I am truly enjoying being home this weekend and will take a few days off before returning to Raleigh to begin working on interim committee work on education, justice and public safety issues. Thank you, as always, for your interest in state government and please let me know if I can be of any service.
 
END OF SESSION RECAP
 
TRANSPORTATION
The General Assembly approved changes this week to how driver's licenses are made and distributed. One bill would allow the state Division of Motor Vehicles to use new laser-engraving technology that would embed photos into the licenses and help reduce fraud. The bill (S1799) also allows driver's licenses to be mailed to people's homes or a post office box if they don't have a street address.
 
The change is part of new process for how licenses are made and distributed. The revised procedure is designed to make it more difficult to fraudulently obtain licenses. Licenses will now be centrally distributed out of Raleigh and there will be a 20-day waiting period. During this time, drivers will be issued a temporary permit and can use their existing license for identification.
 
The mailing provision is expected to make the waiting period more convenient by eliminating the need for applicants to return to their DMV offices to pick up their licenses.
 
CRIME
The General Assembly has given approval to anti-gang legislation that would create several felonies for those who take part in gang activity. Those who commit drive-by shootings, solicit people to join gangs or threaten those who try to leave a gang would be subject to felonies under the bill (H274). Property acquired for gangs or resulting from gang activity could be taken. The bill provides the state's first legal definitions of gang activity. Gov. Mike Easley has already signed a separate bill (S1358) that addresses gang intervention and prevention programs. The state budget includes $10 million for gang prevention grants.
 
The General Assembly also gave final approval to a bill titled "Jessica's Law."  The bill is named for Jessica Lunsford, a former North Carolina resident who was raped and murdered in Florida at the age of 9 by a convicted sex offender. The (H933) bill will make the rape or sexual offense committed on a child punishable by up to life in prison without parole with a mandatory minimum 25-year sentence with lifetime GPS monitoring. This bill also increases penalties associated with the exploitation/prostitution of a minor, strengthens sex offender registry requirements and limits contact offenders have with victims and on what premises.
 
This bill requires sex offenders to be 300 feet or more away from places where minors are prevalent.  Any sex offender not on the registry for a life term will be on the list for 30 years. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature and is a compliment to the nation's most comprehensive sex offender prevention and punishment legislation we passed and that I helped write in 2005-06.
 
In addition, in SB 1736, felony child abuse was added to the list of sex offender registry offenses when the offense involves prostitution of a juvenile or the commission of a sexual act on a juvenile. The Act also prohibits sex offenders from using on-line internet services to prey on children.
 
In a bill I sponsored, HB 1624 passed on the last day of session.  This bi-partisan bill limits the frequency of parole hearings for first and second degree murderers so that the families of victims of these horrific crimes do not have to be put to through the trauma of reliving the crimes every year at a parole hearing when the prisoner is not ready to be paroled.  Current law required that these prisoners receive a hearing every year; this bill says they are not entitled to hearings for 3 years.
 
HEALTH  
The General Assembly this session took expanded steps to improve public health by further limiting the damage from second-hand smoke.  Bills were passed that protect state workers and passengers by making all vehicles owned, operated and leased by the state smoke-free and clarifies local governments can do the same ( SB 1681).  In addition, power was given to each community college to make their campuses smoke free.  Last year, we made all public schools and the university campuses in the state smoke-free and the year before all state government buildings were also declared smoke-free with local governments given back the authority to do the same in their buildings. 
 
In HB 2338, hospitals and physicians are now required to report serious, non-accidental trauma injuries of children to law enforcement as recommended by the child fatality task force.
 
HB 2340 increases the protection of children who ride in the back of pickup trucks or open beds of vehicles by raising the minimum age to do so, removing the exemption that makes allowances for small counties, and increases the penalties to be in line with other child safety violations as recommend by the state's Child Fatality Task Force.  In the last few years, there have been 8 accidental deaths and 127 injuries to child residents under 16 in NC who were riding in the backs of pick up trucks.
 
MILITARY
HB 2768, part of which originated with Charlie Powers and folks in Linden, and which I drafted, adds to the ability of the state to work with the Wounded Warrior program and allows wounded returning soldiers to more easily participate in out of season hunts with the Wounded Warrior program in concert with the state Wildlife Commission.
 
HB 2683 adds North Carolina to the new Interstate Compact on educational Opportunity for Military Children.  Representatives Dickson, Grier Martin of Raleigh and myself sponsored the bill, which is designed to eliminate many of the problems of students who transfer in and out of military base communities, making access of records far more prompt, easing enrollment requirements and as well as academic placement, and providing faster exceptional children's services. 
 
HB 2414, sponsored by Representatives Dickson, Lucas, McAllister and myself, and Senator Rand, passed this session, allowing Fayetteville and Spring Lake to annex certain portions of Ft. Bragg as of October 1, 2008. 
 
DROUGHT
A bill to improve the state's response to droughts was approved this week in the House. The bill (H2499) gives the Governor more authority during a drought to work with local governments to help them address water shortages and makes other changes to improve how we manage droughts. The bill also would require public water providers to develop drought and water shortage plans while heavy water users would be subject to stricter reporting requirements. The bill was the result of collaboration between many different interests, including municipalities, businesses, farmers and private residents. The bill must now be signed by the Governor.
 
MORTGAGES
The General Assembly has approved a bill that will give mortgage holders more time to work out a plan with their banks before losing their homes. The bill (H2623) requires lenders to give homeowners 45 days notice before starting foreclosure proceedings  and  gives the state bank commissioner authority to delay foreclosures for 30 days in hopes of coming up with a new payment plan. The bill is one of several we have approved recently to help cope with the ongoing mortgage crisis.  HB 2463 provides additional regulation of the mortgage servicing industry and requires mortgage servicer licensure under the Mortgage Lending Act.

EDUCATION
HB 15 was passed which provides that teachers can not be penalized for taking a personal leave day when it is a day that no students will be present for classes.
 
JUSTICE
A Senate judiciary committee has approved a bill that will give people who are wrongfully convicted and pardoned by the Governor as actually innocent of the crime $50,000 for every year they spent in jail once they are fully exonerated. Existing law allows only $20,000 a year and caps the total award at $500,000.
 
The bill (H2105) would increase the cap to $750,000 and allow job training and tuition for community colleges and public universities. This bill makes NC law consistent with a recent federal law and laws in a number of other states.  Seven NC residents in the last 8 years have been given a full pardon of innocence for crimes they never committed, many having served near or over a decade in prison while the real criminal was at large and free to commit further crimes.
 
In SB 180, son of video poker industries, now called server-based electronic sweepstakes games, were outlawed.
 
ETHICS
Several bills were passed which strengthen the state's ethics and lobbying laws after the first full year of experience under one of the nation's most restrictive and comprehensive ethics reform laws. 
I chair the Joint Legislative Ethics Commission and have been involved on almost a weekly basis with ethics reform issues in the General Assembly and improving public confidence in the operations of the legislature, which have been a primary and successful objective of Speaker Hackney and his staff. 

ENVIRONMENT
SB 1967, a long negotiated bill, provides for improvement in the management of stormwater pollution in the 20 coastal counties of North Carolina.  This measure is a significant achievement in the protection of coastal water quality.
HB 2353, like much environmental legislation, establishes substantial regulation and licensure procedures for irrigation contractors in the state.           
 
Thanks again for taking the time to read this newsletter and please accept my best wishes for a wonderful and relaxing remainder of the summer. 

Take care --see you soon!