Be prepared at the polls: Voting changes are coming in 2016
The days of simply walking into a polling place and casting a ballot are over.
Sales tax shuffle
What the bill says: The method of doling out sales tax to towns and counties would be changed to give more to rural counties and less to towns and cities than under the current formula.
Statewide issues
Hunting on Sundays
What the bill says: The Sunday hunting ban would be lifted on private land. (House bill 640)
Local Issues
Lake Junaluska annexation
What the bill says: Lake Junaluska would become part of the town of Waynesville pending approval by voters of both Lake Junaluska and the town.
Legislation crosses over, has chance to become law
State lawmakers unleashed a torrent of proposed bills in the halls of the General Assembly this year — more than 1,650 bills in all, from possum drops and bobcat mascots to abortion restrictions and coal ash rules.
SEE ALSO:
• Local issues
• Statewide issues
• Sales tax shuffle
Most of the bills are doomed from the start, with fewer than 100 likely to make it to the finish line. To help winnow the list and weed out the losers, a bill must prove its merit by making cross-over — the bill has to pass the Senate or the House and “cross-over” to the other chamber by the end of April to stay alive, with a few exceptions for certain types of bills.
House bill could make Cherokee a little less dry
Breweries could be built and alcohol served at special events in Cherokee, if a House bill currently awaiting hearing in a Senate committee becomes state law.
Haywood farmers to lawmakers: enough with the regulations
Haywood County farmers caught some face time with elected leaders this week over heaping plates of bacon, eggs, grits, biscuits and hash browns to talk candidly about the issues facing today’s farmers — and the unrelenting rain over the past week wasn’t one of them.
Possum Drop returns to Raleigh
For the third year in a row, opossums are making their way to the political scene in the N.C. General Assembly.
The bill — of which Rep. Roger West, R-Marble, is a primary sponsor — would suspend all state wildlife laws related to possums between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2 each year. It’s currently awaiting hearing in the House Committee on Wildlife Resources.
Sylva parking rules land in the Legislature
A parking enforcement ordinance in Sylva is making an appearance in the state Legislature.
New bill heads to Raleigh to join Lake J with Waynesville
The Lake Junaluska community will make a renewed bid to merge with the town of Waynesville this year, this time with the added measure of a formal vote.
