On July 16 the Senate passed H 2167, which was passed by the House on July 17, then ratified and presented to Governor Easley that afternoon, but Governor Easley is threatening to veto the bill.
The bill, titled, An Act To Increase The Width of Boats That May Be Transported on Highway Routes During The Day And Night Without A Permit And To Provide For An Annual Permit As Opposed To a Single Trip Permit For Oversize Boats, is the boat trailering bill that made it all the way through the legislative process. Several were introduced at the beginning of the session. The support has been overwhelming from all N.C. lawmakers except the governor. The final vote in the Senate was 43-0 and in the House was 108-5, yet Governor Easley is threatening to veto it.
If the legislature remains in session for 10 more days, that is the timeframe for the governor’s decision. If the lawmakers adjourn prior to that, his allowed time extends to 30 days. The Governor’s options are to sign the bill and join in it becoming law, veto the bill and risk possible override of the veto (only 3/5 majority is needed to override gubernatorial veto in N.C.), or he could allow the time to expire without taking any action on the bill, which would show his disapproval, yet allow it to become law by default.
This legislation was sponsored by Rep. Arthur Williams (D-Beaufort, Pitt), and co-sponsored by Representatives Cary Allred (R-Alamance), Curtis Blackwood (R-Union), William Brisson (D-Bladen, Cumberland), Larry Brown (R-Davidson, Forsythe), George Cleveland (R-Onslow), Lorene Coats (D-Rowan), William Current (R-Gaston), Bruce Goforth (D-Buncombe), Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Pat Hurley (R-Randolph), Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus), Ric Killian (R-Mecklenburg), James Langdon (R-Johnston, Sampson), Bill McGee (R-Forsythe), Karen Ray (R-Iredell), Edgar Starnes (R-Caldwell) and Edith Warren (D-Martin, Pitt).
The provisions of H 2167 allow boat/trailer combinations up to 120 inches (10 feet) wide to be towed without a permit on any day. Boat/trailer combinations up to 114 inches (9.5 feet) wide may also be towed at night. Boat/trailer combinations greater than 120 inches wide would require a permit and could only be towed during the day. The greatest provisions of the bill are to allow for an additional foot of width to be towed at night and to allow towing of boats on Sundays and holidays.
Currently, boat wider than 102 inches (8.5 feet) many not be towed at night, on Sundays and from noon the day before a holiday until noon the day after the holiday. Using Labor Day as an example, folks with boat/trailer combinations wider than 102 inches, which includes some skiffs and many smaller runabouts, would not be able to move their boats from dark Saturday evening until after noon on Tuesday. This has potential to seriously curtail holiday weekend plans during a time when the economy is already extremely slow and areas that rely on boating tourism are already suffering.
The Governor’s Office said Governor Easley’s concern is with the nighttime towing. The original bill was to raise the maximum nighttime and holiday towing width to 120 inches. To address the governor’s concern, Tuesday afternoon (7-15-08) the Senate amended the bill to lower the maximum width for night towing to 114 inches (9-1/2 feet) or less. The House also accepted this amendment and ratified the amended bill to send to the governor.
All the votes were near unanimous supporting the bill. However, there is concern in both houses the governor will veto the legislation even though there is tremendous bipartisan support. They are recommending all boaters should contact the Governor’s Office and voice their support (or disapproval) of H 2167.
The current regulations have been in effect for approximately 30 years, but were considered to be for commercial motor carriers and not applied to recreational boats until fall of 2007. Several adjoining states have similar motor carrier laws, but exempt recreational boats. Several states have also addressed the issue and created specific standards for recreational boats.
According to a report prepared by the Southern Kingfish Association for the April Boat Trailering Forum, hosted at UNCW by the N.C. Highway Patrol, Florida, Louisiana and Texas allow wider boats and trailers to be towed seven days a week. The exact hours vary from 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset in Florida, to no Sunday afternoons in Louisiana and 24-7 in Texas. An N.C. boating industry official also cited Indiana and Kentucky as allowing trailering up to 120 inches wide 24-7 and Arkansas allows 120 inches 7 days a week between 1/2 hour prior to sunrise and 1/2 hour after dark. Some of this information was apparently not included in the report provided for the Governor’s Office as their spokesman, Jennifer Weiss, said during one session last week that no southeastern states allow night trailering of boats wider than 102 inches.
The Governor’s office may be contacted at the following:
* Toll-free Phone – 1-800-662-7952 (N.C. only)
* Phone – (919)733-4240, or (919)733-5811;
* Fax – (919)733-2120;
* E-mail – governor.office@ncmail.net;
* Mail – Office of the Governor-20301 Mail Service Center-Raleigh, NC 27699-0301.
Our N.C. legislators have worked long and hard to provide legislation that covers all the bases while allowing boaters to legally trailer slightly wider boats. Their offices are now asking for our support in contacting the Governor’s office and letting them know how we feel about this latest piece of legislation. H 2167 has been overwhelmingly approved and ratified by the N.C. General Assembly and its fate now lies with Governor Easley. Take a minute to give the governor’s office a call and tell them where you stand. There is even a toll-free number good from anywhere inside the state.
You can track the progress of these bills, plus find the constituent area, contact information and committee assignments for all N.C. senators and representatives at www.ncleg.net. E-mail, phone and fax contact information allows contacting your legislators to let them know you appreciate their support and making them aware of what pending legislation you support or don’t support.
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