Legislative Updates

It was an interesting week in Raleigh.  After the previous week that saw us vote out over 150 bills on the House floor, last week had less activity in floor sessions and more activity in committees, party caucuses, and lobbying.  It was a real pleasure to welcome Brunswick County Commissioners Marty Cooke and Frank Williams…

Many described last week as “organized chaos” in the General Assembly.  The House of Representatives was probably more chaotic than the Senate, as one of our floor sessions lasted until near midnight.  We acted on more than 150 bills. This seems like more than the rest of the session, which started in late January.  The…

Last week, bills that had been piling up in committees began to be heard and moved to the House floor. Our sessions got longer and longer.  Floor sessions averaged three or four hours.  Some of our committee meetings lasted two hours and handled up to ten bills.  In the House Transportation Committee, we planned on…

As the clouds gathered over Raleigh last week, we were inside in dozens of committee meetings.  Many of our major bills are moving through committees in anticipation of the dreaded crossover deadline. Crossover means a bill must pass the House or Senate, and be received by the other chamber.  The deadline for this to happen…

It seems as if the days and weeks are flying by faster in Raleigh as we take up more bills in committee and on the House floor.  Committees are often back-to-back, and appointments with constituents and lobbyists squeezed in between.  Frequently, we have to excuse ourselves from one committee meeting to present one of our…

The first real week of Spring in Raleigh was very warm, with highs in the 80’s and activity at the General Assembly continuing to heat up.  The Voter ID bill was debated for three and one half hours in the House Elections committee, the Governor announced a dramatic new transportation plan, and bills that had…

As I left Raleigh last Thursday afternoon so many bills had been filed in the House and Senate that there was a backlog in the clerk’s office, and the deadlines for filing had been extended.  However, the deadlines have now passed for all bills except Appropriations and Finance bills, which of course, includes the budget…

The big news last week in Raleigh was the long-awaited presentation of the Voter ID bill, which requires a photo ID to vote.  We also had a large number of bills filed as deadlines for local and state- wide bills come and go. The House Elections Committee heard from two experts on photo ID voting…

Due to deadlines coming up in early April, the General Assembly last week saw a flurry of bills being filed.  Our committees began meeting on a more regular basis to consider many more bills.  We also had many groups from back home visiting with us. On Tuesday the House Finance Committee heard a local bill…

Last Monday, the legislature, both the House and Senate, met in the old Capitol building, two blocks from the legislative building.  The occasion was the tenth anniversary of the recovery of North Carolina’s copy of the original Bill of Rights.  Most people don’t know that North Carolina refused to ratify the U.S. Constitution until the…