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Chamber-Backed Bills Await Governor’s Signature
Significant Accomplishments Bolster Business & Economy
The North Carolina Chamber works each and every day to ensure that your business remains competitive and improve our state’s business climate and standard of living. Up through the final days of the 2008 legislative session, the North Carolina Chamber was fighting on behalf of businesses of all sizes and industry sectors in all regions of the state.
Our Chamber’s advocacy team represented the business community in the state capital where key pieces of legislation vital for North Carolina’s economy and future were advanced. The close of the 2008 short session of the NC General Assembly marks several significant legislative victories for North Carolina businesses, which are outlined in this e-newsletter. Gov. Mike Easley has until August 17th to either sign or veto the bills before they automatically take effect. Last week’s edition of THE BUSINESS Advocate outlined several more legislative wins for business worth at least $40 million that were included in the state budget, which the governor has already signed.
Advocacy Leadership & Support Deliver Victories
Victories for businesses don’t come easy or all at once. Our Chamber’s Governmental Affairs team maneuvered through the 2008 legislative session to take on several major issues for our members. In the end, through leadership or support, our Chamber and an organized business community made great strides in improving our state’s competitiveness position and lowering the cost of doing business in North Carolina.
- Balanced Regulatory Changes Meet Industry Expectations
Our Chamber vigorously fought alongside the NC Retail Merchants Association, the NC Truckers Association and the NC Farm Bureau to pass legislation that makes several important regulatory changes to boost economic development and enable our state to meet industry standards and expectations. One of the changes will allow industry-standard size trucks (53’) to travel on all roads deemed safe for such trucks by the state Dept. of Transportation. The changes will also make it easier to move farm equipment and products on state roads.
Updating archaic regulations related to trucks and farm equipment was an important issue for the trucking, retail and agriculture industries in our state. These common-sense regulatory changes will allow for more efficient movement of goods and help ensure that intrastate transportation measures up to our neighboring states.
Specific to regulations impacting what size trucks can travel on what NC roads, the legislation that passed could also reduce the number of miles traveled and vehicles required, which could have a positive impact on air quality and lower fuel costs. It will also provide industry-standard trucks access to rural parts of our state that are struggling economically and desperate for jobs and commerce to boost their communities. Outdated maps and regulations were keeping industry-standard size trucks off four-lane roads where access should be allowed. - Boosting Boat-building and Tourism
Just as trucking and agriculture are elemental gears in our state’s economic engine, the boating industry is a growing part of our state’s crucial manufacturing and tourism sectors. (There are more than 100 boat manufacturers in our state and tourism has become a $16.5 billion industry here.) Our Chamber also fought this legislative session to pass a bill that will allow daytime and weekend towing for 10-foot boats without a permit, with nighttime and weekend towing for 9 ½ -foot boats. Previous permit regulations on boat hauling ran counter to our economic development efforts to recruit more boat builders and negatively impacted our growing tourism industry. - Permitting Delays Alleviated for Economic Development
In conjunction with other business associations, our Chamber supported a bill that establishes an express permitting program for developers and businesses for construction to make government more responsive and current processes more efficient. The new policy will speed up the permitting process for all applications and encourage quicker development of new properties across the state by implementing a streamlined permit process for establishing a driveway, an access cut and a stop light on DOT roadways.
When it comes to regulation, our Chamber advocates policies that will provide the stability and predictability that businesses need when contemplating new capital investment and, to the extent possible, speed up processes by cutting through some of the unnecessary red tape.
Compromises Reached to Protect Local Economies, Jobs
Our Chamber, along with numerous pro-business allies including economic development professionals, worked tirelessly with all interested parties throughout the legislative process to improve several proposals that would have been harmful to the economies of local communities across our state. It is an overriding goal of our Chamber to make sure that new environmental regulations balance the need to protect our natural resources and quality of life with the need to sustain a thriving economy to generate revenue for the future. Because an organized business community was involved in the process, compromises were reached on proposals related to storm water runoff and drought conditions that could potentially have devastated local communities in the face of a national economic downturn.
- Balanced Stormwater Rules will Protect Coastal Economy
The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) approved new coastal storm water rules before the start of legislative session that would have affected all coastal counties in North Carolina. The proposed regulations would have tightened requirements for storm water permits and mitigation measures for new and existing residential and nonresidential developments.
