A new session of the North Carolina General Assembly began on Wednesday with little drama, as 代表. 蒂姆•摩尔 被选为新的众议院议长 森. 菲尔·伯杰 was elected by his fellow senators to another term as 森ate president pro tem. 的 House voted to elect 代表resentative Moore by acclamation, 没有人提名这个职位. 众议院共和党核心小组在11月大选后选择了摩尔作为该职位的人选, 和 one of his rivals for the position at that time -- 代表. 狮子座道奇乐团 -- formally nominated him on the House floor on Wednesday.
摩尔接替U。.S. 森. Thom Tillis as House Speaker, 和 森ator Tillis was on h和 for the opening day. 森ator Berger was also chosen as 森ate leader without opposition. 作为商会领袖, the two appoint committee chairs 和 members, 和 play key roles in determining the flow of bills. 的 House speaker presides during House floor sessions.
的 Wednesday session was primarily about formally electing leaders, 和 the General Assembly won't reconvene until Jan. 28, 这将使立法领导人能够最终确定委员会，并开始为可能持续到7月或8月的会议组织工作. In a news conference after the opening floor sessions, 摩尔议长和伯杰参议员都赞扬了共和党占多数的前两个立法机构所取得的成就. 森ate leader Berger said more work needs to be done as the state continues in a new direction; Speaker Moore said challenges remain but are best met with answers gained with broad consensus.
365足彩下载向摩尔议长和参议院领袖伯杰表示祝贺，并期待在本届立法会议期间代表城市和城镇与他们合作. Read more about the opening day of the legislative session 在这里 和 在这里.
One of the first orders of business at the legislature is the adoption of temporary rules, 众议院周三通过的法案将对委员会的运作方式做出重大改变. Permanent rules will be adopted by the House 和 森ate later, but they typically mirror the temporary rules. 众议院规则中最重大的变化是，要求在下午9点之前，将所谓的委员会替代提案——法案的新版本——以电子方式分发给委员会成员和法案发起人.m. before it can be considered by the committee on the next day. 长期以来，公开政府的倡导者一直批评在没有事先通知的情况下公布新的法案委员会替代者，其中包括重大变化.
众议院的另一项修改将允许委员会三分之二的成员提出书面请求，以迫使该法案在委员会下次会议上审议, a move intended to prevent a committee chair from preventing a hearing of a piece of legislation. House leaders said the changes would lead to more transparency 和 empower all House members. 参议院同意对规则进行一些小的修改. 阅读更多关于规则变化的信息 在这里 和 在这里.
参议院领袖菲尔·伯杰(菲尔·伯杰)很快就宣布了新一届立法会议参议院委员会的主席和组成. Many of the top committee chairs will remain the same. 森. 汤姆Apodaca will remain chair of the powerful 森ate Rules Committee. 森s. 哈利布朗, 凯西·哈林顿 和 布伦特杰克逊 will continue 作为联席主席 of the 森ate Appropriations Committee. 的 森ate Finance Committee will see a change: 森. 杰里•蒂尔曼 将加入森s. 鲍勃Rucho 和 比尔Rabon 作为联席主席.
森. 里克·甘恩 也会取代 森. 拉尔夫Hise as a co-chair on the 森ate Committee on Pensions 和 Retirement 和 Aging. 的 森ate also has established a new Committee on Workforce 和 Economic Development. 该委员会将由参议员共同主持. 乍得赤脚, 罗纳德·拉宾 和 大卫·柯蒂斯. 查看参议院委员会的完整名单 在这里.
的 Local Government Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees voted Thursday to lower the employer contributions going to the local government pension fund, 投资收益使这一举动成为可能. 的 change means significant savings for municipalities. 的 Board agreed to set the FY2015-16 employer contribution rate at 6.工资的67%，0.从目前的7%下降了40%.07%. In the same motion, the Board voted to grant a 0.625%的生活成本调整(COLA)给退休人员，仅使用该系统最近的投资收益. 的 COLA increase represents the maximum the Board could award without seeking legislation.
