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The House Select Study Committee on Capital Punishment was named in 2005 after the House was unable to pass the death penalty moratorium bill. Rep. Joe Hackney (now “Mr. Speaker”) was a co-chair, along with Rep. Beverly Earle. The Committee has now introduced several bills which, while they don’t call for a moratorium, do address some of the concerns of death penalty opponents. All have been referred to the House Judiciary II Committee. These bills include:

H 784, Execution/Change Age, would bring NC law into agreement with a US Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional to execute a defendant who was under the age of 18 at the time of the murder. Current NC law would permit execution of someone who was 17 at the time of the crime. Introduced by Reps. Earle, Glazier, Harrison.

H 785, Report New Trial to State Bar, would require a report to be filed with the State Bar whenever a new hearing or new trial is ordered in a capital case because of misconduct by the attorneys on either side. Introduced by Reps. Earle, Glazier.

H 786, LEO Provide Info to DA for Discovery, would require law enforcement agencies to turn over their complete files to the district attorney, who in turn is already required to make this information available to defendants. Introduced by Reps. Earle, Glazier, Harrison.

H 787, Felony Murder. Under current law, first-degree murder is one that is “willful, deliberate, and premeditated” OR which happens while another felony is being committed or attempted, but without the murder being planned. Under current law, this so-called “felony murder” is included in first-degree murder and can be punished by death. H 787 would separate out felony murder and require life imprisonment without parole for those found guilty. First-degree murder would still be the charge for willful, deliberate, and premeditated killings. Introduced by Reps. Earle and Harrison.

H 788, Racial Discrimination Vacate Death Sentence, would specify that racial discrimination is grounds for appeal from a death sentence. It can be discrimination alleged at any point during the trial. Introduced by Reps. Earle, Glazier.

H 789, Capital Murder Statute, would rewrite current murder laws. Under current law, first-degree murder is one that is “willful, deliberate, and premeditated” or felony murder (see H 787, above). To determine whether someone found guilty of first-degree murder receives a death sentence, jurors consider a list of aggravating circumstances (such as whether the murderer is already in prison at the time of the murder, whether s/he has a previous murder conviction, etc.).

As rewritten the law would

· Create the crime of “capital murder” and incorporate many of the aggravating factors in current law into the definition of capital murder (i.e., willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing by someone who is already in prison, who already has a previous murder conviction, etc.). In the sentencing phase, jurors could impose the death penalty only if they found that the murderer would probably “commit criminal acts of violence that would be a continuing serious threat to society” or that the conduct in committing the murder was “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman, in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or aggravated battery.” Otherwise, the punishment would be mandatory life in prison without parole.

· Regardless of these provisions, persons under the age of 18 when the crime was committed could receive only life without parole.

· First-degree murder would be any other murder that was “willful, deliberate and premeditated” or felony murder, and the sentence would be mandatory life in prison without parole.

Introduced by Rep. Earle.

Another important death penalty bill has been filed in the Senate. S 1075, Prohibit Execution/Severe Mental Disability, is identical to H 553. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sen. Kinnaird; referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm.

HEALTH ACCESS BILLS REINTRODUCED

The two most important bills for universal access to health care have been introduced again this year. They are as follows:

H 901, Health Care for All, would amend the state constitution to recognize that every resident has a fundamental right to appropriate health care on a regular basis. Introduced by Rep. Insko; referred to House Rules Comm.

H 973, Mental Health Equitable Coverage (and S 1434, Mental Health Parity, which is identical in all but name) would require group health insurance coverage of mental illness and chemical dependence to be subject to the same limits (not more stringent limits) as physical illness. Introduced by Rep. Alexander and Sen. Atwater; referred to House Health Comm. and Senate Commerce Comm.

These two bills would go a long way toward making health care available to all who need it. The NC Council of Churches supports both bills.

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?

