Ball hogs: The 2016 legislative highlight reel

Before the 2016 short session had even officially begun, Republican lawmakers called a special, one-day session in March to overturn a local anti-discrimination ordinance passed by Charlotte City Council that protected the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing.

The self-inflicted wound that is HB 2 unleashed a hailstorm of national criticism, boycotts by entertainers like Bruce Springsteen, suspension of business expansion plans by the likes of PayPal and Deutsche Bank, and a battle with the US Department of Education that is likely to eventually wind up before the US Supreme Court.

On any other year, the legislation passed during the actual short session — including a new law that tightly controls public access to police body-camera video and a bill creating a special privately run district for failing schools — would have been considered earth-shaking. But in the fallout of HB 2, the rest seems to have faded into the background.

We thought you’d want to know how your state lawmakers from the Forsyth and Guilford delegations voted on these and other important bills, what legislation they sponsored and what their success rate was.

The 2016 session featured one personnel change: With the passing of Rep. Ralph Johnson on the March 15 primary election day, the Guilford County Democrats subbed in Equality NC Executive Director Chris Sgro to wage battle against HB 2. Sgro’s tenure is temporary; Amos Quick won the Democratic primary and will take the seat in January 2017 barring a successful write-in campaign. In the meantime, many of the other lawmakers face challengers in the November general election, so now’s your chance to decide if your representatives should be traded out or not.

SENATE

FORSYTH COUNTY

SEN. PAUL LOWE JR.
(D-FORSYTH),
DISTRICT 32

About the district: D-32 covers almost all of Winston-Salem, with the exception of a carve-out of affluent, Republican-leaning neighborhoods like Buena Vista along the Country Club Road corridor, as well as with more liberal-leaning areas of Ardmore in the city’s southwest quadrant. The district trails Business 40 to the east and picks up the heart of Kernersville.

Terms: 1

Committees Assignments: Member of Appropriations on Natural and Economic Resources; Education/Higher Education; Health Care, Judiciary II; Program Evaluation; and Rules and Operations of the Senate.

Bills: 12, 9 as primary sponsor

Highlights

SB 600 — Appraiser Compensation/Judge Perform Marriage

Ensures that appraisers are paid reasonable and customary rates by appraisal management companies. Fees are based on standards such as academic studies and independent private sector surveys obtained by an impartial third-party. Also tucked in is a bit that allowed US Supreme Court justices and federal appellate judges to conduct marriages in the state from July 2-5, 2016 — we’re still puzzling over that one.

Status: Ratified and signed into law.

SB 751 — Commission Membership Winston-Salem Retirement (with Kraweic)

Requires members of the Retirement Commission of Winston-Salem to contribute to the retirement fund by deducting money from salary and wages owed to commission members. Status: Referred to committee

SB 752 — Small Business Tax Relief

Allows small businesses to deduct up to $50,000 on state taxes if the business has not taken in more than $250,000 that year.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 753 — Reenact School Sales Tax Holiday

Brings back the back-to-school sales tax holiday in August that was repealed in 2014.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 757 — Reenact EITC

Reinstates the earned income tax credit, repealed in 2014, but at a lower rate, dropping from 4.5 percent to 2.5 percent.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 816 — Raise Teacher Pay

Raises teacher pay to a range of $43,000 to $61,500 depending on experience, with supplements for advanced-degree and certificate holders.

Status: Referred to committee

SB853 — Honor Former Senator Parmon

Commemorates the life of former general assembly member Earline Parmon, who Lowe replaced when she left to work for US Rep. Alma Adams in 2015. Parmon passed away in March, and was the Forsyth County’s first black state senator.

Status: Ratified and approved by both Houses

SB854 — Automatic Voter Registration/Driver’s License

Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to offer voter registration to individuals receiving or renewing driver’s licenses and state identification cards.

Status: Referred to committee

SEN. JOYCE KRAWIEC
(R-FORSYTH, YADKIN), DISTRICT 31

About the district: D-31 covers the suburban/rural doughnut of Forsyth County, including parts of Lewisville, Clemmons and Kernersville, along with affluent, Republican-leaning neighborhoods like Buena Vista on the west side of Winston-Salem and portions of Ardmore and areas around Baptist Hospital in the southwest. The district also covers the entirety of Yadkin County.

