During the General Assembly's third special session of 2016 -- and just prior to an immediate, 其他事项的第四次特别会议——周三，议员们批准了一项2亿美元的救援计划，帮助北卡罗来纳州及其地方政府从飓风马修(Hurricane Matthew)和西部最近的野火中恢复过来. The aid won't stop there, they said; additional relief legislation is expected during the 2017 session scheduled to begin in January, with lawmakers noting that it could be months before damage costs are fully understood. House Bill 2 该法案以其在特别会议上的出现顺序命名，不要与3月份有争议的“HB2”立法相混淆。周二，该法案开始迅速通过立法程序，并于周四上午提交给州长.
该法案的叙述指出，最近的灾难破坏了当地政府的基础设施, 公共建筑和其他设施，同时伤害或破坏私人财产和企业, as well as eroding local tax bases upon which many government services depend.
“已经被风暴相关费用压得喘不过气来的地方政府可能没有足够的资源来修复受损的基础设施，并为从洪水和滑坡地区搬迁的家庭和正在重建过程中的企业提供必要的新基础设施," the bill stated.
As signed into law, the bill included:
- 向国家控股的金叶基金会提供2000万美元，用于向地方政府提供赠款，用于建设新的基础设施，支持在百年洪泛区以外地区开发新的住宅结构, or repair or replace existing infrastructure. Eligible infrastructure includes water, sewer, sidewalks, storm drainage, and other, similar projects that provide assistance or relief for Hurricane Matthew, the western wildfires, and Tropical Storms Julia and Hermine.
- 向“金叶”提供500万美元，用于向受“马修”飓风影响的小企业提供贷款的合格实体, the western wildfires, or Tropical Storms Julia and Hermine.
- $10 million to the N.C. 环境质量部(DEQ)负责与灾害有关的基础设施和清理需求, including fixes to wastewater and drinking water systems, dam safety, emergency permitting, and solid-waste cleanup. DEQ应拨出这些资金的一部分，协助地方政府减轻对墓地的影响，并用于其他公共卫生保护工作.
- $11.5 million to the N.C. Division of Emergency Management (DEM) for resilient redevelopment planning. The bill specifies that these dollars must go into the oversight and facilitation of strategic resiliency planning meetings at each of the 49 counties that received major disaster declarations related to Hurricane Matthew along with the five economic regions that the storm affected; into the development of strategic, resilient redevelopment plans for each of the 49 counties; into the oversight and submission of county-approved strategic resiliency action plans for federal approval; and into the provision of redevelopment expertise, technical assistance, and administrative support to the 49 counties and economic regions throughout the planning, design, and implementation of action plans.
- $9 million to DEM to develop, 实施和资助灾害援助方案，以满足受飓风马修影响的个人的紧急避难所和短期住房需求, the western wildfires, and Tropical Storms Julia and Hermine.
In a change from past procedures, 社区发展整体赠款灾难恢复资金将通过DEM而不是通过N.C. Department of Commerce. 该法案还强调，任何拨款都不得用于在100年洪泛区内建造任何新住宅, “除非该建筑是在当地政府单位根据洪泛平原管理条例规定的区域内，并且该建筑符合该条例。."
The League and its partners at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners recently held a series of input meetings on local governments' various post-disaster needs, resulting in letters to lawmakers that included a specific list of requests. This week, 包括参议院民主党领袖、来自罗利的丹·布鲁在内的议员们建议，在救援讨论的第二部分, in 2017, the General Assembly should consider local government input. Click here and here for news coverage.
With the additional legislative special session called this week, legislators filed several bills that could affect cities. At the time of publication, these bills had not passed and were not expected do so. However, 这些法案的一些条款在过去已经出现过，有些条款可能会在2017年再次成为立法的主题.
The bills of interest included:
HB 3 Regulatory Reform Act of 2016. This bill contained many provisions that the House proposed for regulatory reforms during the 2016 regular session; those provisions died in the final days of that session when the chambers failed to reach agreement. Provisions in the latest bill included:
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Code enforcement将对任何地方或州土地使用法规的执行设立六年的诉讼时效, 当从公共通行权或从公众被邀请到的地方可以清楚地看到违规行为时开始. Within that six-year period, 该条款还将地方政府得知违规行为后的执行时间缩短至三年.
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Rezoning: would make any zoning amendment also a comprehensive plan amendment by operation of law.
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Subdivision Changes将五英亩以上的土地划分为三块或更少的地块，将不受分区管制(除记录一个平台外).
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Riparian Buffers: would direct the N.C. 环境质量部将研究何时允许地方政府超过河岸缓冲要求.
