The state Senate on Tuesday refused to go along with the House version of the 2016 regulatory reduction act.
The action sets the stage for regulatory reformers from both bodies to negotiate a final agreement before the General Assembly’s short session adjourns. Legislative leaders have said they want to adjourn before July 4.
Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, asked his Senate colleagues not to concur with the House-passed bill Tuesday, and his colleagues agreed.
While both versions aim to eliminate or consolidate a number of reporting requirements, the House and Senate plans have a number of differences.
For example, the Senate proposal limits new rules and regulations if they meet certain financial cost thresholds. The Senate plan would prohibit an agency from adopting a rule or set of rules if the projected cost to the economy is $100 million or more during any five-year-period. Rules costing $10 million or more over a five-year period would have to be approved by the governor or the appropriate Council of State member. If the agency making the rule is a board or commission, the rule would require a 60 percent supermajority vote to be valid.
The Senate plan also would repeal the ban on putting computers and televisions in landfills and incinerators.
The House plan would clarify that a franchisor is not the employer of a franchisee or its employees. That’s in response to a National Labor Relations Board ruling. Supporters of the provision say that it would allow North Carolina to join a number of another states responding to the NLRB rule.
Another House deregulation provision would allow landlords to pass utility bills on to tenants without having to first become a public utility, as is required under current state law.