Latest news with #SenateRulesCommittee
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Agriculture Committee reviews zoning, excavation, wasterwater bills
(Photo: NC Department of Agriculture 2018 Pesticide Report) The Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee approved one bill and discussed two others during its hearing on Tuesday. Lawmakers voted to pass House Bill 126, titled 'Revise Voluntary Ag. District Laws,' without any discussion or testimony. This measure would require government agencies considering condemning or rezoning property within a voluntary agricultural district to hold a public hearing. There would be 45 days to set up the hearing and 120 days for the local agricultural advisory board to submit its findings and recommendations to the agency. 'At this point, I've heard no opposition to this bill,' primary sponsor Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne) said. The bill now heads to the Senate Rules Committee. Legislators also reviewed two bills for discussion only: House Bill 247 ('8-1-1 Amendments') and House Bill 694 ('Study Water/Wastewater Regionalization'). Sen. Michael Lazzara (R-Onslow) presented HB 247 to the panel, explaining the language would be replaced with text from Senate Bill 328, which updates the Underground Utility Safety and Damage Prevention Act. 'We just made the corrections to some of the language, but essentially, it's a consensus,' he said. Sen. Tom McInnis (R-Cumberland, Moore) said he appreciated the bill, seeing as he's had a lot of complaints about 8-1-1. That's the number individuals should call prior to excavating to ensure they don't encounter any buried utilities. 'We can't move forward in our state unless we have a cohesive unit of construction,' McInnis said. If this bill passes the panel, it will proceed to the Senate Rules Committee. It's the same case for HB 694, which would direct the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina to study wastewater and water regionalization efforts. Sen. David Craven (R-Anson, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Union) presented the legislation. Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) asked about the Department of Environmental Quality's role in the process of transferring water between basins. 'This starts with a notice, then DEQ works with the water applicant to develop a draft environmental statement that looks at environmental impacts, it looks at alternatives to the water withdrawal, as well as several other things of that nature,' legislative analysis Kyle Evans said.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Clock is ticking for Insurance Consumers Protection Act to be heard on senate floor before end of session
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The clock is ticking for House Bill 2144 to be heard on the senate floor with less than three weeks left in this year's legislative session. If signed into law, the bill would give patients and their doctors the right to sue medical companies who deny or delay care in bad faith. The Insurance Consumers Protection Act passed the house floor in March. It was then stalled, but because of News 4's reporting, it was put on the agenda for the Senate Rules Committee Meeting, passing with overwhelming support. Pat Hall is a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Medical Association, saying 'It would make the health insurance companies wake up and realize that deny and delay of a medical benefit could lead to harm.' Homeland Security backtracks, KFOR uncovers new information on ICE raid Lacy Cornelius-Boyd has been fighting for her life and fighting against her insurance company after being in a devastating car crash. Cornelius-Boyd needs an intestinal transplant, but her insurance company has denied it more than once, adding to health challenges. She's now in kidney and liver failure. 'Since my car accident, I've been saying, like, something good has to come from this,' Cornelius-Boyd said. She's chosen to use her tragic experience to do something good, putting the issue on the radar of state lawmakers. However, the bill still has a long way to go. The legislation now has to be heard on the senate floor in a matter of weeks. 'What we're asking is for the public to continue putting pressure to pass House Bill 2144,' said Hall. Cornelius-Boyd is also urging Oklahomans to act. 'I feel like it's so important for everyone to stay invested. Keep calling. So that this bill can move forward,' said Cornelius-Boyd. If the bill isn't heard on the senate floor, it will not complete the full legal process to make it to the Governor's desk, which would be the final step getting the bill signed into law. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill banning foreign farmland ownership passes NC Senate hurdle
(USDA Photo by Lance Cheung) The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban certain foreign groups from purchasing farmland in the state. Senate Bill 394, 'Prohibit Foreign Ownership of NC Land,' passed without discussion after the panel approved a technical amendment. The legislation now moves to the Senate Rules Committee. The bill comes at the same time that tensions between the U.S. a several other nations have been on the rise as the result of the Trump administration's economic tariffs and other foreign policy shifts. Sens. Bob Brinson (R-Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir), Bobby Hanig (R-Bertie, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell), and Timothy Moffitt (R-Henderson, Polk, Rutherford) serve as the primary sponsors for SB 394. The bill would prohibit the 'adversarial' nations of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from making claims to land that is agricultural, situated within a 25-mile radius of a military installation, or underneath special use airspace as designated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Lawmakers on the same committee reviewed SB 394 during a meeting on April 16, prior to taking a one-week recess. During that session, legislators discussed the bill but did not vote. 'This bill essentially acknowledges that food security is national security and it's a state effort to protect our military bases,' Brinson said during that meeting. Entities falling under the bill's stipulations who own the land prior to the legislation becoming law, if it happens, would need to register with the secretary of state and attorney general. Twelve states have already enacted similar measures, according to Brinson. Sen. Sophia Chitlik (D-Durham) asked if the bill would apply to dual citizens and prohibit them from owning farmland in North Carolina. Legislative staff responded that individuals holding U.S. citizenship, permanent residence, or other forms of lawful presence would not be subject to the measure. Chitlik also asked if the bill would pose challenges to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing due to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. Brinson said the legislation was modeled after language in Florida, where it did not run into issues. 'It doesn't mention nationality, it mentions citizenship,' Brinson said. 'There is a distinction and a difference.' A similar bill in the lower chamber, House Bill 133 — 'NC Farmland and Military Protection Act,' wqas approved 111-0 on April 16 and currently resides in the Senate Rules Committee.
