An independent expenditure is any advertisement that advocates the election or defeat of a candidate created by an entity other than a candidate, a candidate’s committee, or political party. This is an important victory for free speech in the United States.

What this bill does is legalize corporate or union-funded ads that support or oppose the election of a government official. The problem with H.B. 748 is that the majority of it is dedicated to limiting the very communications it legalizes.

The bill was originally sponsored by Rep. Koss (D-Wake), Rep. Stam (R-Wake), Rep. Weiss (D-Wake), and Rep. Dollar (R-Wake). The bill which the aforementioned representatives sponsored though, was a simple affirmation of the Supreme Court decision. Once several amendments were added to the bill by the Senate, it barely resembled the draft that was sponsored by Reps. Ross, Stam, Weiss, and Dollar. The amendments introduced before the final passage of the bill create a number of steps a corporation or union must take if it is to advertise support or opposition for a specific candidate. These requirements include, but are not limited to, filing reports with the State Board of Elections regarding all expenses of the communication, information on the organization itself, information on the candidate the organization is endorsing, and information on donors of the organization including full names, addresses, and occupations. If the ad is on the radio or television, the CEO of the sponsoring organization must state in the ad “for donor information contact [Name of board of elections with whom information [was] filed].”

There are two ways to address this attempt at regulation. The first is to defend the right to anonymous speech, which is precisely what Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did in his opinion of the Citizens United case. Justice Thomas claims, “Disclaimer and disclosure requirements enable private citizens and elected officials to implement political strategies specifically calculated to curtail campaign-related activity and prevent the lawful, peaceful exercise of First Amendment rights.” This new legislation mainly consists of the very same disclaimer and disclosure requirements Justice Thomas warns against.

Secondly, even if one views disclosure requirements in the same light as the majority of the Supreme Court, which claims they permit “citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way,” it is undeniable that the requirements in H.B. 748 go beyond simple disclosure.

At the very least, these disclosure requirements add to the massive amount of red tape it takes to get any political undertaking done in this state. For all of these reasons, H.B. 748 is this week’s Bad Bill.

The post H.B. 748: Roll Out the Red Tape appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The bill fails to mention some of the things it will not do. The first of these is that it will not increase students’ empirical understanding of fiscal responsibility. The impression that many of the students may leave the competition with is that it is OK to spend $100,000 of taxpayer dollars on a go-kart competition when the state government is facing a nearly $800 million deficit for the coming fiscal year.

Another point this bill fails to consider is that the hypothetical competition may not even accomplish either one of its objectives. What students will learn is that an engine can run on biofuel. This educational tidbit can be learned by perusing any number of articles published on the matter. There is also the issue that the students who would be entering this competition would probably already have an interest in science, engineering and environmental advocacy before they entered the competition. Lastly, that this competition would really do anything to encourage the “public acceptance of this emergent technology” is an absurd stretch of the imagination.

Legislators need to consider the severity of the deficit and how they are affecting it, especially through frivolous expenditures such as those called for in S.B. 1396.

The post S.B. 1396: $100,000 Biofuels Go-Kart Competition appeared first on Civitas Institute.

What they have failed to mention is the potential financial aid the state would gain if the bill were passed.

All states currently receive funding for crime technology development, in the form of block grants from the federal government’s  Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. The program was created in 2004 as part of the Safe Streets Act, which earmarks over $1 billion in recurring funds each year for this grant program to the states and local governments. A clause in the Act permits additional appropriations for the Grant Program to be made as deemed “necessary.”

This $1 billion is distributed among the states according to a formula included in Section 505 of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The formula bases the size of each state’s grant according to the state’s population, the ratio its population represents to the whole population of the United States, and the number of violent crimes in the state.  

The funding provided by these grants currently goes to every state to improve crime prevention technology. Currently, states that obtain DNA samples from offenders after conviction receive extra funding under the formula. If new federal legislation passes, however, this will change to include added benefits to states that require DNA samples be taken upon arrest.

H.R. 4614, a bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and currently before committee in the U.S. Senate, would introduce another amendment to Section 505 of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. This amendment would alter the current grant distribution formula so that any state requiring DNA collection upon arrest for murder, rape, sexual assault, or kidnapping receives a 5 percent increase in funds. If a state requires DNA testing for the aforementioned felonies plus burglary and aggravated assault, that state would receive a 10 percent increase in the funding it currently receives. Last year North Carolina received $13.7 million in total appropriations from this grant, not counting additional funding the state received for this purpose via the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. Based on this number we would receive $1.3 million in additional funds if both bills were signed into law. 

The post H.B. 1403 “Collect DNA Sample on Arrest”: What They’re Not Saying appeared first on Civitas Institute.

