Michael Speciale: N.C. House Update, 052615 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release:

Representative Michael Speciale - Serving Beaufort, Craven and Pamlico Counties

    The NC General Assembly was in session until 1:30 am hammering out Amendments to the budget, and it was passed 93-23, with 11 Republicans and 12 Democrats voting against and sent to the Senate. I did NOT vote for this budget, and fought to remove much of what was in there. I could not vote for this budget which is laden with incentive programs, both corporate and otherwise.

My Legislation Highlights

     •  H7    Amend Firearm Restoration Law

    Corrects an error in a 1995 law that took away the gun rights of some citizens This bill passed the House Chamber on 3/16/2015, it is now in the Senate.

    •  H77    School Calendar Flexibility/Certain School Systems

    Allows Beaufort, Craven and Pamlico Counties to set their own school calendar

    •  H91    Handicapped Parking Law Revisions

    •  H93    Eliminate Tolling on Ferries

    Eliminates tolling on ALL ferries

    •  H115    Prosecutor Consent to Waive Jury Trial

    NC Constitutional Amendment to add the Prosecuting Attorney as one who must approve a waiver of Trial by Jury (Currently, only the Judge need approve, and this change will help minimize occurrences of 'Judge Shopping'.

    •  H116    Same Requirements/Officials/Early Vote & Election Day

    Ensures that the criteria required for selection of elections officials that applies on Election Day also applies to early One Stop Voting.

    •  H128    Referendum for Certain Local Debt

    Allows citizens who object to large expenditures for Capital Projects in a County or Municipality to call for a Referendum.

    •  H236    Certain Counties/Purchasing Exemption

    Allows for County Sheriffs to bypass the State Bid requirements for the purchase of food for their confinement facilities by allowing local purchases.

Other Legislation Highlights

    •  S 20    IRC Update/Motor Fuel Tax Changes

    Froze the NC tax on fuel at .35 cents per gallon. I voted AGAINST this bill because this is a band-aid on a perpetual shortfall problem with highway funding. We need to find a permanent fix to this unstable funding formula, and until that effort is underway, I will not support any temporary solutions.

    VOTED: NO

    •  H157    Amend Environmental Laws

    This is a bill that allows the Interstate Mining Commission to adopt existing Federal and NC air quality regulations if they deem them to be adequate. I voted against this bill because when we passed the hydraulic fracturing regulations last session, we promised the public that before the first permit to drill was issued that NC would have the best air and water quality regulations in the country. While we directed in last session's legislation that stringent air and water quality regulations be drawn up, this has not been accomplished. The current bill simply accepts 'adequate' as the standard, and I will not support this on your behalf.

    VOTED: NO

    •  H117    NC Competes Act

    This bill allocates $45 million to a new giveaway corporate incentives program. It also extends the Aviation Fuel Sales Tax refund which was scheduled to expire this year. I did not vote for this bill.

    VOTED: NO

Committees     Status

Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs     Chairman

Regulatory Reform     Vice Chairman

Transportation     Vice Chairman

Appropriations     Member

Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety     Member

Elections     Member

Judiciary III     Member

    Please reply to Michael.Speciale@ncleg.net with Questions or Concerns

    NC House of Representatives
    1008 Legislative Building
    16 W. Jones Street
    Raleigh, NC 27601-1096

      (919) 733-5853