UNC bill alarms insurance boss

The move would exempt UNC campuses' construction plans from review by the state Department of Insurance

A move to exempt UNC campuses from state construction review could endanger tens of thousands of college students in North Carolina, Insurance Commissioner Jim Long warns.

Currently the Department of Insurance reviews plans for new construction at UNC campuses to make sure they comply with state building codes for safety. A Senate bill would release the university system from that requirement.

"That's what scares us because we're worried about the safety of the people in those buildings," Long said Monday in an interview.

The commissioner said he felt so strongly about the proposed legislation that he will take a step he's never taken before: he'll ask Gov. Mike Easley to veto it if it passes both the Senate and the House.

The state Department of Administration also opposes the bill, a spokeswoman said, because it is not in the best interest of UNC or the state.

The bill emerged late last week in the Senate appropriations committee, and on Monday night received preliminary approval from the Senate with a 46-3 vote.

Long said having no required state review of UNC construction would be unthinkable in North Carolina, which is all too familiar with tragic deaths of college students in fires.

A decade ago, five students died in a privately owned fraternity house at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Center for Campus Fire Safety, a national advocacy group, reports that only Ohio has surpassed North Carolina in the number of college students killed in fires since 2000. Seven students have died in this state in the past five years, mostly in private, off-campus apartments.

The bill also allows UNC campuses to choose how renovation plans would be reviewed -- by the state insurance department, by local government or by an independent, certified inspector. But Long said third parties could be biased or inexperienced in state codes that are meant to protect people.

"These codes are specifically designed to save lives," Long said.

State reviews take time, and delays cost campuses money, especially in an environment of escalating prices for construction materials.

The Department of Insurance, which averages about 157 reviews each month, has been burdened by a backlog. Typically, a review should take about 21 days, but recently the process has stretched to 45 or 55 days, Long said.

That should be remedied soon, he said, because the new state budget includes money to hire three new engineers for the department.

Building boom

The bill comes during a massive construction boom at UNC campuses -- the result of the $3.1 billion in borrowing voters authorized in 2000 for universities and community colleges. Also under way are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of campus buildings financed by private donations and user fees.

As of last month, about 60 percent of the UNC system's bond projects were finished, and 65 were in the design phase.

It's unclear how the legislation came about. A spokeswoman for the UNC system said it was not on the legislative wish list of the UNC Board of Governors.

Sen. Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat and the bill's sponsor, said the measure would not compromise safety but would cut down on approval time. Reviews take months, she said, and costs rise in the meantime.

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Carrboro Democrat, argued against the change, saying the Senate was acting too quickly.

Long said the issue was too important to be rushed through the legislature in the last days of the session.

"University students are the next generation of leaders in North Carolina," Long said in a statement opposing the legislation. "We owe it to them, and to ourselves, to make sure they have the highest safety standards for the buildings they use. Parents do not work all their lives to put their kids through college just to have them at risk in a substandard, unsafe building."

(Staff writer Lynn Bonner contributed to this report.)