Terms: 1

Committee appointments: Member of Appropriations on Department of Transportation, Commerce, Education/Higher Education; Judiciary II; Program Evaluation; Transportation, Workforce and Economic Development, Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Capital, Joint Legislative Elections Oversight Committee, Legislative Ethics Committee, Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on General Government, Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice, Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee (advisory member) and Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee

Bills: 24, 11 as primary sponsor

Highlights

SB 802 — Military State Income Tax Relief

Exempts any member of the US armed services residing in North Carolina from the obligation to pay state income tax on their federal military earnings. The bill offers state financial incentive for further growth in NC military base populations, including Fort Bragg’s rapidly increasing Army stationees and the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 808 — Study Unfunded Liability/Retiree Health Fund

Establishes a commission to determine options for discharging the state’s obligation to cover unfunded medical expenses to retirees. Enumerates seven options for doing so, including reducing eligibility for retirement funds and requiring workers to contribute towards their own retirement. The study commission parameters lean towards reducing state liability for retiree funding while extending more possibilities for contribution of funds from the private sector and private individuals.

Status: Referred to committee

SENATE

GUILFORD COUNTY

SEN. PHIL BERGER
(R-GUILFORD,
ROCKINGHAM),
DISTRICT 26

About the district: Phil Berger’s piece of the state covers the entirety of Rockingham County, with a few fingers dipping into northern Guilford. A handful of precincts carve out territory in the suburban northwest quadrant of Greensboro.

Terms: 8

Committee Assignments: Senate President Pro Tempore and chair of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations and the Legislative Services Commission.

Bills: 2, none as primary sponsor

Highlights

SB 873 — Access to Affordable College Education Act (with Kraweic and Wade)

While not a primary sponsor of any bills during the short session, Berger threw his weight behind SB 873, which proposes dropping tuition at four of the UNC system’s historically black colleges and universities, one near a Lumbee reservation and Western Carolina University down to $2,500 per semester, reduces and then caps student fees at all UNC schools, considers renaming some of the schools and establishes a large merit scholarship at NC A&T University in Greensboro.

Status: Referred to committee

SEN. GLADYS ROBINSON
(D-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 28

About the district: Robinson’s minority-majority district covers about two-thirds of Greensboro and extends into central High Point.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Member of Appropriations on Health and Human Services; Appropriations/Base Budget; Education/Higher Education; Healthcare; Judiciary I; Program Evaluation; Select Committee on Nominations; Transportation; Workforce and Economic Development

Bills: 9, 8 as primary sponsor

Highlights

SB 734 — Statewide Standing Order/Opioid Antagonist

This gives a “practitioner acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care” the ability to administer an opioid antagonist — Naloxone, used to treat heroin overdoses — and immunity from criminal and civil charges.

Status: Signed into law

SB 745 — Restore Tax Deduction for 529 Plan

Allows parents to deduct up to $2,500 from their children’s college savings accounts on state taxes, negating a law that passed in 2014.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 773 — Reenact Child Care Tax Credit

In 2013, lawmakers repealed the childcare tax credit — once between 7 and 13 percent of the federal tax credit. This bill would bring it back.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 785: Child Welfare System Recommendations

Sen. Robinson was the sole primary sponsor of SB 785, which requires the Department of Health & Human Services’ social services division to come into compliance with national standards of child welfare by using a federal Program Improvement Plan.

Status: Referred to committee

SEN. TRUDY WADE
(R-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 27

About the District: Wade’s district begins in the northeast corner of Guilford County and wraps around Greensboro, circumventing central High Point and picking up a few Greensboro precincts in the northwest.

Terms: 2

Committee Assignments: Co-chairs committees on Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources and the Appropriations on Natural and Economic Resources; vice chair of State and Local Government

Bills: 17, 16 as primary sponsor

Highlights

SB 763 — Prohibit Certain Stormwater Control Measures

Section 2 says it all: “The director of the Division of Water Resources shall not require the use of on‑site stormwater control measures to protect downstream water quality standards, except as required by state or federal law.”