Three more bills have been introduced from the “an armed restaurant is a safe restaurant” crowd. They are

S 1094/H 831, Personal Protection in Restaurants. Current law prohibits carrying any firearm into an establishment where alcohol is sold. No matter what you make think about guns, not combining them with inebriation sounds like a good plan. But these two bills would allow people with concealed handgun permits “to protect themselves and their families in restaurants” by taking their handguns with them. Introduced by Sen. Brock and Reps. Hilton and Steen; referred to Senate and House Judiciary I.

Let’s recap that—these bills address a problem that doesn’t exist: restaurant patrons needing to protect themselves. From what? High prices? Bad service? Unsavory food? High cholesterol? And it allows people who have been drinking, perhaps too much, to pull out their guns to protect themselves from a perceived threat. You have to look at some of these bills and wonder where they came from and what people are thinking.

H 830, Concealed Handgun Permit Valid in Parks. Current law allows (but does not require) local governments to prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns in local government buildings and parks. H 830 would remove parks from the law, thus prohibiting local regulation of handguns in parks. Introduced by Rep. Hilton; referred to House Judiciary I Comm.

Again, will you feel safer as you walk through your local park knowing that anybody you meet might be packing heat? And does it make sense to take away from local governments this ability to protect its park visitors from vigilantes with handguns?

GETTING SOME OF THE MONEY OUT OF CAMPAIGNS

S 1128/S 1205, Voter-Owned Elections, would extend the public campaign financing currently available in appellate court elections to Council of State offices (not including the Governor and Lieutenant Governor). To qualify, candidates would have to raise contributions of $10 to $100 from 2,000 registered voters, with no more than a third from the same congressional district. Candidates could receive in-kind support worth up to $30,000 from political parties. Candidates could contribute no more than $1,000 to their own campaigns, with family members able to contribute up to $1,000 each (with a combined family limit of $2,000 in S 1205). Campaign money from the public fund would provide at least $50,000 per candidate in contested primaries and at least $300,000 per candidate for general elections, with higher amounts if the average spending for that race in the last two elections has been higher. Money for these publicly funded campaigns would come from a 1% surcharge on insurance regulatory charges and licensing fees, elevator and boiler inspection fees, business filing fees paid to the Secretary of State, and registration fees paid by security dealers. Introduced by Sens. Clodfelter and Nesbitt; referred to Senate Government and Election Reform.

S 1261, Legislative Campaigns Pilot, would set up pilot programs for public funding of elections for the state Senate and House. Pilots would operate in four selected districts, two in each house. To qualify for public funds, a candidate would have to receive small contributions ($10 to $100) from voters in the district (150 voters for House seats, 300 for Senate). Those who accept public funds would agree not to take individual contributions of more than $10 per person, to make personal contributions of no more than $1,000, and to accept family contributions of no more than $2,000. Public funding would be at least $50,000 for House seats and $75,000 for Senate seats, with more for districts with higher spending histories. Introduced by Sen. Atwater; referred to Senate Government and Election Reform.

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM

S 760/S 954, Popular Election, would include NC in an agreement among the states to elect the President by a national popular vote. Introduced by Sens. Dannelly and Clodfelter; S 760 was referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm and S 954 to Senate Government and Election Reform.

S 767, Term Limits for Constitutional Officers, would amend the state constitution to limit the terms of the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate to two consecutive General Assemblies. Introduced by Sen. Phil Berger; referred to Senate Government and Election Reform.

S 1469, Appoint Most Council of State Members, would amend the state constitution to provide that the only elected members of the Council of State would be the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney General. A companion bill, S 1470, specifies that the remaining five members of the Council of State would be appointed by the Governor. They include the Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Commissioners of Agriculture, Labor, and Insurance. Introduced by Sen. Albertson; referred to Senate Ways and Means Comm.

H 702, Four-Year Terms, would amend the state constitution so that all members of the General Assembly would be elected for four-year terms, starting in 2010. Introduced by Reps. Underhill, Farmer-Butterfield, Justice, and Holliman; referred to House Rules Comm.

Constitutional amendments must be passed by a 3/5 vote in each house and then approved by a majority of the voters in an election.

WHY DO THEY WANT TO MAKE IT HARDER TO VOTE?

