Today @NCCapitol (July 11): School buildings, Jordan Lake and abortion on today's agenda
The state House will take up a controversial measure placing stiff regulations on abortion clinics, and women's rights group are expected to protest. Earlier in the day, House committee will take up bills dealing with rules to clean up Jordan Lake and to transfer the ownership of school buildings to counties.
Posted — UpdatedYour browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
"Unless significant changes and clarifications are made addressing our concerns that were clearly communicated by DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos, Governor Pat McCrory will veto the existing bill, HB 695, if it is passed by the House and Senate," read a statement from McCroy's press office.
The new version of the House bill shifts a few lines of the language that was in the Senate bill, clarifying when a doctor has to be in the room for a medical abortion and instructing the Department of Health and Human Services to construct regulations for abortion clinics "not unduly restricting access" to women's health.
Advocates on both sides of the issue said the bill for all practical purposes has the same effect as the Senate measure. Officials with the governor's office and the Department did not return phone calls seeking comment as to whether the House bill overcomes the governor's objections.
Outside the legislature at 11 a.m., women's groups are expected to protest against the bill. Inside the building, House Speaker Thom Tillis has set aside three hours for debate of the measure. And under an agreement that allots Democrats two of those three hours, Democrats have agreed not to use a procedural objection that would keep the bill from traveling to the back to the Senate at the end of today's session. The Senate will have to vote on the bill before sending it to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature or veto.
Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
"We're still talking," Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Wednesday afternoon. He confirmed that top leaders from the House and Senate met with Gov. Pat McCrory at the executive mansion twice Wednesday. He and other leaders express some optimism that the two sides were moving closer together, but nobody was willing to say for sure they would close a deal.
In the mean time, the full chairman of the House and Senate appropriations committees are taking the first steps toward brokering a budget deal that has been long-delayed by the tax talks.
"We're beginning discussion on the broad similarities and differences," said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake. Although that's a tentative step, it is a sign that budget writers are no longer waiting on tax negotiations in order to move forward.
The fiscal year began July 1, but lawmakers put a 30 day continuing resolution in place to keep government operating until tax and budget deals were done. Given the slow pace of progress on both of those measure, there has been some speculation among legislative observers a second continuing resolution might be in the works. Dollar brushed aside that idea Wednesday.
"I'm not discussing it," he said.
Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.