Short Session of General Assembly Expected to Be Eventful | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report is Barry Smith, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Veto overrides remain possible as long as lawmakers remain in Raleigh

    RALEIGH     We've had the long session, the redistricting session, the constitutional amendment session, the veto override session and skeleton sessions. Now it's time for the General Assembly to embark on what is traditionally know as the short session.

    The top priority for the 2012 short session, which begins today, will be fine-tuning the state's approximately $20 billion General Fund budget. That traditional short session duty was confirmed by Senate President Pro-tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, during a press conference lastweek, and confirmed by a spokesman for House Speaker Thom Tillis.

    "The budget is going to be a big part of what we do early in the session," said Jordan Shaw, Tillis' spokesman.

    Shaw said that House leaders hope to come up with a plan to compensate victims of the state's decades-long eugenics program during this short session.

    "I think this will be the first in the nation if we can get it done," Jordan said.

    The plan would provide compensation to living victims of sterilization programs. The state, from 1929 to 1974, sterilized an estimated 7,600 North Carolinians who were poor, sick, undereducated or disabled. Shaw said he did not know if the eugenics compensation would be done separately from the budget, or would be included in the overall budget. Details, including the amount of compensation, have yet to be worked out, he said.

    While the budget will dominate this year's short session, lawmakers still will have quite a bit on their plate. Reforming the state's public schools, capping the gasoline tax, revisiting annexation laws, approving a gaming compact for the Cherokee Indians, and exploring energy development are among the items on this year's agenda.

    And don't be surprised to see another proposed constitutional amendment surface. This one would etch eminent domain protections into the supreme law of the state.

    Berger said the Medicaid overruns could come in between $180 million to $215 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year, which ends June 30. "We've just got to get a better handle on it," Berger said.

    He said lawmakers likely would find other savings in the budget to handle those overruns.

    Berger also said that a proposal to increase the sales tax rate by three-fourths of a cent on the dollar would not fly. Perdue, a Democrat, last year proposed keeping three-fourths of the penny tax increase that was scheduled to expire in June 2011. However, the GOP majorities in the General Assembly did not go along with it.

    Perdue vetoed the budget, but the General Assembly overrode the veto.

    Berger said he hopes lawmakers will take up his educational reform proposal this session, but other legislative leaders have indicated that such a proposal could be too sweeping to take up in a short session.

    Shaw said that House leaders see a lot of good elements in Berger's plan but aren't sure they'll be able to tackle all of its provisions this summer.

    "We're interested in seeing what it looks like when they send it over," Shaw said. "We are going to be limited by our capacity, what we can bring up in the short session."

    The Berger package includes proposals to end teacher tenure, experiment with merit pay for teachers, hold most children back in third grade if they aren't able to read, and expand the school calendar from 180 days to 185 days.

    "We have too many kids who are unable to read; we have too many kids who don't graduate; we have too many graduates who get to college and are unable to do college work," Berger said. "This is not something that we can just continue to talk about. We need to take action on it."

    Berger said he expects lawmakers to take up the gaming compact negotiated between Perdue and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. The compact would allow the Cherokee casino to have live games. Currently, only video games are allowed at the casino.

    Lawmakers may revisit the annexation issue since a key provision of last year's reform bill has gotten bogged down in the courts. A Wake County Superior Court judge has nullified a provision allowing property owners to fight an annexation by filing a protest petition. That decision is expected to be appealed.

    Barry Smith is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.