Don't you believe it for a minute, kid. Keep your eye on him.
Ever since the 2010 election ushered in Republican super-majorities to both North Carolina's state Senate and its House of Representatives (collectively, the General Assembly), citizens of the Tarheel State have been stunned witnesses to the devolution of polity into something more like the Law of the Jungle: America's harshest voter suppression law and most laissez faire fracking regulations, taxes piled on the poor and slashed for the wealthy, massive defunding of public education, climate-change science denial written into law, and so much more.
In the run-up to the 2016 election, in which all 170 General Assembly seats will be up for grabs, it seems good to chronicle the continuing stream of bills our New Crazy North Carolina legislators are deliberating (if one may use that term): which legislators are proposing to do what, to whom, and whose pockets are they in? Because, if only young and middle-aged Dems will bother to show up at the polls in November 2016 (Ds outnumber Rs in NC), these clowns will have to answer for their continuing malfeasance. This will be a continuing occasional series of articles - for as long as the crazy keeps coming.
What's New In The Cuckoo's Nest (through March 24th):
Senate Bill 2: An Act to Allow Magistrates [...] to Recuse Themselves From Performing Duties Related to Marriage Ceremonies Due to Sincerely Held Religious Objection
This rabid backlash against marriage equality was the topic of another recent diary, which earned a surprising 11,000 Facebook shares and prompted emails to state legislators. Perhaps not coincidentally, the bill now appears to be stuck in the state House Committee on the Judiciary, after successfully passing in the Senate a month ago. A source informs me "No one seems to know when/if [the state House] will even take up SB2." Thank you for your support, and stay tuned.
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Phil Berger [R] (Guilford, Rockingham). Email: Phil.Berger@ncleg.net. Phone: (919) 733-5708
House Bill 203: Phaseout of Fuel Tax
Yet another steal-from-the-poor-and-give-to-the-rich tax 'reform' scheme, but with a couple of insidious new twists (just wait till you hear this one).
Like most states, North Carolina funds its state highway construction and maintenance efforts through an excise tax on motor fuels - currently 37.75 cents per gallon for both gas and diesel - a reasonably progressive system in which those who use state highways the most pay the most for their maintenance. While its fuel tax rate is, admittedly, one of the highest among the 50 states, North Carolina is second only to Texas in total state highway miles, and its highway network is widely regarded as excellent. HB203 would put an end to all that, by abolishing the fuel excise tax and replacing it with a flat fee paid annually by vehicle owners when they renew their registrations.
Here's the first kicker. Because the law imposes a flat fee of $201 per year per vehicle, lower-income urban car owners who perhaps drive only one thousand miles a year would pay just as much for highway maintenance as better-off country dwellers who, like my family, drive upwards of 30,000 miles per year. Put another way: using the U.S. government's estimated average fuel economy of 28 miles per gallon, we can calculate that a one-car, 1,000 mile-per-year family currently pays about $13 toward the cost of highway maintenance and construction, whereas a 1-car, 30,000 mile-per-year family currently pays about $400. So HB203 would increase that low-income family's required contribution to state coffers thirteen-fold, while slashing the affluent, hard-driving family's contribution by half. That's one sweet deal for me, but man, it sure sucks bein' you.
And here's the second kicker. HB203's language is exceedingly arcane, but as best I (and others I've conferred with) can tell, that $201 annual fee would be paid only by passenger vehicle and light truck owners. That means that if you own a semi truck...or a whole fleet of 'em...HB203 makes a free gift of our state highway system to lucky you. Woohoo!
Oh...did I forget to mention that HB203's primary sponsor is the founder and CEO of North Carolina trucking company, Intermodal FCL, Inc.? I'm sure that's just one of those crazy coincidences.
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Charles Jeter [R] (Mecklenburg). Email: Charles.Jeter@ncleg.net. Phone: 704-895-4884.
Current Status: Introduced in the House, referred to the Committee on Transportation.
Check back next Wednesday for Volume II in this series.