Much like the Senate’s Natural and Economic Resources (NER) Budget, the House NER Budget plan contains several large expansions that are “nonrecurring”, or one-time added expenditures. The House proposal reflects an astounding 9.8 percent expansion from last year’s authorized spending plan for 2010-11.

The primary focus of the House NER Budget expansions is on economic development, notably in the One North Carolina Fund, Main Street Solutions program, the Biotechnology Center, Homegrown Jobs, and the Regional Economic Development Commissions. There is also a significant expansion in the budget for the NC Biofuels Center.

In addition to these expenditures, the House Budget calls for nearly $11 million to be raided from special funds and moved to the General Fund. These special funds include the Mercury Pollution Prevention Fund, the Aquariums Fund, the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund, and the Wildlife Resources Commission.

There are several key differences between the House NER Budget and the Senate NER Budget. The Senate Budget did not include any of the provisions from special funds or the $2 million for Main Street Solutions that were proposed by the House. The House proposal would appropriate $9 million for the One North Carolina Fund, which is $6 million less than what the Senate budgeted. Also, the House did not include the $12 million appropriation for Lab-to-Market Funds/Commercialization that was included in the Senate NER Budget. Lab-to-Market Funds would go to technology development companies to expedite the process of getting new products on the market.

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $9 million to the One North Carolina Fund
• $2 million to Main Street Solutions. This is one of the Governor’s new programs that provides grants to small business owners in downtown districts of small communities.
• $5 million to NC Biofuels Center
• $4.3 million to operating funds for the Biotechnology Center
• $3.1 million to Homegrown Jobs, as recommended in both the Governor’s and the Senate’s budget proposal. This provides additional funding for the Rural Center’s Building Reuse and Restoration program as well as funding for small-scale regional community development projects.
• $5 million to Regional Economic Development Commissions, this amount is equal to that called for in the Senate plan and roughly twice the expansion requested by Perdue.

Reductions:

• Operating Costs and Position Eliminations in most departments
• $1 million from the sale of Forest Resources Aircraft
• $2.5 million from the operating budget of NC Aquariums
• $800,000 from transferring the Executive Aircraft Division within the Department of Commerce to the Aviation Division within the Department of Transportation. This transfer was approved in the Senate Budget as well.

The post N.C. House’s 2010-11 Budget Recommendations: Natural and Economic Resources appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The House budget plan would reduce overall Justice and Public Safety (JPS) Budget by about 3 percent compared to the spending plan put in place last year.

As with the Senate JPS Budget, the majority of appropriations shifting occurs within the Department of Corrections, the largest department in JPS. The largest reductions come from inmate medical costs and a lower-than-projected inmate population.

The most significant difference between the House and Senate JPS budgets is that the House allocates to the Department of Corrections about $12 million less than the Senate to correct for an inmate population now projected to be lower than the estimates used last when the two-year budget plan was put in place. Corrections, however, would see an increase of 803 full-time positions under the House budget.

Two other notable discrepancies between the House and Senate budgets are the $3.5 million expansion in the House Budget to restore the Samackland Youth Development Center, which is absent from the Senate Budget, and the $2.35 million in the Senate Budget to expand prisoner education not included in the House Budget.

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $9.77 million to the operating reserves at the Central and Women Prisons’ hospitals as requested in the Governor’s budget proposal
• $3.5 million to restore the Samackland Youth Development Center. This is an alternative correctional facility for juvenile offenders.
• $2.2 million to restore the Sentencing Services program as requested in both the Governor’s and Senate’s spending plans

Reductions:

• $27.2 million from the Department of Corrections because of lower than expected inmate population
• $20.5 million from linking inmate medical costs to a fee schedule based on rates authorized by Medicaid. This reduction was included in the Senate’s and Governor Perdue’s proposals
• $5.75 million from the Private Assigned Counsel (PAC) program. PAC consists of private legal counsel who have been assigned to provide indigent legal services. This reduction was also included in the Senate Budget.
• $5 million from the technology services program and administration budgets of the Judicial Department. This too was included in the Senate Budget.

The post N.C. House’s 2010-11 Budget Recommendations: Justice and Public Safety appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The General Government Budget would be reduced by 0.7 percent in the House proposal. The majority of the reductions are reflected in operating budgets and position eliminations or transfers within most departments.

The largest expansion in the General Government Budget is granted to the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services. Additional expansions occurred within the NC Museum of Art, the Military Morale and Welfare fund, a grant for the NC Symphony, and the Governor’s proposed Good Government Package.