Miami Herald
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
For now, common sense speaks louder in debate to undo post-Parkland gun laws
We're not quite ready yet to say good riddance to an effort to undo historic, bipartisan gun-control regulation Florida passed after the 2018 Parkland school shooting. But it seems that a bill that aimed to lower the minimum age for purchasing rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18 is dead this year. That's good news, though anything could change before the legislative session wraps up in May. On Monday, Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she will not allow the bill to be heard in her powerful Senate Rules Committee, meaning the legislation likely will stall and die. The Florida House has already passed House Bill 759 with a 78-34 vote. This might be the third year in a row that the House has tried — only to be blocked by the Senate — to repeal the post-Parkland law that increased the minimum age for long-gun purchases to 21. Passidomo's timing couldn't be more opportune. Last Thursday, a suspected gunman killed two people at the Florida State University campus, not too far from where lawmakers are meeting in Tallahassee. Passidomo said the decision to block the bill was made before the shooting, CBS News reported. The optics of lawmakers undoing gun restrictions in the wake of another campus shooting would have been terrible. Some former students from Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High were on the FSU campus as the shooting took place last week. Luckily, this does not appear to be a case of the Florida Senate trying to avoid bad press. Passidomo has been steadfast in her support for the gun-control law she helped pass in the aftermath of the 2018 school massacre, which left people 17 dead. When she was the Senate president in 2023, she told reporters she would not support repealing that law and letting people aged 18 to 20 purchase a rifle. Federal law already sets a minimum age of 21 for handgun purchases. To be clear, it appears the state law would not have prevented FSU shooting suspect Phoenix Ikner, 20, from having access to a weapon. Ikner, a student at the university, is the stepson of a Leon County Sheriff's deputy. He used his stepmom's personal handgun, which she previously used for work, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said at a news conference last week, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. A shotgun was found at the scene but it is unclear if it was used. Arguments that a particular gun law would not have stopped a particular shooting miss the point because each of these horrific incidents is different. Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, for example, used an AR-15-style rifle he bought from a Broward County dealer when he was 18. He's the reason lawmakers and then-Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, raised the purchase age minimum. The law makes exceptions for people aged 18 to 20 who serve in the military, corrections and law enforcement. The challenge with mass and campus shootings is that they involve multiple factors, from mental health issues to, yes, easy access to weapons. It's impossible to know how many incidents the post-Parkland law might have prevented, but we should be making it harder, not easier, for unstable young people to access guns. Asking them to wait until the same age they can drink alcohol is not an extreme measure. Instead of repealing sensible gun-control measures, lawmakers should be passing new, reasonable restrictions on the types of weapons and the amount of ammunition people are allowed to buy. They should be looking at closing loopholes that, for example, allow people to buy guns without a background check through private transactions. While the stalling of House Bill 759 is a good sign, lawmakers are still pushing to provide incentives for people to buy guns. The Senate has advanced another bill that would exempt the purchase of firearms and ammunition from sales taxes for about three and a half months in 2025. Lawmakers in 2023 passed a law that allows people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. This is the history of Florida and gun control. A little progress always comes with big setbacks. Click here to send the letter.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local governments could continue to create CRAs under bill amended in Senate committee
Channel District CRA in Tampa (photo from City of Tampa) Local government officials who believe in the power of Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) to revitalize blighted areas will be able to continue to create those special districts under an amended bill that passed in the Senate Rules Committee on Monday. The measure (SB 1242) sponsored by North Central Florida Republican Stan McClain, originally would have prohibited creation of any new CRAs, but he said that after receiving input from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers he would agree to allow them. 'CRAs may continue to operate under their redevelopment plan but must sunset on the termination date outlined in those plans,' McClain said Monday in introducing the change. 'No extensions will be permitted. The original intent was for CRAs to have lifespans of approximately 40 years, and this amendment aims to re-align with that original vision.' Since 1969, Florida cities and countries have been empowered by state law to create CRAs in districts designated as 'blighted areas.' They are funded by tax revenues collected in those specific districts through what is known as tax increment financing (TIF). TIF funds collected from a specific CRA are then invested back into that specific area. There are more than 200 such CRAs in the state at the moment (Tampa has eight). There has been a push by some lawmakers to kill CRAs because of reports that they have misappropriated funds. To answer those concerns, the bill prohibits CRAs from extending their boundaries or spending on events such as concerts, festivals, holiday events, parades, 'focusing CRAs on tangible brick and mortar redevelopment efforts,' McClain said. That language is important, said North Florida Republican Corey Simon. 'I think the warning should be for our CRAs to operate and do what they're supposed to be doing,' he said. 'Those dollars were for blighted areas, not to put on concerts and not to put on things that are not targeting those blighted areas. And so I think the warning shot needs to be that our CRAs need to be operating to improve these communities that have been set aside.' The amended bill requires that either city council members or county commissioners must be the same representatives legislating over the CRA. It also says that all CRAs in existence as of Oct. 1, 2019, will end at the termination date already listed in the respective CRA's charter. Speaking on behalf of keeping CRAs was Panama City Beach Mayor Stuart Tettemer, who noted that his city is one of the few in the state that doesn't collect ad valorem taxes. 'Our CRA keeps taxes local and efficient,' he said. 'Keep our town affordable for visitors and our residents.' McClain's bill now heads to the full Senate for a vote. A companion bill (HB 991) in the House sponsored by Cape Coral Republican Mike Giallombardo still has a committee stop before reaching the floor of that chamber. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