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Built Upon Area Exemptions: would exempt more materials from built-upon area calculations, treating those as pervious, meaning water would run through them to the ground. In addition to language proposed last session, 这部分包括一项新提议的豁免，用于工业或分销物业停车的石头区域.
Read League coverage of similar past regulatory reform provisions here.
HB 5 Municipal Broadband Service Area. 该提案将允许威尔逊市继续为松托普斯镇和其他附近的物业提供高速宽带服务, called Greenlight. Those areas received the service prior to a federal appeals court decision earlier this year that reversed an FCC order permitting Wilson's expansion. Without legislative action, those areas will lose access to this essential service, affecting emergency response and business opportunities.
HB 10 Clarify Funding Eligibility/Charter Schools. Matching provisions of 2016 House proposal, 该法案将限制市政当局可能要求学校改善街道的类型，并给予N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) final approval of the design of any of those requirements. The costs of these improvements would be reimbursed by NCDOT. Read League coverage about the earlier bill here.
While legislators initially came to Raleigh this week to pass a hurricane relief package, 这项立法很快就被两项旨在限制即将上任的州长权力的法案所掩盖. Roy Cooper. 在撰写本文时，每一项措施都已由大会的一个分庭通过, and both were expected to receive final passage later Friday. 立法者还计划在周五下午之前休会2016年第四次立法特别会议.
Senate Bill 4 Bi-Partisan Ethics, Elections and Court Reform would bring significant changes to state and county boards of election in North Carolina, which are currently controlled by the political party of the governor. The bill would create even-numbered, rather than odd-numbered, boards and split the appointments evenly between the governor and the General Assembly. On the new eight-member State Board of Elections, six votes would be required to act. 这项立法还赋予了州选举委员会一个独立的州道德委员会的权力, sets up partisan elections for the state Supreme Court, and would allow the full 15 members of the Court of Appeals to decide cases, instead of three-member panels of that court.
A separate piece of legislation, House Bill 17 Modify Certain Appts/Employment, would limit the powers of the State Board of Education, now largely appointed by the governor, and shift gubernatorial appointments of UNC school trustees to the General Assembly. It would also reduce from 1,州长可以雇佣的州雇员人数为500到425人，这些人不受州工作保护. Finally, the governor's cabinet appointees would be subject to Senate confirmation.
The proposed curbs on the governor's powers led to protests at the Legislative Building, 民主党议员和其他人指责共和党领导的大会试图推翻选举库珀的选民的意愿, a Democrat. 共和党立法领导人回应说，他们采取的行动与民主党过去几年采取的行动类似.
Over the past 40 years, 两党都采取了影响州长可以雇佣或解雇的随意雇员数量的行动, shifted judicial and state board appointment powers, and changed how appellate court judges are elected. 关于国家教育委员会权威的法律和政治斗争也有很长的历史. 在北卡罗来纳州的近代史上，州和地方选举委员会的拟议变动以及州长内阁的参议院确认程序都是相当史无前例的. Read more about the special session and the legislation here and here.
The N.C. 交通运输部(NCDOT)已经最终确定了最新的交通项目名单，以获得国家资助. Tuesday's release of this list concludes a 15-month process that evaluated and scored the merits of projects across the state. To see how projects in your area fared, visit this page on the NCDOT website and scroll down to "latest information.该页面还包含一个交互式地图，用于查看整个州的项目分布.
Though the N.C. Board of Transportation must sign off on this project list in a June vote, the project scores will not change before then. 项目排名遵循数据驱动的优先排序过程，其中包括众多当地交通专家和365足彩下载工作人员的意见. NCDOT has already initiated discussions for the next prioritization round, which will incorporate suggestions for improving the scoring methodology. Contact: Erin Wynia
State House Democratic Leader Larry Hall said this week that he doesn't plan to seek that leadership post again in 2017. 这位来自达勒姆的资深议员自2013年以来一直担任共和党在众议院的领导人，他说他打算给自己的职位设限. “这是我第一次竞选时做出的承诺，我只会连任两届, and I'm trying to uphold that commitment," the News & Observer quoted of Representative Hall. Potential successors, according to media reports, include Reps.
Ed Hanes of Winston-Salem,
Darren Jackson of Raleigh and
Rodney Moore of Charlotte.
