NCHBA keeps its eyes on Legislative Study Committees

The General Assembly may have adjourned its 2008 session on July 18, but that doesn’t mean its work stops. A myriad of study commissions and committees have been meeting since the end of session to take up studies authorized by this year’s “studies” bill (SL2008-131), and many of those are of interest to NCHBA.  For example:

1. The Legislative Research Commission is authorized to study issues related to the protection and participation of homeowners in the governance of their homeowner associations.

2. The Environmental Review Commission is authorized to study

•     various issues related to stormwater permitting
• consolidation of environmental regulatory programs
• hazard disclosures in coastal real estate transactions, and
• protection of conservation land from eminent domain.

3. The Revenue Laws Study Committee is directed to study the effect of the franchise tax on the construction industry.

4. The North Carolina Building Code Council is directed to reexamine its adoption of certain sections of the electrical code to determine whether they are necessary and cost-effective. In a separate act (SL2008-219), the Council was directed to study the needs and benefits of carbon monoxide detectors and to report its findings to the General Assembly on or before July 1, 2009.

5. A joint Senate-House study committee is directed to study the impact of a category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane on the NC insurance market.

6. The Joint Legislative Study Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Management Recovery was directed to continue its study of issues relating to emergency preparedness, including the adequacy of the current building code regarding structures in hurricane and flood prone areas.

7. A legislative study commission on urban growth and infrastructure issues was created to determine what measures the General Assembly should take to foster regional water resource and transportation planning, incentive-based local land-use planning, and more responsive and cost-effective planning to accommodate rapid population growth in urban areas.

8. A legislative study committee was formed to examine the impact of partition sales of real property on the economic use and loss of heir property and farmland by heirs.

9. A joint legislative study commission on municipal annexation was created to study issues related to all types of annexation by municipal governments.

10. A joint study committee on housing, created by act of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, will begin its deliberations on Sept. 17 and has a broad charge to examine issues ranging from housing affordability, mortgage loan availability, discrimination in housing, the needs of the Housing Trust Fund, and other related topics.

In any given session, more than 70 percent of the legislation arising out of study committees is enacted; therefore, it is critical that NCHBA monitor and participate in the deliberations of these and other legislative study committees and commissions in order to protect the interests of the home building industry. Plan now to attend the NCHBA quarterly board meetings to hear about the latest developments in the regulatory and legislative arenas and how it affects your business and what NCHBA is doing to protect your interests.