投票前, the League's new Director of Government Affairs, 罗斯·沃恩·威廉姆斯, described to the Board the benefits of the 6.67% rate for local government employers 和 for the system's long-term stability. 我们感到高兴的是，理事会批准了365足彩下载成员的较低费率，同时决定向退休人员提供财政上负责任的生活费调整, doing so by relying solely on existing funds. 我们感谢董事会对我们立场的支持，并特别感谢受托人杰里·艾斯科和莎莉·桑迪提出并支持这项动议. 联系人: 惠特尼·克里斯坦森
365足彩下载和杜克能源举办了一场 合作峰会 Tuesday to discuss issues surrounding municipal street lighting. Participants at the summit received a demonstration of the utility's recently released 基于web的报告工具, 是因团员要求简化路灯停运报告. While currently only available to Duke Energy Carolina customers online, 该公司表示，该工具将适用于移动设备，并将于2015年第二季度提供给杜克能源进步公司的客户. 参与者还深入了解了365足彩下载与杜克能源公司的合作，并从该公司获得了有关当前费率结构的信息, modernization efforts 和 future technologies.
在顶峰, 大卫Drooz, attorney with the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, complimented the League's participation in ratemaking thus far, 指出过去一年的努力是有效的，同时注意到汇率问题需要大量专门知识. In 2013, the League intervened in the Duke Energy Carolinas rate case before the Utilities Commission. This intervention led to continued discussions between municipalities 和 Duke Energy, 目的是为市政当局寻找具有成本效益的选择，以转换为LED街道照明，并使杜克能源的户外照明产品现代化. Presentations from the summit will be available soon. 联系人: 莎拉·柯林斯
今年立法会议上提交的首批法案之一将影响州和地方政府的谴责权. HB 3土地征用权 would put a constitutional amendment before voters to restrict the use of eminent domain powers, preventing state 和 local government from taking l和 for use by private developers. 该法案由 众议员查克·麦蒂, 还会允许财产所有者在纠纷中请求陪审团审判，以确定对其财产的“公正赔偿”吗.
在之前的立法会议上也提出过类似的法案，但没有在参议院通过. 365足彩下载党政府事务小组与立法者合作，限制这些法案对市政当局的负面影响, 和 will again be involved with this legislation. 阅读媒体对该法案的报道 在这里. 联系人: 艾琳Wynia
委员会成员 N.C. State Water Infrastructure Authority (SWIA) 周四审查了由美国财政部管理的基金项目优先级评级系统的数据 N.C. 水务基建司 in anticipation of possible changes to the rating system. 会议召开之际，DWI正在考虑旨在更好地协调项目并确保资金以协调的方式使用的变化.
DWI的工作人员向管理局成员展示了从2014年4月和10月的清洁水州循环贷款基金(CWSRF)融资中收集到的信息图表。, the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF), 和 the Community Development Block Grant-I (CDBG-I). 数据显示了历史上最能影响项目得分及其获得资助机会的标准.
DWI工作人员表示，它计划利用管理局成员的反馈来确定优先标准的潜在变化, which would be presented in draft form at SWIA's March meeting. 最终投票定于5月举行. 十二月，团员们通过了一项议案 365体育足彩目标 寻求水的变化, wastewater 和 stormwater infrastructure funding programs based on specific listed priorities. 管理局对现有优先标准的审查可能为成员要求的变更提供机会. 联系人: 莎拉·柯林斯
A state revenue gap increased in December, but only slightly. According to the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, state revenues now st和 $199 million below projections. That figure represents just a $10 million rise from the end of November. 据北卡罗来纳州内部州政府新闻服务报道，州预算主任李·罗伯茨表示，一旦所得税征收到2月份，该州将对其财政状况有更多了解, 三月和四月. Read more about state tax collections 和 the revenue gap
在这里.
长期担任州众议员. 希科里的埃德加·斯塔恩斯放弃了他的立法席位，现在将担任州财政部长珍妮特·考威尔的高级政策顾问和立法联络人. 在上一届立法会议期间，斯塔恩斯是众议院多数党领袖，在众议院任职20年. 他将取代前众议员. 去年夏天退休的比尔·麦吉. 众议员斯塔恩斯直言不讳地反对立法剥夺布恩的治外法权, which is now being contested in court by the town. 的 League thanks him for his many years of service in the General Assembly, 祝贺他获得新职位, 和 looks forward to working with him in that role.