Roughly $35 million in grants will fund infrastructure at seven, large industrial sites in North Carolina. The Golden LEAF nonprofit and the N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) jointly announced the awards on Thursday. A number of city governments are among the recipients. “目标是提高场地竞争力，减少场地开发所需的时间，以吸引能够创造大量就业机会和私人资本投资的大型项目。," a press release explained. Here's a breakdown of where the money is going:
- 700万美元用于卡罗来纳门户合作项目“Kingsboro大型站点基础设施(CSX选择站点)”，以支持供水, sewer and road infrastructure and a groundwater study
- 向格林斯伯勒市提供700万美元，用于“格林斯伯勒-伦道夫大型下水道扩建”项目，以支持下水道基础设施
- 向桑福德市提供400万美元，用于“Moncure MegaSite”项目，以支持下水道基础设施
- 向谢尔比市提供300万美元，用于“改善Farmville道路供水系统，服务Washburn Switch商业园区”项目，以支持供水基础设施
- 向银城镇提供400万美元，用于“查塔姆-银城先进制造(CAM)基地供水”项目 & Wastewater Service" to support water and wastewater infrastructure
- $1.7 million to Edgecombe County for additional infrastructure at Kingsboro Mega-Site
- $1,418,为格林斯伯勒-伦道夫大型基地提供额外的基础设施
- 向谢尔比市拨款300万美元，用于沃什伯恩Switch商业园区的额外基础设施建设
- $1.8 million to Franklin County for sewer improvements at Triangle North Franklin
- $773,822 to Pitt County for sewer and road improvements at Indigreen Corporate Park
Click here for full details Golden LEAF and RIA.
州最高法院驳回了对下级法院裁决支持翡翠岛镇条例的质疑，该案件可能对北卡罗来纳州的海滩准入产生深远影响. As an insurer for the town, the League had been involved in the case from the outset.
The state's high court dismissed the case on Wednesday without comment. Its action followed a state Court of Appeals ruling 2015年底，法院支持了一项城镇法令，允许城镇车辆在海滩的干沙部分行驶，并禁止私人土地所有者在这部分海滩上放置可能妨碍公众进入的永久性物体. 这一判决结束了一场长达五年的法律斗争，这场诉讼始于一对在该镇拥有一处海滨住宅的夫妇，他们起诉称，公众不应该进入海滩的干沙部分.
The decision preserves public and local government access to North Carolina beaches, with that access key to providing public safety in those areas. Read more about the case here.
Everyone is in the holiday spirit this time of year, and if your city or town sends seasons greetings cards, via email or postcard, make sure to include your state legislators. 这是一个简单而及时的方式来感谢你的立法者今年为你的社区服务，并祝愿他们在节日和新的一年里一切顺利. 确保这些信息个性化，并要求所有当地民选官员写下他们自己的祝福, and to invite legislators to drop-in to any public holiday events in the coming week.
On the next episode of Municipal Equation -- the League's biweekly podcast -- preview it here -- we ask a question: Does your community have a brand? If so, what impression does it give outsiders? Many municipalities in North Carolina and across the country in the past few years have gone through branding or rebranding initiatives 希望能向外界传达一个新的信息，让他们知道是什么让这个社区成为一个适合居住的地方, work, visit or invest. We talk with a town that recently rolled out a new brand, another town that's just now embarking on a branding project, and a researcher who knows all the quirks. Click here to access the podcast's listening page and a preview of what's ahead.
We'd love your thoughts on the last episode, which looked at drones and the implications for local government, with commentary from public and private experts. Click here to listen if you missed it. And if you have ideas for future episodes, send an email to host/producer Ben Brown at bbrown@taitiansalon.com.
你要了密码并把你家乡经济发展成功的故事提交给 Here We Grow at herewegrownc.org. Now, pump it out to your social media followers. "Like" Here We Grow on Facebook and follow on Twitter, and spread the word across the social media spectrum. When we all pull together, we can keep North Carolina’s economy moving in the right direction. Have a Twitter account and want to tweet your support for Here We Grow right now? Click here!
Haven't signed up yet for Here We Grow? If you're a member of the League, getting a login to join in the initiative is easy. Just email us at about@herewegrownc.org and we'll respond quickly with a username and password. With your login, 只需点击几下鼠标，你就可以分享你的故事，访问一系列资源来推广你的城镇或城市.
Save the date: March 16, 2017 will mark the 14th Annual Urban Design Conference in Raleigh, this time with a focus beyond the big downtowns. "In the past decade," the announcement says, “我们看到了市中心的复苏，以及投资和新开发向我们城市中心的重大转移. Yet the suburbs still represent the great majority of our developed landmass, dwarfing our urban cores in sheer land area. How will design professionals address this and what design opportunities do the suburbs offer?" Click here for registration and details about the conference, called "Designing Beyond Downtown," from the N.C. State University College of Design.
The suburbs' future was also in discussion on two recent episodes of Municipal Equation, the League's biweekly podcast. Listen to them here and here.