S 779/H 989, Photo ID for Voters, would require all voters to present a government-issued photo identification card before voting. Only those voting absentee would not be asked to show ID. Those who cannot present ID when voting in person could vote provisionally, with their identity being verified later. Poor people who cannot obtain ID without paying a fee would have to submit a statement of their identity and vote provisionally. The Senate version of these similar bills would also allow provisional voting for someone who lacks a photo ID because of religious objections to being photographed. Introduced by Sen. Goodall and Rep. Boylan; referred to Senate Government and ER and House Election Law Comm.

S 1253, Voter Registration and Voting in English, would require that all ballots and voter registration materials be in English to the extent allowable by federal law. (The bill would also make the $4,000 limitation on campaign contributions apply to contributions from political party executive committees to candidates.) Introduced by Sen. Brock; referred to Senate Government and ER.

HOW MANY DUMPS ARE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?

S 1345, Create Office of Environmental Justice, would create a place in state government with responsibility for 1) ensuring that government actions affecting health and the environment not be discriminatory and 2) raising awareness of environmental issues in minority and low-income communities. The bill would also allocate $250,000 per year for this work. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 1385, Environmental Justice in Solid Waste Landfill Siting, would require those wanting to open a new landfill or expand an existing one to make a demographic study of the area within five miles of the site. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Senate Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources.

Another environmental problem that’s probably not in the neighborhoods of most members of the Raleigh Report network is the water and air pollution from hog farms. S 1465, Swine Farm Environmental Performance Standards, would prohibit new or expanded lagoon and sprayfield waste systems for hog farms. Money would be provided to help farmers convert lagoon systems to more environmentally friendly systems. The bill allocates $10 million in each year of the biennium. Introduced by Sen. Albertson; referred to Senate Ag, Env, and NR Comm.

AND IN OTHER GLOBAL WARMING ISSUES . . .

S 1307, Low-Emission Vehicles Program/Funds, would promote the use of low-emission and alternate-fuel vehicles by requiring the state to purchase them and by refusing to title new vehicles that don’t meet high standards, starting in 2009. Introduced by Sen. Clodfelter; referred to Senate Commerce Comm.

H 838, Ban Incandescent Light Bulbs, would prohibit the sale of incandescent and halogen light bulbs, with a few specified exceptions, by 2016. Introduced by Rep. Harrison; referred to House Energy and Energy Efficiency Comm.

THE WILMINGTON RACE RIOT OF 1898

H 750, 751, 752, 754, 755, and 823 would implement recommendations of the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission. Specific proposals include acknowledging that the race riot was a conspiracy to replace a duly elected government, placing historical markers related to the race riot, producing a documentary, and establishing a commission to bring recommendations to help current generations impacted by the 1898 race riot. Introduced by Rep. Wright; 750, 751, and 752 have been referred to House Judiciary II Comm., 754, 755, and 823 to House Appropriations.

S 1187, DPI/Curriculum on 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, is identical to H 633. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Senate Education Comm.

WILL THERE BE ANY HELP FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM?

S 1236/H 934, Funds to Expand MH/DD/SAS System, would allocate $190 million in the following categories and amounts:

· Cross-disability programs

§ almost $21 million for housing and support services

§ $20 million for workforce development

§ $5.5 million for law enforcement training

§ $8 million for crisis services

§ $7 million for supported employment

· Mental health

§ $30 million for community capacity expansion

§ $2.4 million for services for people with both mental illness and deafness.

· Developmental disabilities

§ $10 million for Community Alternative Program for Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities (CAP/MR/DD)

§ $1.7 million for First in Families

§ $2 million for respite care

§ $1 million for Access Dental Services

§ $7 million for early intervention

· Substance abuse

§ $7.5 million for Community Substance Abuse Prevention Coalitions Initiative

§ $44 million for Treatment Alternative for Safer Communities (TASC) services and treatment for offenders

§ $2.1 million for community outreach pilots

§ $300,000 for Seeking Safety Initiative

§ $700,000 for Strengthening the Families Substance Abuse Prevention Program

· MH/DD/SAS Trust Fund - $20 million

Introduced by Sen. Nesbitt and Rep. Insko; referred to Senate and House Appropriations Comms.