Status: Referred to committee

SB 764 — DEQ to Study Intrabasin Transfers

Commissions a study by the Department of Environmental Quality to see if rules for keeping lakes and rivers clean are too strict.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 771 — Amend Industrial Hemp Definition

This makes it legal to grow industrial hemp — not the kind that gets you high — in the state for research purposes.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 779 — Issuance of Advisories/Drinking Water Studies

Relaxes a local government’s obligation to issue health advisories for drinking water until maximum levels of contaminants have been reached.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 793 — Eliminate and Consolidate Reports to Environmental Review Commission

Eliminates 10 environmental reports, including those on mining, sustainable energy efforts, wastewater removal, vehicle emissions, fuel savings, beach and inlet management, and fish-kill activity. It reduces the frequency of reporting on coastal habitat protection, the Environmental Management Commission and waste-management reports from the Department of Environmental Quality. Also chokes the flow of data on energy, water management and parks, among other sectors.

Status: Referred to committee

SB 803 — Municipal Service Districts/Statutory Changes

Groups like Downtown Greensboro Inc. and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership can be created by city councils, gives businesses the ability to opt out of such special districts and the special taxes associated with them, and allows for them to be abolished by ordinance as opposed to resolution.

Status: Signed into law

SB 867 — Protect Students in Schools

This requires criminal background checks for school teachers.

Status: Referred to committee

HOUSE

FORSYTH COUNTY

REP. DEBRA CONRAD
(R-FORSYTH),
DISTRICT 74

About the district: D-74 covers the northern portion of the suburban-rural doughnut of Forsyth County, including Tobaccoville, Rural Hall and Belews Creek. The district also reaches a finger into affluent, Republican-leaning areas of Winston-Salem south of Robinhood Road.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Chairs Commerce and Job Development; member of Aging; Appropriations; Appropriations, Education; Elections; Insurance; Judiciary II; Public Utilities; House Select Committee on Strategic Transportation Planning and Long Term Solutions

Bills: 20, 4 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1058 — Tobaccoville Recall Elections

Sets up a process for a recall election to remove members of the Tobaccoville Village Council.

Status: Signed into law

HB 964 — Commission Membership Winston-Salem Retirement Fund (with Hanes, Lambeth and Terry)

Ensures that retirees have representation on the Retirement Commission of the Winston-Salem Employees Retirement Fund.

Status: Signed into law

HB 1069 — 2016 NC Employee Protection Act

Closes a loophole allowing law enforcement officers to accept community IDs used by undocumented immigrants and others. The bill was written to address one particular agency, Faith Action in Greensboro, whose ID program has received backing from the Greensboro and Burlington police departments.

Status: Referred to committee

REP. ED HANES JR.
(D-FORSYTH),
DISTRICT 72

About the district: Covering the northern urban portion of Winston-Salem, D-72 is bisected by University Parkway, a de facto racial and economic dividing line in the city. The district includes Smith Reynolds Airport and Wake Forest University.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Vice chair of Education K-12 as well as Public Utilities and University Board of Governors Nominating; member of Alcohol Beverage Control; Banking; Ethics; Finance; Insurance; Public Utilities; Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House; House Select Committee on Achievement School Districts; Redistricting Committee for the 2016 Extra Session; University Board of Governors Nominating

Bills: 33, 8 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1031 — Special Fund/Help Educators with Loan Payment

Appropriates $38.5 million from the Education Lottery Fund to attract qualified teachers by establishing a loan repayment assistance program.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1107 — Automatic Voter Registration/Drivers License

Automatically registers an applicant for a driver’s license to vote unless they affirmatively opt out.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1108 — Hire Our Veterans Private-Public Partnership

Provides a tax credit equivalent to any small business that employs a military veteran who has been honorably discharged.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1115 — Automatic Expunction/Wrongful Conviction

Basically does what it says: Expunges a person’s criminal record if they have been wrongly convicted and incarcerated, but later are discharged from prison as a result of a successful appeal, motion for appropriate relief or write of habeas corpus

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1117 — Innocent Defendant Jailed/DA Wrongdoing

Allows for the prosecution of state prosecutors when a defendant who is wrongly convicted and incarcerated under specific conditions. The defendant must have been discharged from prison as a result of a successful post-conviction legal action and there is a finding that prosecutorial misconduct may have proximately caused the wrongful conviction. The state Attorney General’s office would investigate and determine whether to bring charges after receiving a referral from the court or the NC Innocence Commission.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1116 — Teacher Loan Repayment Assistance Program (with Lambeth)

Establishes a loan repayment assistance program providing up to $10,000 in debt relief to teachers who have been employed from two to eight years. Eligible teachers would be able to take advantage of the program for up to four months.

