Smattering of controversial bills advance in busy day at NC General Assembly

In addition to those bills, a handful of other controversial measures — including proposals to change the structure of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, governance of Nash County schools and to prohibit bans on certain kitchen appliances — also advanced in the North Carolina General Assembly. Here’s a roundup.

State lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday to change how the Wake County Board of Commissioners is elected, aimed at giving Republicans a better chance of winning more seats.

More registered Republicans live in Wake County than in any other county in North Carolina — but because they’re still so outnumbered by Democrats, the county board has a 7-0 Democratic majority.

The bill is sponsored by Fuquay-Varina Rep. Erin Pare, the only Republican state lawmaker from Wake County. It was also endorsed by the Democrat-led county board — who signed off on it to win a compromise that made the bill less aggressive than Pare had initially proposed.

The bipartisan negotiations have impressed state lawmakers; it passed the House unanimously last month and on Wednesday also faced no opposition in a Senate committee, which pushed the bill closer to becoming law.

Three Republicans who previously served as elected officials or party leaders came to Wednesday’s meeting to praise the bill: Philip Isley, who used to serve on the Raleigh City Council; John Adcock, who used to represent southern Wake in the state House; and Darren Eustance, the former chair of the Wake County GOP.

The change won’t guarantee Republicans to win any seats on the county commissioners, but it would make it more likely for Republicans to win one or two seats. Wake County is the state’s biggest county and one of the most heavily Democratic, yet some pockets do still have sizable conservative populations, particularly in the far north and far southwest suburbs.

“Their voices are drowned out,” Eustance said. “They don’t have real representation on the county government. They need it.”

Environmentalists argue the changes will boost flooding dangers as these areas are built up and runoff increases without wetlands to absorb it. Republican lawmakers backing the bill say these lands, many of which aren’t wet year round, have been over-regulated for years.

“I think what we’re doing is the right thing to do for North Carolina and its farmers and its citizens,” said Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin.

Senate Bill 582 is the legislature’s biannual farm bill, and it covers a range of issues. The bill would also lower fines for cutting timber in buffer areas near bodies of water and add a new requirement that the Veterinary Medical Board must give veterinarians a week’s written notice before inspections.

The bill has hog farm language in it that environmentalists pushed back on when the bill was introduced, but that language has since been softened to limit how long farmers can flare methane gas gathered from waste pits.

The wetlands language says the state can’t regulate these areas beyond federal rules curbed earlier this month in a U.S. Supreme Court case.

A bill to remake the Nash County school board, shrinking it from 11 members to seven and redrawing their districts to match county commission districts, cleared the North Carolina House Wednesday.

The bill is controversial, generally dividing the legislature along party lines. In addition to the school board shakeup, the measure would add a new deadline into state law for the Nash and Edgecombe county school systems to finish planning a de-merger that will shift some 1,700 students from Nash schools to Edgecombe.

The House added an amendment to the bill that would move the Catawba County, Hickory City and Newton-Conover City boards of education to partisan elections.

A bill that would ban cities or counties from prohibiting natural gas or propane connections in new developments is poised to advance through the Senate Agriculture committee. It was heard for the first time Wednesday for discussion only.

The Senate version of the bill now includes a proposal by Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, to add statewide rules for the decommissioning of solar projects and to require financial assurance that the owner of the project has the resources to handle the decommissioning.

Newton said the new financial assurance requirement was worked out with the solar industry and the Department of Environmental Quality. It would only apply to new solar projects and large expansions or replacements of existing projects.

“What we're trying to do here is just ensure protection for the landowners and the environment without unduly burdening the solar industry. And we think we hit a good balance in this bill,” Newton said.

Alex Miller, a lobbyist for the solar industry, agreed it was a “reasonable balance.”

The General Assembly on Wednesday gave Johnston County’s Board of Commissioners permission to redraw its members districts.

The districts haven’t been redrawn since 1992, according to state Rep. Larry Strickland, R-Johnston. With the county’s rapid growth they’ve become unbalanced, with more people in some districts than others.

Commissioners will still be chosen in county-wide elections, Senate Bill 379, which won final approval Wednesday, just empowers the commission to redraw districts members must reside in.