S 1266/H 691, Build Community Infrastructure – MH/DD/SAS, would allocate about $136 million. It would include the following:

· $10 million for residential and outpatient substance abuse programs.

· $1.4 million to establish a community-based residential substance abuse treatment facility for female offenders on probation and female DWI offenders paroled to treatment.

· $4 million for substance abuse services and case management in drug courts.

· $5.2 million to subsidize residents of independent- and supportive-living apartments.

· $10 million to the Housing Trust Fund to finance these apartments.

· $10 million to implement crisis plans.

· $15 million to provide crisis services to individuals being held in county jails.

· $5 million to provide crisis services as part of a pilot program to reduce admissions to psychiatric hospitals.

· $1 million for general mental health services in jails.

· $900,000 to expand post-arrest jail diversion programs.

· $100,000 to develop crisis intervention teams.

· $4 million to add 68 case managers to the TASC program.

· $30 million for local units to purchase mental health services.

· $9.9 million to increase the number of slots in the CAP/MR/DD.

· $7 million for Supported Employment Long-Term Support services.

Introduced by Sen. Nesbitt and Rep. Insko; referred to Senate Appropriations and House Mental Health Reform Comms.

S 1191, LMEs Handle Case Management, would include case management among the primary functions of local management entities (LMEs, formerly known as area mental health agencies) and allocate $5 million for this function. Introduced by Sen. Nesbitt; referred to Senate Appropriations.

ASSESSING THE MONETARY VALUE OF A CHEATING SPOUSE?

H 681, Abolish Alienation of Affection and Criminal Conversation. These are civil actions (not criminal) which can be brought when a marriage is breaking up, usually when one spouse has been involved in an adulterous relationship. (Criminal conversation must involve adultery; alienation of affection often does, but it’s not required.) The action is brought by the wronged spouse against the person with whom the offending spouse was having an affair (or another third party thought to be responsible for breaking up the marriage). It is for monetary damages and, while it is now available to wronged husbands and wives, was rooted in the notion that a man was entitled to compensation if someone stole away his wife. Introduced by Reps. Insko, Wray; referred to House Judiciary I Comm.

ADJUSTING PRISON TERMS

S 823/H 806, Sentence Lengths. Current law prescribes maximum and minimum sentences based on the level of the crime, the criminal’s prior record, and whether there are aggravating and mitigating circumstances. These two bills would make more proportional the differences in sentence based on prior record. The effect would be to reduce most minimum sentences and increase a few. Introduced by Sen. Kinnaird and Rep. Luebke; referred to Senate Judiciary I and House Judiciary II Comms.

S 933/H 805, Adjust B1-E Felony Penalties, would reduce by three months the minimum sentences for these felonies and increase by three months the maximum penalties. It would also increase the period of post-release supervision from 9 to 12 months. Introduced by Sen. Kinnaird and Rep. Luebke; referred to Senate Judiciary I and House Judiciary II.

BILLS AFFECTING EDUCATION

S 1295, Revise Low-Wealth Schools Funding Formula, would require the state to study how low-wealth school funds are distributed and make changes to ensure that the money is indeed targeted at those districts. Introduced by Sen. Swindell; referred to Senate Education Comm.

S 1413, Education Recovery Act of 2007, would set up a pilot program in five school districts. All students would be given $1,000 at the beginning of each grade, with the money going into an investment account and available only to pay for higher education after high school graduation. Introduced by Sen. Hartsell; referred to Senate Appropriations.

H 846, Encourage Students to Stay in School, would allocate $6.5 million in each year of the biennium for grants to encourage students to stay in school. Efforts would be focused on those schools with the highest dropout rates. Introduced by Reps. Yongue, Carney, Glazier, Lucas; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 879, Modify School Health Education Program, would make the following changes in health education programs in public schools:

· Expand the required subject areas in kindergarten through grade 9 to include preventing unintended pregnancy and awareness of sexual abuse and assault. The requirement that health education include “abstinence until marriage education” is re-worded and expanded to say “abstinence-based comprehensive sexual health education.”

