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A blog commenter asks (link) about a flier Guilford County voters received touting Rep. Pricey Harrison this summer:

"(P)lease tell us about the H.E.L.P. act that Pricey was working hard to pass. I'll bet that it never existed, in fact, I'll bet it was a Federal issue. In fact, I'll bet that you will agree that this mailer was more untruth than truth. If you can find a bill that Pricey co-sponsored called the H.E.L.P. act, I will buy you a houndstooth cap and a pipe.”

Here’s a link to the flier.

After giving it the once over, I will say that my correspondent won’t have to cough up a cap and pipe, but that’s due to a drafting error on the North Carolina Democratic Party’s part. (The party, not Harrison, sent the mailing in question.)

Was there a bill in the N.C. General Assembly called the H.E.L.P. Act? No, but close.

The bill in question was H 1721 (link) and was called the H.E.L.P. Small Business Act.  It is clear the description in the flier that it was referring to H 1721.

The ad claims:

“The North Carolina legislature is working hard to pass the H.E.L.P. Act, of which I am a co-sponsor, a bill that will support our small business with a series of incentives and over $32 million in investments.”

Was she a cosponsor: Yes. However, we should be clear on what it means for a lawmaker to “co-sponsor” a bill. In the legislature, the first four members to sign a piece of legislation are typically seen as the lead authors, who are primarily responsible for crafting the bill and shepherding it through the process. Signing on as a co-sponsor after that is a sign a lawmakers supports the measure in question, at least as originally drafted, but doesn’t imply authorship or “lead” status.

Would the bill in question have given small businesses “a series of incentives and over $32 million in investments?” Yes. The bill actually parceled out about $80 million in tax breaks over three years with some additional spending to support small businesses. Background.

The measure incorporated many of the business stimulation ideas Gov. Bev Perdue pitched (link) before the legislative session began.

So what happened to it the bill? It was incorporated into the House budget (link) that was sent forward to House-Senate budget negotiations. There were different but related measures that came over from the Senate. In the end, both chambers abandoned their plan in favor a different approach (link) that gives small businesses a break to offset the annual unemployment taxes they pay.

Date question: My correspondent said the flier hit mailboxes in "early July" or "late June." There is no post-mark with the date on the copy of the flier my correspondent sent me. If it did arrive in July it was already out of date by the time it landed. The budget passed before July 1 and marked the end of any thought of the H.E.L.P.-related measures going forward. However, with no postmark and memories running thing after few months, there's nothing much to say about this. 

Bottom line: The flier is basically truthful, although gets the exact name of the legislation wrong.

Bonus: There were no fewer than two Congressional bills that might also be called the HELP Act, one dealing with aiding Haiti after the massive earthquake there and the other dealing with reigning in federal spending.