RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina lawmakers still have work days left on the calendar before the new Democratic House majority takes over in January, and the outgoing Republican leadership has signaled it intends to use them.
Two blocks of meeting days remain: a four-day stretch from Nov. 16 to Nov. 19, then a longer run from Nov. 30 until Dec. 18, shortly before current terms expire. The resolution adopted when legislators adjourned narrows what they may consider in that window. Overriding the governor’s vetoes is allowed, as are filling appointed posts, placing new constitutional amendments, final votes on negotiated House-Senate deals, and concurrence votes on bills one chamber has already changed.
Those limits still leave room to move a lot. Compromise bills already sitting in conference committees cannot be amended on the floor and get a straight yes-or-no vote, which could let GOP leaders bundle broader priorities into them while their current numbers last.
The numbers matter because of vetoes. Until January, Republicans keep enough Senate seats to override Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and are close to that mark in the House. Unofficial results show Democrats flipping at least 17 House seats Tuesday, ending a run of Republican control there that began in 2011.
House Minority Leader Robert Reives of Chatham County, in line to lead the new majority, has argued against post-election sessions that undercut what voters just decided. He has pointed to December 2016, when Republican legislators met after the election and cut powers of incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. House Speaker Destin Hall of Caldwell County has said lawmakers are elected to two-year terms that run through December and that the chamber regularly returns in November.
The Senate will also need a new top leader in 2027. Phil Berger, who has led the chamber since 2011, was beaten in the spring Republican primary by Sam Page, the Rockingham County sheriff, and Sen. Michael Lee of Wilmington, mentioned as a possible successor, lost his seat Tuesday.
Reives has said House Democrats will make cost of living their top priority once they are in charge.
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Filed under: Raleigh NC Politics News
