News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Bills on funerals, droughts and more

Published: Jul 19, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Jul 19, 2008 05:10 AM

Bills on funerals, droughts and more

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Lawmakers passed roughly 230 bills in the 2008 session, including 19 on Friday. Here's a sampling of what crossed the finish line on Friday as the session came to a close:

SENATE BILL 1100: Funeral expenses up to $10,000 may be provided in cases where a trooper is killed in the line of duty up until June 1, 2009. The legislature will also hold a study to try to develop a standard policy for all state law enforcement officers on the issue. The legislation is the result of the death of Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr., who was shot last month during at traffic stop near Asheville.

SENATE BILL 1875: Lawmakers clarified state ethics laws to prevent the state auditor from conducting ethics investigations. The law arose after State Auditor Les Merritt investigated a conflict of interest complaint involving state Sen. Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat. Merritt and the State Ethics Commission disagreed on whether Nesbitt needed to report the business dealings of his adult son.

SENATE BILL 1407: People will be able to sell tickets over the Internet at more than the purchase price. Ticket resellers would be banned from using software that can snatch up blocks of tickets over the Internet to popular events.

SENATE BILL 132: Child pornographers and people who use the Internet to solicit minors for sex will face tougher penalties. Convicted sex offenders also will be prohibited from changing their names, or from joining MySpace and other social networking Internet sites that allow minors as members.

HOUSE BILL 2438: This makes corrections to the $21.4 billion state budget. It includes another $1.4 million for Gov. Mike Easley's Learn and Earn program that helps high school students get a four-year college degree tuition free.

SENATE BILL 1878: Requires large counties to reassess property more frequently if median market values differ more than 15 percent from tax values. Counties with more than 75,000 people that hit the market value trigger would have three years to reassess property.

HOUSE BILL 2499: Gives the state more power to determine how local governments conserve water in droughts. The state will not have as much control as Easley wanted, but local governments will have to have approved water plans and put them to use in droughts. In emergencies, the governor could direct water-rich systems to share with dry neighbors.

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Dan Kane and Lynn Bonner
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