Status: Referred to committee

REP. JULIA C. HOWARD
(R-FORSYTH, DAVIE), DISTRICT 79

About the district — D-79 includes the western tip of Forsyth County, including Lewisville, along with the entirety of Davie County.

Terms: 2

Committee assignments: Chair of Banking; member of Aging; Finance; Homeland Security, Military and Veterans Affairs; Insurance; Judiciary I

Bills: 10, 5 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 984 — Transfer of Davie County Correction Center

Transfers the former Davie County Correctional Center from the state of North Carolina to Davie County for $1.

Status: Signed into law

HB 657 — Math Standard Course of Study Revisions

“An act to increase rigor, focus and career readiness to the mathematics standard course of study by requiring the state Board of Education to modify and revise the mathematics standard course of study in order to offer the traditional sequence of mathematics courses.”

Status: Separate versions passed both the House and Senate, but the two chambers failed to concur, and the legislation was referred back to a joint committee

HB 1043 — Zip Line and Challenge Courses

Tasks the chief of the Elevator and Amusement Device Bureau in the state Department of Labor with developing rules to govern the design and installation of zip line and challenge courses with a mandate to inspect the facilities annually.

Status: Referred to committee

REP. DONNY LAMBETH
(R-FORSYTH,
DISTRICT 75)

About the district — D-75 covers much of the southern portion of the suburban-rural doughnut of Forsyth County, including Clemmons and a wide swatch of the county’s southeast corner that also covers outlying areas of Kernersville. The district also includes a digit reaching into Winston-Salem from the southwest covering Hanes Mall and the Ardmore neighborhood.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Chair of Appropriations and Health; member of Aging; Education K-12; Insurance; Pensions and Retirement; State Personnel

Bills: 12, 8 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1137 — Treasurer’s 2016 Investment Administrative Changes

Enacts changes in investment guidelines and administrative rules for the state treasurer.

Status: Signed into law

HB 804 — Kelsey Smith Act

Allows a law enforcement officer to go before a judge to get a so-called “call location warrant” good for up to 48 hours to obtain call location data for a cell-phone user believed to be at risk of imminent death or serious injury or to be criminally involved in the imminent risk of death or serious injury of another person.

Status: Passed both the House and Senate, but the two chambers failed to concur, and the bill has been referred back to a joint committee

HB 967 — Prepaid Health Plans Licensing by DOI

“An act to require prepaid health plans to obtain a license from the Department of Insurance and to ensure solvency of all prepaid health plan providers under the Medicaid program, as provided by the Department of Insurance and as recommended by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice.”

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1016 — Funds for Educational Training Center

Appropriates $2.4 million to finance eight regional professional development centers of K-12 educators.

Status: Referred to committee

REP. EVELYN TERRY
(D-FORSYTH),
DISTRICT 71

About the district: D-71 covers the southeast quadrant of Winston-Salem, but also includes a narrow, westward corridor hugging Business 40 and reaching to Hanes Mall Boulevard.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Member of Appropriations; Appropriations, Transportation; Banking; Children, Youth and Families; Commerce and Job Development; Ethics; Judiciary IV; Transportation

Bills: 40, 3 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1109 — NC Crime Laboratory Funding

Appropriates $5 million primarily to analyze pending toxicology cases and to fund start-up DNA equipment and facility operating costs for the Western Regional Crime Lab.

Status: Referred to committee

HOUSE

GUILFORD COUNTY

REP. JOHN BLUST
(R-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 62

About the district: D-62 covers the northwest corner of Guilford County, with precincts in Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, Colfax, Summerfield, High Point and Greensboro.

