News

With the approaching legislative crossover deadline on May 13, the pace of legislative activity has increased substantially. Committee calendars in both bodies have been full as legislators seek to have their bills heard in order to meet the deadline. NCHBA’s legislative team worked with lawmakers last week to have several proactive bills heard in various committees. Here is where NCHBA’s major proactive legislative priorities currently stand:

• HB 489/SB 478 (2021 Building Code and Development Regulation Reform): Pending action in the House Finance Committee after previously being approved by the House Land Use, Planning and Development Committee.
• HB 273 (Modify Builders Inventory Tax Exclusion): Pending action in the House Finance Committee after previously being approved by the House Land Use, Planning and Development Committee.
• HB 344 (System Development Fees Update): Pending action in the House Finance Committee.
• HB 401/SB 349 (Increase Housing Opportunities): Pending in the Senate Rules Committee; House companion bill awaiting action on the Senate bill.

Representative Mark Brody (R-Union) presented HB 425 (Development Regulations/Multijurisdiction) on the House floor on Wednesday. The bill would establish a default jurisdiction for a parcel of land that is within multiple jurisdictions. If there is no mutual agreement between the jurisdictions, the bill provides that the developer could choose which jurisdiction’s development standards would apply. The bill would also allow the developer to deal with more than one jurisdiction if they see fit. The bill cleared the House 109-8 and was sent to the Senate.

On Thursday, the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s agency bill passed the Senate and was sent to the House. SB 389 (DEQ/DNCR Omnibus), sponsored by Senators Brent Jackson (R-Sampson), Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) and Norm Sanderson (R-Pamlico) contains a provision that allows developments that have exceeded their built-upon area to modify their permit to come into compliance. This provision should make it easier to transfer stormwater permits from a developer to a homeowners association (HOA). This modification in the law is needed since some planned communities exceed their allowable impervious surface requirements after the homeowners move in and make home alterations.

HB 334 (Temporary Align PPP Treatment to Federal Treatment) sponsored by Representatives Ray Pickett (R-Watauga) and Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) cleared the House on Tuesday and was sent to the Senate. The bill, as previously discussed in our Legislative Report, is strongly supported by NCHBA and other business associations, and would conform the state tax policy to mirror federal tax code to permit expense deductions for the 2020 tax year for businesses who applied for and received federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Many of our members utilized this program to ensure that their business could keep employees on the payroll.

The bill was amended to make the first $10,200 of unemployment payments to individuals state-tax free. HB 334 now goes to the Senate where its fate is uncertain.

The House passed the first of a series of regulatory reform bills on Wednesday. In years past, regulatory reform bills have been all encompassing, often containing numerous unrelated and sometimes controversial provisions. This has often prompted vetoes by Governors. This year, in order to minimize the chances that one controversial provision will sink the entire bill, leaders indicate that they plan to present bills with fewer provisions in each bill.

The first of these bills is HB 366 (Regulatory Reform Act of 2021) sponsored by Reps. Larry Yarbrough (R-Person), John Bradford (R-Mecklenburg), Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson) and Dennis Riddell (R-Alamance). Among the provisions of interest to NCHBA include one that would require the Department of Environmental Quality to study an expansion of its current express permitting program.

This week, the House Finance Committee is expected to resume their normally scheduled committee meetings. NCHBA staff has reached out to the chairs of that committee in the hopes that several legislative priorities that are currently assigned to that committee can be heard. If you have any questions about this report, please email Steven Webb at swebb@nchba.org.

This post was written by NC HBA.