Barry Smith - In the Loop

There are a significant number of bills that are on Gov. Mike Easley’s desk awaiting his signature.

As of 1:20 p.m. today, 113 bills remained on his desk, according to the General Assembly’s web page. Easley has until midnight Sunday, Aug. 17 to either sign them or veto them. If he does neither, they become law on Monday, Aug. 18.

If Easley does veto a bill, he will be required to reconvene the General Assembly to reconsider the bill he vetoed. The North Carolina Constitution does not give the governor the pocket veto the way the U.S. Constitution gives that power to the president.

There is an exception to the requirement that the governor reconvene the General Assembly into a veto session. If the governor receives a petition signed by a majority of the members of both the House and the Senate, the reconvened session can be waived.

You may think we already have enough laws on the books. However, the General Assembly, which adjourned last Friday, passed 229 new bills. Statistics compiled by Gerry Cohen, who heads the General Assembly’s bill drafting division and is a big ice hockey fan, show that 116 are already law with the remaining 113 pending on Gov. Mike Easley’s desk.

The General Assembly adjourned this afternoon. Barring a veto by Gov. Mike Easley or a special session, lawmakers won’t return to Raleigh until January 2009. However, if Easley vetoes a bill, he is required to reconvene the General Assembly to reconsider the vetoed bill.

Those elected to the state House and Senate this fall will make u the 2009 General Assembly.

Study committees will likely meet in the interim however.

Gov. Mike Easley has signed the $21.4 billion budget. That could clear the way for legislative adjournment.

Not long after word spread around the Legislative Building pressroom that the governor had signed the bill, Sen. Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth, announced his signature on the floor of the Senate.

“Smart man!” responded Senate President Pro-tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, who was presiding over the chamber.

There’s a buzz in the air around the Legislative Building. Legislators, lobbyists and my fellow colleagues in the press can sense that the end of the session is near.

When? No one’s sure. A lot depends on when and if Gov. Mike Easley signs the budget. If he signs it soon, lawmakers could conceivably go home as early as Thursday. If he waits or lets it become law without his signature, adjournment could come as late as Saturday. A veto would throw a monkey wrench into the whole ordeal.

One sure sign that the session is nearing an end is the conduct of the Senate, which went into session around 11 a.m. today. The Senate is recessing a lot so that hastily called committee meetings can be scheduled.

I’m guessing that adjournment will come on Friday.

It’s been a busy time around the Legislative Building the past couple weeks. Legislators have shifted in to high gear and adjournment is in sight.

Adjournment could come by the end of the week, or possibly early next week. There are a number of loose ends dangling around:

– The budget. While the General Assembly has passed its budget, the governor has yet to sign it. There’s some sense that lawmakers don’t want to go home until the governor signs the budget.

– Jessica’s Law. Versions of the bill setting up a minimum of 25 years in prison for an adult who rapes a child younger than 13 have passed both chambers. Will a final version be worked out during the final week of session?

– Drought legislation. This bill is controversial. Recent rains may throw water on this piece of legislation.

– Coastal storm water rules. A compromise bill is likely to pass.

One sure sign that adjournment is not far away is when committees stop meeting. That hasn’t happened yet.

The House gave its initial approval of a moratorium on involuntary annexation tonight. It’s significant in that it shows that there’s a sense in the House that something’s wrong with the state’s annexation laws.

The moratorium would last through April 30, 2009.

In some ways, its practical effect may be limited. For one, the moratorium lasts only 10 months. For another, it’s only a House vote. It would still need approval by the Senate and Gov. Mike Easley to become law.

If it becomes law, it would put a hold on annexations for a few months while a special committee looks into further reforms in the state’s half-century old annexation framework, which allows cities to annex property without the approval of those being annexed.

The legislative process is slow, as supporters of the Jessica Lunsford Act have found out. The House approved the bill last year in the waning days of the General Assembly session, after the Senate had shut down its committees. Last week, the Senate approved the bill.

Jessica’s Law establishes a minimum sentence of 25 years for an adult who rapes a child younger than 13, requires lifetime GPS monitoring for those released for committing such crimes, tightens sex offender registry timetables and prohibits such offenders from going on the premises of places where children normally congregate.

The House finally got the bill back Monday night. Since the Senate made a few changes – mostly technically – the House has to give final approval before going to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature.

Most bills go directly to the floor for a final vote on whether the House agrees with the Senate changes. That’s called a “concurrence” vote.

However, occasionally, a bill gets sent back committee beforehand. That’s what happened to the bill containing Jessica’s Law. It got sent to a House Judiciary committee. That means its track to becoming law got a little longer.

Both major party nominees for governor were in the Legislative Building today. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the GOP nominee, met with Republican legislators and joined their press conference before the session got under way. He said he would return next week to help push anti-gang legislation.

Democratic nominee Beverly Perdue was also at 16 W. Jones St. Perdue, the state’s lieutenant governor, gaveled the Senate session to order as the 2008 short session of the General Assembly got under way.

The 2008 short session of the General Assembly is under way. Among other things, legislators will be considering Gov. Mike Easley’s proposed $21.5 billion budget.

A few thoughts:

– Easley’s proposal to raise sin taxes (the cigarette tax and alcohol taxes) is sure to meet with resistance. House speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said he doesn’t expect that to fly.

– There seems to be some concern about the disparity in pay raises for teachers (an average 7 percent) and state employees (4 percent). Both Democratic and Republican leaders in the House said that was unsettling.

– Transportation boosters seem a bit somber, with the economic downturn resulting in a forecast of lower revenues. They’re still pushing for a phase-out of the transfer of funds that go from the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund, along with money to supplement tolls to help build turnpikes.