Committee assignments: Chair of Judiciary II; vice chair of Finance; member of Banking; Elections; Pensions and Retirement; Homeland Security, Military and Veterans Affairs and Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House

Terms: 8

Bills: 2, 1 as primary

Highlights

HB 499 — Study/Public Records & Open Meetings (with Harrison and Johnson)

Creates a joint legislative committee to “study ways to improve transparency of state and local government in North Carolina” including greater public access in ways such as streamlining access to records and meetings and developing alternatives “to existing provisions of the North Carolina Public Records Act and Open Meetings Law that restrict or entirely prohibit public access to government records of meetings.”

Status: Referred to committee

REP. CECIL BROCKMAN
(D-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 60

About the district: The majority-minority D-60 takes great pains to encapsulate African-American voters, starting in Greensboro straddling Wendover Avenue, moving southeast and then crossing through Jamestown and Sedgefield in a slim little peninsula before ballooning again in central High Point.

Terms: 1

Committee assignments: Member of Agriculture; Appropriations; Appropriations, Capital; Appropriations, Education; Commerce and Job Development; Environment; House Select Committee on Achievement School Districts; and Transportation

Bills: 23, 1 as primary

Highlights

HB 1080 — Achievement School District

Brockman’s lone bill as a primary sponsor this year would allow the state to take over under-performing elementary schools. A committee headed by the lieutenant governor would pick a superintendent or an entity to oversee the schools. Under the law, local board can choose to close it or transfer the school in question to the Achievement School District. The law requires a public hearing first. The two other primary sponsors on the bill are both Republicans.

Status: Ratified and awaiting governor’s signature

REP. JOHN FAIRCLOTH
(R-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 61

About the district: D-61 wraps around Brockman’s High Point precincts, capturing the outskirts of the city and wending east through rural areas in Jamestown, Summerfield and Pleasant Garden.

Terms: 3

Committee assignments: Chair of Ethics as well as Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety; vice chair of Appropriations as well as Judiciary II; member of Elections; House Select Committee on Strategic Transportation Planning and Long Term Funding Solutions; Local Government; and Transportation

Bills: 22, 1 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 972 — Law Enforcement Recordings/No Public Record

Hopefully you’ve heard of this one already (if not you can read more on our website), but HB 972 explicitly makes law enforcement recordings such as body camera footage not a matter of public record. Exactly counter to what a significant number of residents in Greensboro have been pushing for and contrary to the direction of the Greensboro City Council on the matter, which recently released body cam footage of a police shooting after considerable public pressure. Oddly enough, the law also authorizes needle exchange programs.

Status: Signed into law

JON HARDISTER
(R-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 59

About the district: Hardister’s eastern Guilford district circles around Greensboro, hooking in for just a few precincts on the northwestern corner of the city.

Terms: 2

Committee assignments: Chair of Alcoholic Beverage Control as well as Appropriations, Capital; vice chair of Appropriations; member of Banking; Education K-12; Elections; House Select Committee on Achievement School Districts; Judiciary I, Redistricting Committee for the 2016 Extra Session; and Transportation

Bills: 4, 3 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1135 — Retirement Credits for Peace Corps Service

Would “allow for the purchase of creditable service in the state retirement systems at full cost for Peace Corps volunteer service.”

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1011 — Retirement Technical Corrections Act of 2016

A highly technical law dealing with retirement and pensions. Adds gender-neutral language.

Status: Signed into law

HB 1033 — ID Card Fee Waiver/Disability

Waives the fee for a special ID card issued to a person with a developmental disability if they present a letter from a primary care provider certifying the developmental disability.

Status: Signed into law

REP. PRICEY HARRISON
(D-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 57

About the district: Covers the northeast sector of Greensboro, extending to the northeast along Highway 29 and along the I-85 corridor to Sedalia. Significant racial diversity in the D-57, with a majority black population.