· Require comprehensive sexual education programs for grades 7-12 and specify that materials must be age-appropriate and medically accurate. Beginning in grade 7, there would be information on abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, and contraceptives.

· Material must be free of bias based on sex, ethnicity, national origin, religion, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, or mental or physical disability.

· HIV/AIDS prevention education must be taught at least once in middle school and once in high school.

· Parents would be given an opportunity to opt their children out of these sex education programs.

Introduced by Reps. Fisher, Coleman, Jeffus, Goodwin; referred to House Health Comm.

HEALTH

S 862/H 760, UNC Smoke-Free, would allow all institutions in the UNC system to be entirely smoke-free. Introduced by Sen. Purcell and Rep. Holliman; referred to Senate and House Health Comms.

S 1208, Cigarette Tax – Cancer Hospital, would raise the cigarette tax from 35¢ per pack to 40¢ and use 1/8 of the money collected to fund the Cancer Hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill. Introduced by Sen. Rand; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

S 1184, Medicaid Waiver/HIV AIDS Patient Eligibility, would direct the state to seek Medicaid funding for persons with HIV whose incomes are 200% of poverty or less. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

H 963, Elect Medical Board/Fees/Report Misconduct. One section of this bill would require the NC Medical Board to release information about doctors who have lost or settled five malpractice claims, each worth at least $100,000, in a ten-year period of time. Introduced by Rep. Faison; referred to House Health Comm.

HUMAN RIGHTS

S 1079/H 974, Protections for Victims of Human Trafficking, would set out protections and services available for victims of human trafficking, including those who are immigrants and might not otherwise be entitled to help. Introduced by Sen. Kinnaird and Rep. Alexander; referred to Senate Judiciary I and House Judiciary II Comms.

S 1346, Study State Contracts with Minority Businesses, would authorize a study of the disparity in awarding state contracts to minority businesses. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Rules Comm.

H 824, Improve Gender Equity Reporting Statute, would improve the state’s recordkeeping regarding how many men and how many women are appointed to state decision-making and regulatory bodies and require information about appointments to a host of specific local board. Introduced by Rep. Insko; referred to House Judiciary I Comm.

IMMIGRATION

S 807, State LEOs/Enforce Federal Immigration Laws, would require the state to enter an agreement with the federal government to allow state law enforcement to perform the functions of federal immigration officers in dealing with immigrants. Introduced by Sen. Pittenger; referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm.

A REMINDER OF WHAT WORK IS LIKE FOR MANY NORTH CAROLINIANS

S 1092, Provide Unpaid Sick Days, would require all NC employers to allow their employees up to seven unpaid sick days annually. These days can be used for the employee’s health needs, for those of a family member, or to address the effects of domestic violence. Employers could require a doctor’s note for more than three consecutive sick days. Introduced by Sen. Cowell; referred to Senate Appropriations.

BROAD TAX CUTS

S 778, Adjust Individual Income Tax Brackets, would not only eliminate the current upper bracket that applies to income over $200,000, it would also raise the bracket levels so that many taxpayers would be paying a lower tax rate. Specifically, the rates would be as follows for married taxpayers filing joint returns (with comparable changes for other filing statuses):

· 6% for 0 to $54,000 (currently 0 – $21,250)

· 7% for $54,000 to $144,000 (now, $21,250 – $100,000)

· 7.75% for $144,000 and up (now for $100,000 to $200,000, with a rate of 8% for over $200,000)

Introduced by Sen. Goodall; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

S 1012, Reduce Taxes/Cut Government Spending, would do the following:

· Reduce the state corporate income tax, currently at 6.9%, to 4.9% over a two-year period.

· Reduce individual income tax by lowering the rate paid in each bracket by ½%

· Reduce funding to nongovernmental organizations and eliminate vacant state positions to save at least $90 million in the 2007-08 budget year.