The overall reduction of the House General Government Budget was less than the Senate proposed. Notable expansions included in the House Budget but not in the Senate’s plan include $1.4 million in appropriations for the new North Carolina Museum of Art building, $500,000 more for the Military Morale and Welfare Fund, and a $500,000 grant for the NC Symphony. Meanwhile, the Senate Budget contained reductions to the Rape Crisis Program and Local Library Grants that the House Budget did not include.

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $9.5 million for Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services (CJLEADS). The program is designed to integrate “criminal justice information” into a centralized system. This expansion is in agreement with Perdue and Senate plans
• $1.4 million for a new North Carolina Museum of Art Building
• $450,000 for the Governor’s Good Government Package: this would be used to develop software that would make reporting on campaign finances more efficient and reliable for candidates.
• $547,600 to increase funding for the State Ethics Commission. This is also part of Perdue’s Good Government Package.
• $500,000 for the Military Morale and Welfare Fund
• $500,000 grant for NC Symphony

Reductions:

• Operating budgets in every department are reduced along with position eliminations/transfers in almost every department
• $525,903 from the Home Protection Program under the Housing Finance Agency, in anticipation that these funds will be replaced with federal funds. The Program offers interest-free loans from the state to people who have lost their jobs. The loans are to be used to pay mortgage payments and other related expenses like homeowner’s insurance during a temporary period of time. This is a smaller reduction than proposed by the Senate.

The post N.C. House’s 2010-11 Budget Recommendations: General Government appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The General Assembly’s final Natural and Economic Resources (NER) budget reflects legislators’ plan to spend the state out of the recession. This budget received a shocking 13.3 percent expansion over last year’s budgeted spending.

Most of the additional spending is “non-recurring” and has the stated aim of furthering economic development. The One North Carolina Fund, Main Street Solutions program, the Biotechnology Center, Regional Economic Development Commissions, and Homegrown Jobs programs are a sampling of state programs aimed at economic development, each of which receive expanded budgets this year.

In addition to the aforementioned expenditures the NER budget directly raids $6.7 million from special funds such as the Mercury Prevention Fund and the Wildlife Resources Commission to help balance the General Fund. The budget also diverts $4.4 million to the general fund that otherwise would be contributed to various special funds in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources.

Amazingly, the final NER budget spends more than either the House or Senate proposed. At $467.7 million, the final budget will exceed the House’s budget plan for NER – the higher of the two – by $15 million.

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $12.5 million to the One North Carolina Fund
• $1.5 million to Main Street Solutions. This is one of the Governor’s new programs that provides grants to small business owners in downtown districts of small communities.
• $5 million to NC Biofuels Center
• $5 million to operating funds for the Biotechnology Center
• $3.1 million to Homegrown Jobs, as recommended in both the Governor’s and the Senate’s budget proposal. This provides additional funding for the Rural Center’s Building Reuse and Restoration program as well as funding for small-scale regional community development projects.
• $5 million to Regional Economic Development Commissions, this amount is equal to that called for in the Senate plan and roughly twice the expansion requested by Perdue.

Reductions:

• Operating costs and position eliminations in many departments
• $1.5 million from the sale of Forest Resources Aircraft
• $714,297 million from the operating budget of NC Aquariums
• $800,000 from transferring the Executive Aircraft Division within the Department of Commerce to the Aviation Division within the Department of Transportation. This transfer was approved in the Senate Budget as well.

The post North Carolina’s FY 2010-11 State Budget: Natural and Economic Resources appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The overall Justice and Public Safety (JPS) budget was reduced by about 3 percent compared to the spending plan put in place as the second year of the two-year budget approved last year.

As with the Senate and House JPS budgets, the majority of appropriations shifting occurs within the Department of Corrections, the largest department in JPS. On net, the JPS budget creates 802 new positions, most of which coming in the Department of Corrections to staff a new Central Prison Hospital and Mental Health Facility and Women’s Prison Hospital. The largest spending reductions come from inmate medical cost savings and a lower-than-projected inmate population.

The most significant difference between the final JPS budget and the House and Senate versions is that the final budget includes a more modest reduction to the Department of Corrections budget. The reductions were put in place because of a lower-than-expected inmate population at the time the respective legislative bodies crafted their budget plans. The final budget will reduce the Corrections budget $5 million less than requested in the House plan and $17 million less than recommended in the Senate plan. 

Other notable discrepancies between the final JPS budget and the House and Senate proposals include the $3.5 million expansion to restore the Samackland Youth Development Center, which was included in the House budget but was absent from the Senate budget

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $8 million to the operating reserves at the Central and Women Prisons’ hospitals
• $3.5 million to restore the Samackland Youth Development Center. This is an alternative correctional facility for juvenile offenders.
• $2.2 million to restore the Sentencing Services program as requested by the Governor and proposed by both the Senate and the House budgets.

