2007 Extra Session Summary

The North Carolina General Assembly met September 10-11, 2007 in both an Extra Session and a Reconvened Regular Session.

Actions from the Extra Session are now available from our online bill status system:

2007 Extra Session

Total Bills: 8

Bill	Short Title	Action	Date	Action Text
H1	Extra Session Rules.	H	09/10/2007	Adopted
H2	Adjournment Sine Die.	R	09/11/2007	Ch. Res 2007-69
H3	Lower Tax Rate for Certain Corporations.	H	09/11/2007	Ref To Com On Finance
H4	Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund.	R	09/11/2007	Ch. SL 2007-552
H5	Credit for Retaining Jobs in Distressed Cty.	H	09/11/2007	Ref To Com On Finance
S1	Extra Session Rules.	S	09/10/2007	Adopted
S2	Adjournment Sine Die.	S	09/10/2007	Placed On Cal For 9/11/2007
S3	Business Equality Act.	S	09/11/2007	Filed

 and from the Reconvened Regular Session:

H1761

Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund.

H

09/11/2007

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

S1574	ASU’s Defeat of Michigan.	S	09/10/2007	Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading
S1575	Adjourn Reconvened Session.	R	09/11/2007	Ch. Res 2007-70

H2073

ADJOURN RECONVENED SESSION.

H

09/11/2007

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

Reconvened session Monday 9/10 2 pm

Governor Easley has reconvened the 2007 Regular Session of the North Carolina General Assembly to consider his veto of House Bill 1761, the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund. The session will reconvene on Monday, September 10, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.  The only bill that can be considered is House Bill 1761, on the issue of overriding the veto.

Reconvened session?

I’ve had about 10 phone calls today asking the following questions (followed by my answers):

Q1. When is the reconvened session to consider Governor Easley’s veto of HB1761? 

A1. I don’t know. The Constitution requires reconvening no later than September 11.

————

Q2. How much notice is required for a reconvened session?

A2. Neither the Constitution nor any statute has any provisions on notice requirements.

————

Q3. What if the Governor does not call a reconvened session?

A3. The bill becomes law on September 11, the 40th day after adjournment. Article II, Section 22(7) of the Constitution states in part: 

“When the General Assembly has adjourned sine die or for more than 30 days jointly as provided under Section 20 of Article II of this Constitution, the Governor shall reconvene that session as provided by Section 5(11) of Article III of this Constitution for reconsideration of the bill, and if the Governor does not reconvene the session, the bill shall become law on the fortieth day after such adjournment.” (emphasis added)

day 29 part deux: last 20 bills signed

The last 20 pending bills were signed by Governor Easley Friday, August 31, 2007, day 29 of 30 days post-session for the Governor to act on bills. The bills were signed between 9 pm and 11 pm last night.  The list of bills follows:

2007-532	H265	Establish Health Insurance Risk Pool.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-533	H433	State Food Festival.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-534	H454	Identity Theft.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-535	H773	Protect Military Personnel/Life Insurance.-AB	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-536	H810	Clarify/Extend Animal Waste Mgt. Provisions.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-537	H1277	Drivers License Revocation for ABC Violation.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-538	H1372	Organ and Tissue Donation/The Heart Prevails.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-539	H1500	DNA Evidence/Preserve & Access by Defendant.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-540	H1517	Voter-Owned Elections Pilot.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-541	H1671	Arbitration/Negligent Health Care Actions.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-542	H1702	Conserve Energy/Insulate Hot Water Plumbing.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-543	S6	Amend Solid Waste Management Act of 2007	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-544	S56	Penalty Review/LTC Changes.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-545	S514	Deceptive Advertising of Business Location.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-546	S668	Energy Conservation in State Buildings.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-547	S1079	Protections for Victims of Human Trafficking.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-548	S1466	Migrant Housing Health/Safety	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-549	S1468	Promote Innovative Water Protection Efforts.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-550	S1492	Solid Waste Management Act of 2007.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]
2007-551	H1005	Various Transportation Changes/Study.	[ HTML | RTF | PDF ]

The Governor had until midnight, September 1, 2007, to act on those bills.

