发生了什么:大会的重点是对北卡罗莱纳人的流行病救济，否则就会把提交的法案提交给委员会. The big ticket item from lawmakers was
HB 196 2021 COVID-19 Response & Relief, a $1.7 billion measure that has gone to the governor for consideration. 本周参议院还否决了重新开放学校的努力. Last but not least, 市政和立法领导人以虚拟方式聚在一起，就合作进行了重要的友好对话, for all of North Carolina. This Town & State Social，包括众议院议长蒂姆·摩尔(Tim Moore)的讲话，都取得了令人振奋的成功.
WHAT IT MEANS: As the state continues its pandemic recovery positioning, true and immediate needs remain for cities and towns, the state's economic drivers, as past funding bills haven't met needs. 全州的城镇共同为当前的立法两年期制定了一系列目标, shared with lawmakers at the Town & State Social through a
League-produced video that you should share.
ON TAP: We're at cruising speed in the General Assembly. A glance at the loaded calendar on the right side of the page at
http://ncleg.gov/ is a good visual representation. We've rounded up some bills to pay attention to below in this Bulletin, with quick summaries and where they're headed.
THE SKINNY: In contrast with past legislative sessions, bills are moving at a quicker pace, being calendared for committee hearings within a week of being introduced. For example, 两项被城镇反对的法案将于周二举行第二次委员会听证会, 届时，众议院司法委员会预计将审议一项市政雇员举报人法案(
HB 7 Protect City Employees from Retaliation) and a “sanctuary cities" bill (
HB 62 Gov. Immigration Compliance/Enjoin Ordinances). Read on for more.
Hundreds
地方和州的民选官员聚集在一起，以虚拟的方式应对疫情
本周将讨论共同点以及如何共同努力实现目标
that cities and towns have set that would position them to benefit North
Carolina overall. Hosted by NCLM Executive Director Paul Meyer and President
Jennifer Robinson of the Cary Town Council, the League’s Town & State
Social -- an adaptation of the organization’s hugely successful Town &
State Dinner -- kicked off Wednesday evening with mayors and city council
members from the mountains to the coast joining with state legislators for
goodwill-building and substantive conversation. Special guest House Speaker Tim
摩尔为这次会议定下了基调，他描述了2021年立法会议的节奏，
noting the presence of bills of interest to cities and towns, and assuring
municipal officials they were well represented in the Legislative Building. His
warm remarks followed
the showing of a
League-produced video that laid out, with context, the legislative
goals that cities and towns chose for the 2021-22 biennium.
In
在第一轮分组会议上，地方领导人直接会见了立法者
一起讨论他们的工作，因为365足彩下载本身就是由座右铭驱动的
“Working as One, Advancing All.” Later in the program, municipal officials
workgrouped the connections between goals, policy and effects in their
communities, among other topics.
虽然这是一个不同的场合——由Zoom主持，而不是我们镇上通常的舞厅 & State Dinner -- officials rose to the occasion and maximized its value. “It has been a strange year. But, here we are," Meyer said. “即使我们不能像过去两年那样一起吃饭, we can come together. We can bring town and state together, 让立法者有时间与市政官员举行小型市政厅. 我们可以谈谈我们对社区的目标和期望——只是花点时间在一起. 这是最重要的方面——友谊和联系." President Robinson agreed. “Whether we are in person or having to operate virtually, keeping these lines of communication open is critical. 我们都有同样的愿望——帮助我们的社区和我们的州成为所有北卡罗来纳人生活的更好的地方."
迈耶补充道:“我们期待着有机会再次见面……."
365足彩下载感谢所有在如此繁忙的日程中参加这次成功活动的市政官员和州议员，以表彰我们共同的愿景.
As
part of a conversation between six mayors and the U.S. Treasury Department last
week, Shallotte Mayor Walt Eccard made the case for local COVID-19 relief.
Speaking to Sec. Janet Yellen, Eccard laid out the unresolved issue of local
COVID relief, specifically noting that past relief efforts did not provide
direct support to municipalities and were thus inadequate. “The need is
real," Eccard said. "Towns and cities are engines of growth and, as
they repair, the economy as a whole will improve."
Eccard has a unique insight into the issue and the Treasury's role. Prior to his civil service for the Town of Shallotte, Eccard served as the assistant general counsel for the U.S. Treasury from 1980 to 1986.
这次虚拟会议讨论了使数百万美国人陷入困境的前所未有的公共卫生和经济危机, 以及全国各地小城镇和农村地区面临的具体挑战. You can read the Treasury Department's press release on the meeting
here, and you can read Mayor Eccard's remarks
here.
大会本周继续其步调，主要侧重于大流行病救济，并将最近提出的法案提交各委员会提请注意. Below are updates on measures of interest to cities and towns.
In other state government news, this week saw the release of the annual
Debt Affordability Study, which advises leadership on the state's borrowing capacity. 从本质上讲，面对严峻的经济形势，它正在改善，但也有一些警告. “The expanding debt capacity could help Democratic Gov. 罗伊·库珀(Roy Cooper)和两党议员提出，将在不久的将来对学校债券进行价值数十亿美元的全民公决, building construction and other infrastructure," the
Associated Press reported. 但未来10年，运输债务将“大幅增加”," the office of State Treasurer Dale Folwell notes in
its summary of the report. 这意味着在这段时间内没有额外的运输项目能力.
周四，北卡罗来纳州立法机构向州长的办公桌发送了一份新的1美元.7 billion COVID-19 relief bill that includes rent and utility assistance.
HB 196 2021 COVID-19 Response & Relief extends or programs new funding over 24 pages. More than $600 million of the total benefits testing, tracing and prevention; $390 million is for needs at public schools and higher education facilities. In a
summary, House Speaker Tim Moore noted the bill also includes funding for farms, fisheries, food banks, small business grants, broadband, summer school programs, 精神卫生和药物滥用服务以及改进NC COVID疫苗管理系统. House senior budget writers Reps. Donny Lambeth, 杰森·塞恩和迪恩·阿尔普发表了一份联合声明，称该法案“建立在我们成功的方法基础上，在立法会议早期解决北卡罗莱纳州人的首要问题。." Important for cities and towns, 它将特定的款项拨给该州的每个县，用于租金和公用事业援助.
As noted in
coverage from the Associated Press, this follows a
$2.2 billion bill Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law last month. “大部分资金被授权用于帮助K-12学校和紧急租赁援助工作," AP reported. “Thursday's bill also goes to Cooper, who is likely to sign it."
