General Assembly on Longest Run

The General Assembly has been in session longer than some full-time legislatures and is the only part-time legislative body in the country that has yet to adjourn.

Brenda Erickson, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said a full-time state legislature is defined as one that is in session for the better part of 10 or more months per year.

The N.C. General Assembly convened almost 10 months ago on Jan. 24.

Erickson added that most full-time legislative bodies are composed of individuals whose primary job is serving as a lawmaker whereas members of a part-time legislature might have other primary careers. She said there are 10 states that have legislatures classified as full-time.

According to results of the 2000 U.S. Census, seven of those states have a population that are among the 10 largest in the nation. North Carolina has the 11th largest population in the United States.

Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC's Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life, said population is often a major factor in determining the necessity of a full-time legislature.

Guillory said that he thinks the N.C. General Assembly should address the issue of creating a more productive legislature, as well as considering the possibility of adopting full-time classification.

Guillory said North Carolina needs a legislature that serves the needs of constituents while providing manageable, effective schedules for legislators.

He said that "full-time politician" has a negative connotation but that part-time service does not necessarily guarantee that the citizens' needs are the primary focus.

"Part-time doesn't necessarily mean a people's legislature," Guillory said.

He said this year's long session is not an anomaly, and the need to address session scheduling will not go away anytime soon.

Although sessions have been shorter the last two years, both the 1997 and 1998 sessions set records for length -- adjourning on Aug. 28 and Oct. 29, respectively.

Legislators have more issues to address now than in years past because the trend in U.S. government has been to shift major domestic issues from federal to state government, Guillory said.

"The trend since the Reagan administration in the '80s has been to devolve the power from national to state level," he said. "State legislators now have to work with state funding for health care, clean air issues, utility and food industry regulation, and many more complex domestic issues."

Guillory added that he thinks a significant change in the structure of legislative sessions will be extremely hard to achieve.

He said a major shock would be necessary to initiate change, but he does not think this year's lengthy session will be that necessary shock.

"It's extremely hard to change an institution as old as our legislature," he said.

Legislators also say they do not anticipate major changes in legislative operations in the near future.

Rep. Edward Redwine, D-Brunswick, said he does not anticipate that debates in the General Assembly will become less lengthy anytime soon because of the legislature's partisan divide.

"I don't believe that one party will dominate any time soon," Redwine said. "As those numbers get closer, partisan alignment becomes stronger, and the issues get greater, sessions will continue to be lengthy."

The state legislature has become increasingly divided along party lines. Just a decade ago Democrats held two out of three seats in the House. Today the Democrats have just a four-seat majority in the 120-member chamber.

Redwine said his job as a legislator has become so time-consuming that it is almost impossible for him to maintain his career in insurance. "North Carolina is a larger state, with more interest groups and faced with more difficult issues," he said. "It's been a full-time job for a while now."

Out of the General Assembly's 170 members, close to 50 are retired or list their profession as legislators.

A Senate bill proposed by Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, suggests an amendment to the N.C. Constitution that would implement session limits. The bill would limit sessions to 135 days during long session and 60 days during short session. Long sessions occur during odd-numbered years and are usually lengthened by budget debates.

While Redwine said he supports session limitations, he said limits will might not lessen the number of working days because lawmakers can always call special sessions.

Rep. Richard Morgan, R-Moore, said it is taxing for legislators to serve in public office while keeping outside careers. Morgan said that some sacrifice is necessary to maintain a citizens legislature and that he supports session limitations.

"We should not let the (General Assembly) become a full-time legislature," he said. "We need to preserve a citizens legislature."

Rep. Alice Underhill, D-Craven, said that while she likes the idea of a part-time citizens legislature she doesn't know if that idea is practical. She said, "North Carolina has a history of liking a citizens legislature, and I like that idea as well."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.