Terms: 6

Committee appointments: Vice chair of Environment and Judiciary III; member of Appropriations; Appropriations, Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources; Elections; Public Utilities; Regulatory Reform

Bills: 77, 19 as primary sponsor

Highlights

HB 1114 — NC Equal Pay Act

Enshrines certain provisions from the 1963 Federal Equal Pay Act into state law, specifically requiring every employer to pay men and women equally for equal work. Delivers a legal avenue for workers to complain if their compensation fails to meet Equal Pay Act standards, including the ability to make an official complaint to the state Department of Labor and pursue compensation by civil suit.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 983 — Legalize and Tax Medical Marijuana

Allows chronically ill and terminal hospice patients to legally possess and use specified small amounts of marijuana for symptom relief. The provision applies only to patients who receive an active medical diagnosis and marijuana prescription from a licensed physician. Also enumerates an amount-per-ounce tax on medical marijuana only.

Status: Referred to committee

HB 1097 — Support Breastfeeding Mothers and Infants

Obliges employers to accommodate mothers who breastfeed their infants, and absolves mothers from jury duty while they are breastfeeding. Provides for the state Department of Health and Human Services to create “an advisory council on breastfeeding.”

Status: Referred to committee

REP. CHRIS SGRO
(D-GUILFORD),
DISTRICT 58

About the district: This minority-majority district covers sweeping portions of southeast Greensboro and a swath around Friendly Center and Starmount.

Terms: Less than one — Sgro was appointed to fill Rep. Ralph Johnson’s seat after he died in March and was defeated in the primary by Democrat Amos Quick, who will take over the District 58 seat at the outset of the next legislative session.

Committee assignments: Member of Appropriations; Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety; Children, Youth and Families; Commerce and Job Development; Education K-12; Homeland Security, Military and Veterans Affairs; Judiciary II

Bills: 7, 2 as primary

Highlights

HB 1078 — Equality for All (with Harrison, Brockman and Terry)

Effectively repeals HB 2. Covers nondiscrimination in a variety of areas, including traditional and charter schools, money lending, public accommodation including bathrooms and housing. Redefines protected status to include marital status, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and genetic information in addition to existing classes.

Status: Referred to committee

House Joint Resolution 1102 — Ban the Box (with Harrison)

“A joint resolution authorizing the 2015 General Assembly to consider a bill to be entitled An Act to Ban An Employer From Inquiring About Whether an Applicant for Employment has Been Convicted of a Criminal Offense and Setting a Civil Penalty for Violations of That ‘Ban the Box’ Requirement.”

Status: Referred to committee

How they voted on three key issues

HB 2

For: Republicans Joyce Krawiec, Trudy Wade, Phil Berger, John Blust, John Faircloth, Jon Hardister, Debra Conrad, Julia Howard and Donny Lambeth

Against: Democrats Pricey Harrison, Ed Hanes Jr. and Cecil Brockman

Excused absence: Democrat Evelyn Terry

Not voting (in protest): Democrats Gladys Robinson, Paul Lowe Jr.

Note: Though HB 2 passed with some Democratic support, it wasn’t with any help from the liberal or progressive members of the local delegations.

HB 972 — Law Enforcement Recordings/No Public Record

For: Democrats Ed Hanes Jr., Gladys Robinson, Paul Lowe Jr. and Chris Sgro; Republicans Donny Lambeth, Debra Conrad, Julia Howard, Trudy Wade, Phil Berger, Joyce Krawiec, John Blust, John Faircloth and Jon Hardister

Against: Democrat Pricey Harrison

Excused absence: Democrats Evelyn Terry, Cecil Brockman

Note: Pay attention to the considerable local Democratic support for this extremely restrictive law that thwarts transparency. Kudos to Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) for being the lone local vote against the law, to which Rep. John Faircloth (R-Guilford) was a primary sponsor.

HB 1080 — Achievement School District

For: Democrats Paul Lowe Jr. and Gladys Robinson; Republicans Trudy Wade, Joyce Krawiec, Phil Berger, John Blust, Jon Hardister, John Faircloth, Julia Howard and Debra Conrad

Against: Democrats Pricey Harrison and Chris Sgro; Republican Donny Lambeth

Excused absence: Democrat Cecil Brockman

Note: Rep. Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford) missed the vote on the only bill that he was a primary sponsor for this term.