House Bill 1761, which the Governor has vetoed is eligible for reconsideration and override in a reconvened session which will begin no later than Tuesday, September 11.

The 551 laws enacted this year to date is a 19% increase from the 463 enacted in the 2005 long session. A full list of the 551 laws can be found here. A list of the 68 ratifed joint resolutions is here.

Override rubber stamp

The North Carolina General Assembly has never overriden a gubernatorial veto. Don’t say we didn’t plan ahead, however.  G.S. 120-29.1(c), enacted along with the veto constitutional amendment in 1995, states:

“(c) If the Governor returns any bill to the house of origin with his objections, the Governor shall write such objections on the measure or cause the objections to be attached to the measure. When any such bill becomes law after reconsideration of the two houses, the principal clerk of the second house to act shall, below the objections of the Governor, sign the following certificate: “Became law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor, ________.m. this ________ day of ________, ________”. The principal clerk of the second house to act shall fill in the time. The enrolling clerk shall deposit the measure with the Secretary of State.”

Being an efficient bureaucracy, we ordered a rubber stamp for this in 1997, which has lain unused in a drawer for a decade.

House Bill 1761 vetoed

Governor Easley has vetoed House Bill 1761, the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund.  The bill has been returned to the House of Representatives for further action.

A copy of the veto message is here.

Unlike the United States Constitution, there is no pocket veto, the Governor must call the General Assembly back into session to allow it consider overriding the veto.  The Governor must reconvene the 2007 Regular Session to start no later than Tuesday, September 11, unless by that date a majority of members in each house sign a petition declaring the a reconvened session is not necessary to reconsider passage of the bill. At a reconvened session, the only bills that can be considered are those that have been vetoed.

The Constitution requires a vote of three-fifths of the members present and voting to override a veto. The House acts first, the Senate only gets the bill for action if the House votes to override. Article II, Section 22(1) of the North Carolina Constitition provides:

“[A]ll bills shall be read three times in each house and shall be signed by the presiding officer of each house before being presented to the Governor.  If the Governor approves, the Governor shall sign it and it shall become a law; but if not, the Governor shall return it with objections, together with a veto message stating the reasons for such objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections and veto message at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider it.  If after such reconsideration three-fifths of the members of that house present and voting shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections and veto message, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by three-fifths of the members of that house present and voting, it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor.  In all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively.”

Information on past vetoes is here, more information on reconvened sessions here.

Past vetoes

I had a couple of calls today asking for a list of past vetoes, which our legislative library has helpfully kept. North Carolina was the last state to give the Governor a veto, the General Assembly approved a constitutional amendment and implementing statute in the 1995 session, voters approved it in 1996, and it became effective in 1997. Delaware had been the most previous state to have no veto, they granted their Governor a veto in the early 1900s.

 Under the Dome has helpfully catalogued the past vetoes:

Making legislative appointments, changing mortgage lending laws, changing teacher certification, compensating billboard owners, changing teacher certifications, selling an airport site to Currituck County for a dollar and granting access to state buildings to employees associations.

Post session veto? Reconvened session

What if Governor Easley vetoes one of the bills on his desk? Unlike the United States Constitution, there is no pocket veto, the Governor must call the General Assembly back into session to allow it consider overriding the veto. The Governor has until midnight, Saturday, September 1, 2007, to either sign a bill, take no action on a bill (in which it becomes law on September 2, 2007), or veto the bill by returning it to the Principal Clerk of the house that originated the bill. The bill has to actually get back to the Principal Clerk by the deadline.

If the bill is vetoed, the Governor must reconvene the 2007 Regular Session no later than the 40th day after adjournment (Tuesday, September 11), unless by the 40th day a majority of members in each house sign a petition declaring the a reconvened session is not necessary to reconsider passage of the bill.

At a reconvened session, the only bills that can be considered are the vetoed bills.

Text of the constitutional provisions follow: