Today @NCCapitol (July 3): Abortion and tax debates cued up for Wednesday morning

Until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a bill on the Senate Judiciary I committee's calendar only showed a bill that dealt with the application of foreign law to family cases. However, almost immediately, the committee took up an amendment to the bill that dealt with abortion.

After clearing a committee vote, the measure was put on the Senate floor calendar for a 7 p.m. session. Senators gave the bill tentative approval Tuesday night. They must vote against today to return the measure to the state House. 

Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, said the measures were aimed at ensuring patient safety, particularly in light of a high-profile Philadelphia case where women and their unborn children were mistreated. 

Melissa Reed, VP of Public Policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems, disagreed, saying those provisions are aimed at curbing access to abortion by ratcheting up regulations. 

During the committee meeting, Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover, cited two cases from other states where state courts had applied Sharia, or Islamic law, in settling family law cases. Those decisions were later overturned, he said. He cited what he was was a Michigan case in which a court upheld a traditional divorce proceeding in which the husband merely said "I divorce you" three times. 

"We want to make sure the laws of North Carolina don't allow something like that to stand," Goolsby said. 

"I wish we could get more, but I'll take what we can get," Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, said.

In many respects, the bill passed Tuesday represents compromise with the state House. The proposed 5.75 percent personal income tax rate is a midway point between the House proposal and an earlier Senate draft. The Senate bill also backs off a plan to change how Social Security income is taxed and compromises on how the state would deal with sales taxes.

But the Senate bill still raises $1.5 billion less than the House plan would over the next five years, a gap that has been a sticking point in negotiations.

"There's been a good deal of work done on trying to find some common ground," Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said.

The chamber voted 35-11 on Tuesday in favor of the bill that allows companies to withhold the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing if they're considered confidential or a trade secret.

The state Energy & Mining Commission would develop rules for public access to an online registry to see what family of chemicals would be used. The commission is currently creating those rules before fracking can begin in the state.