Today @NCCapitol (April 26): Quiet after a stormy week

The state House and Senate are finished legislating for the week. The state House will be off Monday. Lawmakers left town at odds over a bill remaking the state's boards and commissions.

Posted 10:05 a.m. Apr 26, 2013 — Updated 11:15 a.m. Apr 26, 2013

@NCCapitol Staff

RALEIGH, N.C. — Good morning and welcome to Today @NCCapitol for Friday, April 26. This is WRAL's roundup of what you need to know about North Carolina state government today.

TODAY: The General Assembly has no scheduled meetings today and there are no events on Gov. Pat McCrory's public schedule.

Lawmakers had a busy week, passing dozens of bills in each chamber and taking on some controversial measures such as voter ID. The House will hold a skeleton session at 4 p.m. on Monday. The Senate will meet for its regularly scheduled floor session Monday at 7 p.m.

BOARDS: Lawmakers left town at odds over a bill remaking many of the state's boards and commissions.

The state House rejected a compromise measure Thursday that would strip several boards and commissions of Democratic appointees, with lead negotiators saying it would unseat two judges appointed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

By the time the House voted 116-0 to reject the measure at about 2:15 p.m., the Senate had already voted in favor 32-18.

"We're not going back to the table on Senate Bill 10," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, noting that parts of the measure could get dumped into other bills.

A legislative bill-drafting expert said that the same conference committee could draw up a new report on the bill or that the two chambers could appoint new conferees, so the measure is not dead.

MORE NEWS: Other stories we were following Thursday include:

ENVIRONMENT: It took just 45 minutes Thursday morning for the Senate Commerce Committee to approve a massive rollback of rules and regulations meant to protect the state's environment. Senate Bill 612 would require cities and counties to repeal any rules stricter than state or federal law. It would also require a list of environmental oversight boards and agencies to repeal or rewrite any state rule stricter than federal regulation on any given matter.

SCHOOL SAFETY: A bill to upgrade security at North Carolina public schools unanimously passed the House on Thursday after its sponsors removed provisions that would pay for school resource officers, counselors and classroom panic buttons. Rep. Bryan Holloway, R-Stokes, one of the primary sponsors, vowed that the $34 million earmarked for those items over the next two years would be included in the state budget. He said it was important to move House Bill 452 to the Senate so that other elements could be considered.

EPI PENS: The House voted 115-0 Thursday in favor of a proposal that would require schools to have two epinephrine auto-injectors, or Epi-Pens, on hand to treat cases of severe allergy or anaphylactic shock.

HUNTING: Hunters would able to be, as Elmer Fudd might say, "vewy, vewy quiet" under a bill that cleared the state Senate Thursday. Senate Bill 201 would allow hunters to use suppressors, what many people colloquially call silencers, while in the woods. The devices decrease the amount of noise a rifle makes when a shot is fired.

The Senate also gave a tentative OK to an effort by Republican legislators to transfer control of Asheville's water system to a regional authority.

DOC: The North Carolina House honored music legend and native son Doc Watson with a resolution Thursday. Lawmakers said the late guitarist forever changed the genres of folk, blues, country and bluegrass with his signature style and voice.

HAHN: A man accused of stabbing and killing a political strategist in her Raleigh home on Monday reportedly told people he had cancer – a claim that's untrue, according to his pastor at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. Rev. Nancy Petty said Thursday that she asked her congregation last week to pray for Jonathan Wayne Broyhill after he told her that he had pancreatic cancer. But Petty said police detectives told her and others in a hospital waiting room at WakeMed Monday evening that the claim was not true and that she informed church members Wednesday night.

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