Lawmakers Return to Raleigh for 2007 Session

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Lawmakers Return to Raleigh for 2007 Session

Special Report - January 24, 2007
State lawmakers returned to Raleigh today to convene the 2007 Legislative Session. Members of the North Carolina House and Senate were sworn into office and began the first of a two-year legislative biennium. Democrats hold majorities in both chambers following the 2006 fall elections, with a 68 to 52 majority in the House and a 31 to 19 majority in the Senate.

The primary order of business on the first day of the session was selecting who will lead the bicameral legislature. As expected, Sen. Marc Basnight was elected to a record eighth term as President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate. Representative Joe Hackney (D-Orange) was elected, on a party-line vote, to his first term as Speaker of the North Carolina House. Hackney, who was the nominee of the House Democratic Caucus, replaces four-term Speaker Jim Black (D-Mecklenburg) who withdrew from the Speaker’s race in December.

John Rustin, director of government relations for the North Carolina Family Policy Council, commented on the outlook for the year, “Pro-family advocates can expect a challenging legislative session in 2007-08, but we must remain vigilant in shining the light of truth into the North Carolina General Assembly and other areas of our elected government. As citizens across the state join together to promote an agenda that recognizes truth and seeks the best for our fellow man, we can make a difference for the Tar Heel State. We look forward to working with the members of the 2007 General Assembly to promote and defend the traditional values that serve as the cornerstone for North Carolina and North Carolina’s families.”

Unlike most other states, North Carolina does not have a constitutional limit on the length of the legislative session. Because the State’s fiscal year begins on July 1, lawmakers usually have a goal of completing the state budget by that time, but the session typically continues for weeks—and sometimes months—later during the first year of the biennium.