· Eliminate all state positions that are vacant on July 1, 2007 (with exceptions for police, fire, and first responders)

· Reduce Medicaid fraud by 5% from the previous year.

· Express intent to reduce state budget by the amount of reduced revenues because of tax cuts, estimated to be $554 million in 2007-08 and $1.06 billion in 2008-09.

Introduced by Sen. Pittenger; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

S 1112, Repeal Incentives – Lower Corporate Tax Rate, would lower the corporate income tax rate from 6.9% to 2% and would eliminate several business investment tax credits. Introduced by Sen. Pittenger; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

S 1308, Repeal Estate and Gift Taxes, would eliminate estate and gift taxes (paid mostly by well-to-do taxpayers) and make up for the lost revenue by extending sales taxes to repair, maintenance, and installation services and to warranty agreements and similar service contracts. Introduced by Sen. Clodfelter; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

NARROWER TAX CUTS

H 653, Cap Variable Rate of the Gasoline Excise Tax. The gasoline tax is made up of a fixed part (17.5¢ per gallon) plus a variable part that is a percentage of the wholesale price. H 653 would cap the variable part at its current rate, 12.4¢ per gallon. Introduced by Rep. Gibson; referred to House Transportation Comm.

H 744, Home Heating Fuel Tax Exemption, would exempt fuel oil and natural gas used to heat residences from sales and excise taxes. Introduced by Reps. Frye and Moore; referred to House Finance.

S 1051, Equitable Residential Property Tax Relief, would raise the income limit for the homestead property tax exclusion to $25,000 and index it to inflation. Introduced by Sen. Goss; referred to Senate Finance.

H 972, Raise Homestead Exempt Income Limit, is similar to S 1051, but would raise the income limit to $30,000. Introduced by Rep. Allred; referred to House Finance Comm.

S 1145, Work Opportunity Tax Credit, would give a tax credit of up to $2,000 for corporations or individuals who hire “disadvantaged workers” to full-time positions that they hold for at least nine months. Disadvantaged workers are defined as those coming from families which have been on public assistance or who have been felons. Introduced by Sen. Hoyle; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING BILLS

These are all bills seeking money that is not in the governor’s proposed budget. They give a good idea of the worthwhile government programs that lack adequate funding and raise questions about why legislators would be considering broad tax cuts when there’s not enough money for these programs, most of which benefit vulnerable people in our state.

S 813, Land Loss Prevention Project Funds, would allocate $350,000 for legal representation for low-income farmers and for the Black Family Land Trust. Introduced by Sen. Dannelly; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 820/S 883/H 888, Sentencing Services Funds, would allocate $700,000 in 2007-08 and $1.2 million in 08-09 for a program which matches offenders with appropriate community resources. Introduced by Sens. Kinnaird and Rand and Rep. Dickson; referred to Senate and House Appropriations Comms.

S 917, Funds for Needle Exchange Programs, would allocate $550,000 in each year of the biennium to set up as many as three community-based syringe exchange programs. The purpose would be to reduce the transmission of diseases that are spread by drug users through reuse of needles. Introduced by Sen. Nesbitt; referred to Senate Appropriations.

S 958, Rural Physicians Incentive Funds, is similar to S 706 (RR, March 16), but with a total appropriation of $5 million, which is to be used solely to help provide malpractice insurance for obstetricians and emergency room doctors in rural and underserved parts of the state. Introduced by Sen. Clodfelter; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 991, Domestic Violence Center Funds, would allocate $500,000 to develop domestic violence centers in the fifteen counties with the highest unemployment rates. Introduced by Sen. Doug Berger; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 974/H 656, Community Economic Development Funds, would allocate just over $15 million in FY ’07-’08 to seven public or private entities which assist small farmers and rural landowners, economic development in minority neighborhoods, minority and women-owned businesses, and community credit unions which help provide access to affordable finance services. Introduced by Sen. Dannelly and Rep. Wainwright; referred to Senate and House Appropriations Comms.

