NC Senator Harry Brown Constituent Update 3/14/2013

It has been busy since Senate bills are due to Bill Drafting by the end of this week. The Joint Appropriation Committees are still meeting to review budget related items and it is expected that the Governor’s Recommended Budget will be released soon.

On Wednesday, I introduced Senate Bill 264, Abate Nuisances/Drug Sales From Stores. This bill will strengthen nuisance and criminal laws by enabling local law enforcement to close down businesses that repeatedly sell dangerous controlled substances such as synthetic marijuana and bath salts.

Senate Bill 117, Lily’s Law, passed out of the Senate and is headed to the House. This bill makes it where a child who is born alive who dies as the result of injuries inflicted prior to the child’s birth is considered murder. This bill is named after Lillian, the daughter of Danna Fitzgerald of Mebane. In 2008, Fitzgerald’s estranged husband shot her in the abdomen while she was 27 weeks pregnant. Fitzgerald survived the shooting but her child died after being born from injuries related to the shooting.

Senate Bill 306, Capital Punishment/Amendments was introduced. Despite having 152 inmates on death row, the state has not conducted an execution since 2006 due to a de-facto moratorium on the death penalty. This comprehensive bill will ensure justice is served for the families of the victims, for juries who did their solemn duty and for district attorneys who prosecuted these cases. The proposed bill will also protect medical professionals who participate in executions from reprisal, clarify who initiates the execution process once legal appeals are exhausted and lessens the burden on local district attorneys. It will also eliminate the Racial Justice Act that uses arbitrary statistics to decide whether a death row inmate is sentenced and has been used by convicted murders of all ethnic backgrounds as an end run around capital punishment.

On Thursday, Senate Bill 75, Onslow Public-Private Partnership, passed out of the Senate and is headed to the House. Existing Onslow County owned and leased human services facilities are inadequate due to age, structural and environmental deficiencies. There are no existing adequate facilities and Onslow County lacks the resources to construct new facilities without an immediate property tax increase or alternative financing method. This bill enables Onslow County to solicit and partner with qualified developers to leverage multiple government funding sources in order to build a new social services related facility and enter into a long-term lease.

Many of you have probably heard that N.C. State University is considering selling Hofmann Forest. The College of Natural Resources estimates that this 80,000 acre tract of woodland in Onslow and Jones counties will bring about $117 million. With another Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) coming up, one area of potential concern I have is that extensive development on this tract of land may have an adverse impact on nearby Camp Lejeune operations. I hope the university will consider partnering with the federal government in preserving this environmentally sensitive piece of property.

We are ready to assist you with any questions, ideas or concerns you might have. You may contact the office via e-mail at harry.brown@ncleg.net or by phone at (919) 715-3034. If you need to contact me in the district, my number is (910) 347-3777.

Have a great weekend!