Reductions:

• $22 million from the Department of Corrections because of lower than expected inmate population. This reduction is less than those found in both the Senate and House budgets.
• $20.5 million in savings from linking inmate medical costs to a fee schedule based on rates authorized by Medicaid.
• $6 million from the Private Assigned Counsel (PAC) program. PAC consists of private legal counsels who have been assigned to provide indigent legal services.
• $3.7 million from the technology services program and administration budgets of the Judicial Department. This is a smaller reduction than proposed in either the Senate or House budgets.

The post North Carolina’s FY 2010-11 State Budget: Justice and Public Safety appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The General Government budget appropriates essentially the same amount of funds compared to the amount tentatively scheduled for use in the second year of the two-year budget plan approved last year, with only a 0.2 percent reduction. As with the proposed Senate and House General Government budgets, the reductions largely result from operating budget cuts and position eliminations and transfers.

The largest expansion in the General Government budget occurs in the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services. Other programs being expanded include the NC Museum of Art, the Military Morale and Welfare fund, the NC Symphony, and funding for the Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act.

The overall reduction of the House General Government budget was less than that proposed by both the Senate and House General Government budgets. Notable expansions included in the final General Government budget and the House’s plan but not in the Senate’s include $1.3 million in appropriations for the new North Carolina Museum of Art building, $500,000 more for the Military Morale and Welfare Fund, and a $500,000 grant for the NC Symphony. Meanwhile, the final budget also included the Senate reductions from the Rape Crisis Program and Domestic Violence Program that the House budget did not include.

Significant expansions and reductions include:

Expansions:

• $8.9 million for Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services (CJLEADS); in agreement with Perdue and Senate plans. The program is designed to integrate “criminal justice information” into a centralized computer system.
• $1.3 million for a new North Carolina Museum of Art Building
• $421,018 for the State Board of Elections as part of the Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act. The funds will be used to hire an auditor and acquire software to develop more transparent reporting of campaign financing.
• $492,702 to increase funding for the State Ethics Commission. This is also part of the Government Ethics and Campaign Reform Act. These funds will be used to hire additional legal staff tasked with monitoring ethics law compliance.
• $500,000 for the Military Morale and Welfare Fund
• $2 million in additional support for the NC Symphony, $500,000 of which is in the form of a grant.

Reductions:

• Operating budgets in every department are reduced along with position eliminations/transfers in almost every department
• $2.5 million from the Home Protection Program under the Housing Finance Agency, in anticipation that these funds will be replaced with federal funds. The Program offers interest-free loans from the state to people who have lost their jobs. The loans are to be used to pay mortgage payments and other related expenses like homeowner’s insurance during a temporary period of time. This is a smaller reduction than proposed by the Senate, and nearly $2 million larger than the House’s plan.
• $151,119 from the Rape Crisis Program
• $243,115 from the Domestic Violence Program

The post North Carolina’s FY 2010-11 State Budget: General Government appeared first on Civitas Institute.

S.B. 1113 and S.B. 1114, if passed, would make the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill exempt from General Statutes, 143-129, 143-131, and 143-132; which compel local governments to accept a minimum number of bids for contracts on municipal projects over $500,000 and supplies exceeding $30,000. The bills provide little guidance as to what projects could be included in these exceptions, save for the extremely vague phrase “aimed at increasing energy efficiency.”

The primary problem with these bills is that they encourage patronage and cronyism to take place with the municipal contracts of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. If the city council does not need to accept a minimum number of bids for a contract, what regulations would be in place to stop the council from contracting the first familiar face to make an offer for the project? What is there to prevent city council members from tailoring a project for a specific contractor? If this bill were to pass, the answer is ‘nothing.’

Another worry with this bill is the obscurity of what it means to be “aimed at increasing energy efficiency.” This could be applied to virtually any project in which there would be even the slightest predicted increase in energy efficiency. This could include anything as simple as painting the walls of a municipal office building white to absorb less sunlight and lower energy costs or as complex as creating an entirely ‘green’ wastewater treatment plant, with energy efficient heating, cooling, lighting, plumbing, and just about any other aspect of a building that has an ‘energy efficient’ alternative.

What these bills would do is encourage city councils to invent projects that could be termed “aimed at energy efficiency” in order to line the pockets of any contractor they favor with the money of Carrboro and Chapel Hill taxpayers. These bills would create blatant system of patronage in Carrboro and Chapel Hill and that is what earns S.B. 1113 and 1114 the title of “Bad Bill of the Week.”

The post S.B. 1113 and S.B. 1114: Contracts Available – Call Your Friends! appeared first on Civitas Institute.