S 1062, Medicaid Reimbursement Rate, would allocate $5 million for each year of the biennium to increase payments for dental services. Introduced by Sen. Atwater; referred to Senate Appropriations.

S 1087, Funds for School Nurses, similar to S 534 (RR, March 16), but with an appropriation of $4 million to hire 80 new school nurses. Introduced by Sen. Purcell; referred to Senate Appropriations.

S 1088, Cancer Prevention & Treatment Act of 2007, would allocate money as follows:

· $1.5 million for the Tobacco Quit Line.

· $2.5 million for uninsured cancer patients who don’t qualify for other publicly funded health coverage.

· $3.4 million for the NC Breast and Cervical Cancer Program

· $375,000 for cancer education and smoking cessation.

Introduced by Sen. Purcell; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 1175, Funds to Monitor GHG Emissions, would allocate $300,000 to collect and report data on greenhouse emissions from four state agencies. Introduced by Sen. Albertson; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 1230/H 992, Sexual Assault Crisis Centers Funds, would allocate almost $900,000 to the NC Council for Women to increase support for sexual assault crisis centers. Introduced by Sen. Cowell and Rep. Underhill; referred to Senate and House Appropriations Comms.

H 664, Funds/Breast Cancer Control Program Outreach, would allocate $250,000. Introduced by Reps. Thomas and Coleman; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 692, Funds for Health Safety Net Providers, is similar to S 585. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Reps. Insko, England; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 718, Suicide Prevention Program, would allocate $15 million to raise awareness of youth suicide and reduce the number of incidents. Introduced by Rep. Gillespie; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 727, Funds for Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils, would allocate $5 million to implement juvenile justice reform and provide early intervention and prevention. Introduced by Reps. Bordsen, Love; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 855, Drug Treatment Court Funds, is identical to S 697. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Rep. Alexander; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 900, Funds for TASC, is identical to S 687. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Rep. Bordsen; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 982, Increase Home Care Rates, Quality & Retention, is similar in purpose to S 663 (RR, March 16), but the House bill would appropriate enough money for a 5% increase in the rates paid for home care services. The bill doesn’t specific how much money that would be. Introduced by Rep. Earle; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

H 991, School-based Health Centers, is identical to S 523. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Reps. Insko, Coleman, Clary, Howard; referred to House Appropriations Comm.

MORE BILLS IDENTICAL TO ONES INTRODUCED EARLIER

S 896, Prohibit Human Cloning, is identical to H 572. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sen. Brock; referred to Senate Health Care Comm.

S 955, Earned Income Tax Credit, is similar to H 51, creating a state EITC equal to 10% of a person’s federal EITC. See Raleigh Report, February 5. Introduced by Sen. Clodfelter; referred to Senate Finance Comm.

Five bills introduced by Sen. Purcell are identical to bills covered in Raleigh Report, March 2. All are in the Senate Appropriations Comm. They are:

· S 983, Health Disparities Initiatives, identical to H 335.

· S 984, Funds for Diabetes Education, identical to H 339.

· S 985, Funds for Diabetes Prevention, identical to H 340.

· S 986, Funds for SIDS Efforts, identical to H 338.

· S 987, Funds for Interpreter Services, identical to H 336.

S 1078/S 1445, Juvenile Jurisdiction for Age 18 Years, are identical to H 492. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sens. Kinnaird and Snow; referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm.

S 1189, Security and Immigration Compliance, is similar to H 55. See Raleigh Report, Feb. 19. Introduced by Sen. Allran; referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm.

S 1336, Expunge Nonviolent Crimes/Young Person, is similar to S 677, but extends the age for which a nonviolent crime may be expunged up to 21. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sen. Kinnaird; referred to Senate Judiciary I Comm.

S 1368, Sterilization Compensation, is identical to H 296. See Raleigh Report, March 2. Introduced by Sen. Shaw; referred to Senate Appropriations Comm.

S 1446, Amend Health Education Curriculum, is identical to H 485. See Raleigh Report, March 16. Introduced by Sen. Snow; referred to Senate Education Comm.