Legislative Agenda

This year will be a year of both monitoring and action for the NC Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform.

The passage of a significant lobbying and ethics reform package in the summer of 2006 means that the Coalition will have to play close attention to how the new law (HB 1843) is implemented and upheld.
But the Coalition will also work to take action on several other issues, including legislative process reforms and redistricting reform.

LOBBYING

1. Tighten gift restrictions. 2. Ban lobbyists’ fundraising activities. 3. Clarify unclear provisions of HB 1843.

ETHICS

1. Open Hearing for Independent Ethics Commission

LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

1. Budget & Appropriations: The budget and technical corrections bills are not the place to write or rewrite laws. • Ban special provisions from the budget bill. • Ban substantive material from the technical corrections bill. • Require all appropriations of funds to be itemized. • Provide a 3-day window between time the budget is referred to the floor and the floor vote. 2. Committees: Ensure that committee membership assignments and meetings are consistent and open. • Eliminate changing the make-up of committees. All membership assignments should be final. • Ban committee floaters and prohibit stacking committees with lawmakers who are not full-time committee members. • Ban committee meetings from being held on chamber floor and instead hold meetings in a committee meeting room with public notice and public access provided. 3. Drafting of Bills: Bills without content should not be eligible for filing. Ban blank bills. 4. Term Limits for Leadership: The Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate should be limited in how many terms they can serve in their leadership posts.

OPEN GOVERNMENT

1. Provide complete public access to all meetings: Every meeting of the General Assembly should be open to the public, including all budget and conference committee meetings. 2. Make more information accessible: More frequent and timely information about the legislative process should be posted on-line including: • All committee substitutes with a required 24-hour public notification in advance of the committee meeting. • All legislative votes and up-to-date bill summaries and history. • Budget bill, even while printing. • Any information available to legislative staff and members in general on the internal computer system, should also be made available to the public on the Internet, including travel records. • Require votes in all Legislative committees, subcommittees and floor sessions to be roll call votes, which are recorded and posted on the Internet. • Audio recording of committee meetings.

REDISTRICTING

1. Create an Independent Redistricting Commission. Create a fair, non-partisan redistricting process and remove the line-drawing power from partisan, vested interests. NC Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform 2006 Legislative Agenda