Adjournment

The legislature left town Tuesday in an anti-climatic adjournment that came a day after three gubernatorial vetoes were overridden. The adjournment marked the end of the first-two session in over a century in which Republicans had controlled both chambers of the General Assembly. The final day of session, though, included little of the partisan rancor that had characterized much of the last two years. The Senate had already completed its legislative work in the wee hours of the morning; the House met for four hours, taking up a handful of legislation that included two "technical corrections" bills that included bargaining provisions critical to obtaining the necessary votes to override vetoes by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Afterward, House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said he believed the legislation pursued by the Republican majority would lead to more economic growth. But he also pointed to the cooperation of some Democrats in passing those bills. "We overrode eleven gubernatorial vetoes, worked to make our state more conducive for job creation, and took bold action toward long-term solutions for North Carolina's critical problems," Tillis said. Tillis cited legislation affecting medical malpractice awards, municipal annexation and workers compensation as major achievements. Earlier, Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said that he believed the GOP majority had sent a message to the business community that it would provide more certainty regarding taxes and regulation. Berger said he regretted that legislative leaders and Perdue had not been able to work more closely together. But he put the blame at the governor's feet, citing negotiations on last year's budget and a bill reworking the State Health Plan as undermining trust.

Berger also cited his education reform plan as a key accomplishment that will put the public schools on path toward improvement. Left-leaning Progress North Carolina had a different take. Gerrick Brenner, executive director of the group, said the budget penned by Republicans would damage public schools. "Republican lawmakers, and the few Democrats that joined them, knowingly chose tax breaks for millionaires over schools. That's wrong," Brenner said. Molly Diggins, state director the N.C. Sierra Club, called the last two years "the worst biennium for the protection of our air and water since one of North Carolina’s original environmental lobbyists went to work in 1979."

As the House wound down the session on Tuesday, a number of retiring House members reflected on their time in the chamber. Former House Speaker and current Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, recalled that one of his first actions as a legislator was assuring that people wouldn't be charged with carrying a concealed weapon for carrying a simple, closed pocket knife. Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth, noted the kindness of legislators of both political parties following his car accident. But it was the House. House members spent better than an hour on the last day arguing about the effects of legislation that places a moratorium on the state's use of a report forecasting a 1-meter sea-level rise.