As Becki has indicated, it appears that the House may have actually
passed a real moratorium bill. We still need to see the actual
language though.
One thing that does seem clear is the bill’s
effective date has been changed from July 31, 2008 to August 31,
2008. The expiration date has been changed from April 30, 2009 to
May 31, 2009.
A couple of Senators have suggested months ago that the bill couldn’t be considered this session (due to legislative rules).
To put this argument to rest:
In
the short session, the legislature may consider bills implementing the
recommendations of select committees. This bill came from the
House Select Committee on Municipal Annexation.
In September, 2007, the legislative librarian, way ahead of time, detailed what bills can be considered in the short session.
I
recognize though that rules are made to be broken, ignored, made-up, or
sneered at, in the North Carolina Senate (or by a few Senators).
If this bill is in fact a true moratorium, the Senate hopefully will
move quickly to pass it and the Governor to sign it into law.
Even more important though is for the annexation committee to keep
meeting and to come up with meaningful annexation reforms that the
legislature will pass in 2009.
A moratorium is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.
This is a fluid situation, but it appears a very positive step may have been taken today.
