Here is a look at some of the activity in the General Assembly this past week.

Budget:

Work continued in the legislature on the budget for the next two years. As expected, the version of the budget that passed the Senate in the previous week was not approved by the House. The House voted 110-1 to “not concur” with the Senate version.

The House and the Senate both appointed members to a conference committee that will work to reconcile the two versions of the budget into a single version that can gain approval from both chambers.

On the House side, local Reps. John Bell (R-Wayne) and Pat McElraft (R-Carteret) are members of the committee. From the Senate, Sen. Harry Brown (R-Onslow) is a chair of the committee.

House votes:

HB399: Historic Preservation Act of 2019 — Originally known as the “Disaster Area Building Rehab Tax Credit Bonus Act,” this bill sponsored by Rep. Bell and co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Humphrey (R-Lenoir) passed the House on a 113-5 vote last Wednesday, with all area representatives voting in favor. You can read Neuse News’ original analysis of the bill here. The only significant change produced in committee was a reduction of the duration of the tax credits. Read the final version here.

SB359: Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (Veto Override Vote) — The House voted in an attempt to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of this bill, which was originally co-sponsored by Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir) in the Senate. The House version of the bill was sponsored by Rep. McElraft and co-sponsored by Reps. Bell and Humphrey. The Senate successfully voted to override the governor’s veto in April. The House vote was 67-53 in favor of override, five votes short of the 72 required to gain the statutory three-fifths majority required. Two Democratic representatives (Rep. Graham of Robeson County and Rep. Pierce of Hoke County) joined all the chamber’s Republicans in voting for override. With the unsuccessful vote in the House, the bill is dead for this session.  

Check back with Neuse News later in the week for more updates on the General Assembly