Longest N.C. Legislature Session Ends

The legislature convened its most recent session Jan. 24 and remained in session for 317 days. Each chamber has met for more than 170 days.

Thursday's final Senate session was marked by rapid-fire bill passage and a number of absentee legislators. Only 33 of 50 senators were present when session convened Thursday morning.

"The (amount of) time we spent here was awful, but we did some good things for the state," said Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare.

In the House, legislators slouched in their chairs Thursday, munching on candy and chatting with each other.

Throughout the day, legislators worked on last-minute unpassed legislation, including a bill that might redefine the Board of Governor's role.

Many members of the legislature said they are glad the session is over and publicly have expressed displeasure at its length.

Most long sessions, which meet in odd-numbered years, usually end in July or early August.

First-term Rep. Alice Underhill, D-Pamlico, said she is glad that she can finally go home to her family.

"I've found it to be an interesting but frustrating experience," she said. "My family's been supportive of me being away for so long, but I think they're really looking forward to having me home."

Rep. Jean Preston, R-Cartaret, said the extended session was the result of poor intraparty management.

"When you have a political majority but can't get a consensus in your own party, you've definitely got management problems," Preston said. "As for the length of the session, there's no excuse why we could not take up the state's business by the end of July."

Preston said she, along with other members of the Republican party, would support session limits in the future.

Basnight said the extended session serves as an example of why the legislature needs session limits. "If it doesn't, we should all lynch ourselves out front, all 170 of us," he said.

Delays in the legislature characterized the prolonged 2001 session -- a session marked by a contentious debate during the construction of a state budget, partisan battles over redistricting lines and public criticism for both possible budget cuts and an increase in taxes.

The legislature faced problems formulating a 2001-02 budget, with the state's continually declining economic outlook hanging over their head.

Dissension in the Democratic party over a half-cent increase in the state sales tax delayed the passage of a state budget by three months. The Group of Eight -- dissenting Democrats who went against the Democratic Party line -- said the increased sales tax unfairly impacted minorities and the poor.

The legislature finally passed a $14.4 billion budget in late September, making North Carolina the last state in the nation to pass a budget.

The legislature also battled over the creation of new state legislative and U.S. congressional redistricting plans required by the population shifts of the 2000 Census. The legislature passed a representative redistricting plan in October. A congressional redistricting plan was not passed until late Thursday night.

Rep. Dan Blue, D-Wake, said he was disappointed in the length of this year's session.

"The state of Texas is two times as large as North Carolina, and they concluded all their state business in a fraction of the time that we took," he said.

"I'm not even going to try to make an excuse for us."

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