Our Chamber, along with several other industry groups including the NC Homebuilders Association, strongly objected to the EMC coastal storm water rules that would have directly impacted all businesses and property owners in the 20 coastal counties of North Carolina. As a result, a bill was passed that will allow for water quality improvement goals to be met, while simultaneously promoting economic development in the North Carolina coastal region by alleviating the most burdensome regulatory terms in the proposed new rules.
Unfortunately, the business community has to turn to the NC General Assembly to deal with unreasonable environmental regulations all too often. The North Carolina Chamber and many of our business allies believe it is time to look seriously at reforming the state’s environmental rule-making process. We are pleased that the Environmental Review Commission is going to do just that before the 2009 legislative session. - New State Drought Plan Recognizes Industry Concerns
Our Chamber worked with legislators and numerous interest groups to pass a bill that will allow North Carolina to better manage future drought situations. The final version of the bill allows the state to keep up with water allocation and use across the state, while preserving private well users’ ability to conserve independently.
Water supply and use will no doubt be an ongoing issue for North Carolina, and an organized business community will need to stay involved to ensure that new policies balance economic and environmental concerns.
Policies Bad for NC’s Business Climate Avoided or Defeated
As anticipated, our Chamber also had to assume a defensive position throughout the session, consistently fighting off measures that would have eroded our state’s business climate and competitive position nationally. Strong advocacy from our Chamber in conjunction with other business groups and pro-jobs legislators stopped proposals that would have jeopardized future economic growth in our state.
- Fighting Union Bills to Expand Influence
Public-sector unions have been attempting for years to overturn North Carolina’s current ban on collective bargaining rights for public-sector employees (both state and local). Historically, bills promoting unionization in North Carolina have not advanced in the General Assembly. In 2007, however, a collective bargaining bill made it out of committee. Given the stepped-up efforts of unions in our state, our Chamber worked during this session to prevent organized labor’s movement for contract rights for government workers from gaining traction. Local governments, which businesses rely on for services, maintain the position that collective bargaining among government employees will make government more costly and less efficient.
Alongside representatives of local governments, our Chamber also fought legislation that would have mandated payroll deduction of union dues for certain groups of public employees. Proposals such as these make it easier for unions to boost membership numbers and amount to an unfunded mandate for local governments. Neither of these bills advanced during the 2008 legislative session. - $215 Million Tax Reporting Proposal Kept at Bay
In 2007, legislation was introduced that would force major employers in our state to file a combined income tax return and potentially pay state taxes on income not attributable to North Carolina. A strong coalition of employers and other business associations, led by our Chamber, strongly opposed this legislation. Although eligible for consideration in 2008, the legislation was not discussed.
If this legislation had passed either last year or this year, it would have placed North Carolina behind the curve on state tax policy because no other state in the southeast has such a tax law. The complex method of filing would not only have cost businesses an additional $215 million, but also would have created an anti-business environment for many employers here and likely led to increased litigation.
This anti-jobs proposal is anticipated to be a part of next year’s tax re-structuring discussions. North Carolina employers can rest assured, however, that our Chamber will lead the charge to protect North Carolina’s future from proposals such as this one that could cause irreparable damage to our business climate and economy. - Inoperable & Costly Administrative Proposal Avoided
The North Carolina Chamber also opposed a bill that would have required employers to use the federal E-Verify work authorization program, which is not yet reliable. If adopted, the proposed legislation would have placed an undue burden on employers struggling to keep costs low and businesses competitive. Under the proposal, NC businesses would have been forced to use a system in which the kinks have yet to be worked out and would not only face stiff penalties for unwitting violations, but could ultimately lose their employers’ licenses. Leadership in both the House and Senate did not bring this legislation up this session; however, the issue is likely to come up again during the 2009 session. - Keeping Workers’ Compensation Costs Down
A bill was avoided this session that would require the attending physician to select the healthcare provider and the diagnostic services center to perform authorized tests in workers’ compensation cases. This change would have interfered with an employer’s right to direct medical treatment, a fundamental part of the workers’ compensation law. A strong coalition of business interests were opposed to this legislation and the bill was not brought up in committee this session.
Tell your Chamber . . .
The North Carolina Chamber, hearing the concerns of its employer members, took a pro-jobs agenda aimed at positively impacting North Carolina’s business climate and quality of life directly to decision-makers in Raleigh this year. Please take a minute to answer the poll question on the left of this e-newsletter to give us your valuable customer input. A united business community voice is truly an unstoppable force. Together, we are shaping North Carolina’s future.
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