Daily News

Raleigh News & Observer

The Associated Press

Medicaid idea shelved

- Lawmakers have shelved a proposal that would have removed thousands of people from government insurance rolls. The Senate budget contained a provision that would have saved $53 million this coming year by moving some patients from combined Medicaid and Medicare coverage to Medicare only. The House spending blueprint didn’t include the plan. Budget negotiators said it won’t be in the final spending plan. The reduction that would have reduced or eliminated coverage for 65,000 elderly, blind and disabled patients. State officials estimated 8,000 people would have lost their health coverage entirely had the Senate proposal become the law. House and Senate negotiators still were haggling Wednesday over spending for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicaid. Negotiators are trying to complete the two-year spending plan before an Aug. 5 deadline.

ATV rules

- The state House tentatively agreed to regulate all-terrain vehicles in North Carolina, including barring children younger than 8 years old from operating them. North Carolina is among a handful of states with essentially no operating restrictions for the machines. At least 28 states have minimum age requirements. Bill supporters argued that the changes, which also require drivers to complete a safety course, would lead to fewer deaths and serious injuries. The measure would allow children ages 8 to 15 to operate only child-sized ATVs under an adult’s close supervision. Violators would be subject to an infraction, punishable by fines of up to $200. Some opponents argued parents should decide at what age their child should be allowed to operate the machines. They also said police and deputies shouldn’t be spending their time chasing after children who are riding on private property. An amendment that would have limited the restrictions to publicly owned land was narrowly defeated. The bill was given an initial OK by a vote of 70-41. A final House vote could come Thursday. The Senate has passed a different version of the bill.

Vending machines

- Middle schools could no longer offer sugared soft drinks for students in vending machines that would be required to offer low-calorie snacks in a measure given final legislative approval. The bill attempts to get childhood obesity under control by restricting what food and drinks students can purchase. State law now bars soft drinks from being sold in elementary schools or during a student’s lunch period. The bill expands the soda ban to machines in middle schools and when breakfast is sold. At least 75 percent of the snacks available in machines in middle schools and high schools would have no more than 200 calories each.

Lobbying rules

- The House Finance Committee voted out a bill that would rework the state’s lobbying rules, requiring more disclosure of expenses on behalf of legislators and executive branch officials. The bill would require lobbyists to report any expense above $10 made to influence legislation or executive action. Monthly reports would be required of legislative lobbyists while the General Assembly was in session. The bill was approved a lengthy on an amendment by Rep. Julia Howard, D-Davie, that would have required a "cooling off" period in which an ex-legislator would be barred from working for companies or entities for which the lawmaker had secured state funding for or introduced legislation.

Meth labs

- A bill hailed by supporters as the toughest anti-methamphetamine legislation in the nation passed unanimously in the House. The bill restricts the sale of cold medicines with ingredients used to make the illegal drug. It would require the medicines be kept behind the counter in part to curb the production of meth in clandestine labs, where meth-makers "cook" the stimulant out of the tablets. The House measure adds more teeth to a bill passed by the state Senate, including video surveillance of sales areas for cold medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, civil penalties for retail violators, and more restrictions on where the products are kept at stores. The Senate version, favored by Attorney General Roy Cooper, would only allow pharmacies to sell the medicines from behind counters and require consumers to show a photo identification to buy them. Other states have enacted similar restrictions. The bill returns to the Senate for concurrence.

Voting machines

- A voting machine reform scheduled for a Senate floor vote Thursday has been stripped of $20 million designed to help counties pay for replacement equipment. The measure would allow for only three voting systems: optical scan ballot machines, electronic recording machines or paper ballots counted by hand. The electronic machines would need a paper record of the vote that could be corrected by the voter before it was counted. About $53 million in federal and state election grants now are earmarked for those machine purchases. One of the bill’s primary sponsors, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, said it’s still not exactly clear how many machine upgrades will be necessary since some counties will meet the standards with their current equipment. Some senators in the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday questioned whether the bill would place an unfunded mandate upon counties.

Coming up

- The House scheduled floor debate Thursday on a bill that would allow automobile owners to pay their property taxes and their license tag renewal at the same time. Currently there’s a monthslong lag between the tag renewal and the property tax bill.

- The North Carolina Association of Educators scheduled a news conference Thursday to discuss concerns about proposed education spending in the state budget.

END

 Email This Post  Print This Post

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2005 at 5:39 am and is filed under Daily News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.