
of taxes on telecommunications (S. 1320 - Hoyle,
Kerr); and interstate tax cooperation to
eliminate multiple filings by individuals (S.J.R.
958 - Webster).
* Impacts of state acquisition of land
for conservation purposes, particularly
the positive and negative impacts on local
government ad valorem tax revenues.
* Interstate tax agreements,
particularly income taxes of individuals who work
across North Carolina's borders from their states
of residence.
The study bill authorizes the Joint
Legislative Education Oversight Committee
to study several issues, including public school
bidding laws; textbook distribution methods;
school counselors and social workers,
particularly whether the counselor-student ratio
should be reduced from 1:450 to 1:250; the need
for instruction in foreign languages at the
elementary school level; and the feasibility of
increasing the minimum number of instructional
days to 200, increasing the minimum number of
instructional hours to 1,120, and increasing the
contractual period for teachers to 12 months (H.
1727 - Arnold).
The study bill authorizes the Joint
Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee
to study mandatory disqualifiers for employment
in rest homes, adult care homes, home health
care, and other industries which provide care and
services to the elderly; the need for improved
patient access to pain treatment; and criminal
background checks required for the adult care
industry .
The study bill authorizes the Appropriations
subcommittees on Natural and Economic Resources
in both the Senate and the House to study the
current organization of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources to determine
its effectiveness and efficiency .
The study bill authorizes the State Board
of Education to study issues related to
the public school calendar; and to identify and
evaluate strategies that can be developed and
implemented to assist classroom teachers in
providing students with interdisciplinary lessons
that integrate science and social studies as well
as reading, writing, and mathematics.
The study bill authorizes the Environmental
Review Commission to review the
recommendations of the August 1999 report of the
Estuarine Shoreline Protection Stakeholders Team
of the Coastal Resources Commission. The ERC may
evaluate existing local government land-use
planning in the coastal and inland counties that
are included in the river basins that drain to
coastal North Carolina. The ERC may specifically
evaluate whether the local land-use planning
process required for coastal counties under the
Coastal Area Management Act of 1974 should be
extended to include inland counties that are
included in the river basins that drain to
coastal North Carolina.
The study bill also reauthorizes several existing
study commissions, including the electric
deregulation commission and others.
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