Adjournment of 2009 Legislative Session
The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned for the year on
Tuesday, August 11, 2009. The "short session" will convene on
May 12, 2010.
The 2009 session of the General Assembly has adjourned, but
not before we finished work on a number of important matters.
Since passing our budget, we have concluded work to strengthen
criminal laws, reform the state’s coastal insurance plan,
improve transportation, and clear the way for more efficient use
of energy.
As I have shared a number of times, this has been a difficult
session. The global economic crisis reached North Carolina this
year and hurt our workers and businesses. The work by those of
us in the General Assembly was in large part a response to this
crisis, and I am happy to have supported a number of measures
that create and protect jobs, help people protect their homes,
and ease the burdens on small business owners.
My Committee Assignments
I have been re-appointed as Chair of the House Environment
and Natural Resources Committee. I am pleased to have this
opportunity. This appointment allows me to serve both the
House of Representatives and the people of our district who have
a strong interest in these issues. My committee schedule will
keep me busy, but I’m ready to get to work. We will
have a lot of challenges as we look at ways to trim our budget
and still keep the state and our district moving ahead.
I will serve as Vice-chair of three other Committees:
- the Transportation Subcommittee of the House
Appropriations Committee,
- Local Government I Committee, and
- the newly created Water Resources and Infrastructure
Committee.
I have also been assigned to serve as a member of three other
critical committees that will have important roles in the House
of Representatives this session:
- Commerce, Small Business & Entrepreneurship;
- Transportation; and
- Ways and Means/Broadband Connectivity.
Much of the work of our chamber is done in committees. Every
bill that comes up for a vote on the House floor has been
reviewed and debated by at least two committees, and often the
most important changes we see happen during committee meetings.
We unanimously voted to change our committee structure to add
a committee for Marine Resources and Aquaculture and a committee
for Water Resources and Infrastructure, where I will be acting
as Vice-chair. We also combined the State Government and State
Personnel committees into a single body, and changed the Ways
and Means Committee to Ways and Means/Broadband Connectivity, a
committee on which I will serve.
House Leadership
As is tradition, we elected our leaders in the House on the
opening day of session. House Speaker Joe Hackney was re-elected
to a second term as leader of the House of Representatives with
my support. Speaker Hackney led our chamber through a difficult
period last session, and this time we are confident his
leadership will help us as we prepare a budget for next year in
the face of the nation’s economic challenges. I also
supported Rep. William Wainwright for a second term as Speaker
Pro Tempore in the House. Rep. Hugh Holliman had
previously been elected Majority Leader for the House Democrats.
Rep. Paul Stam will be the Minority Leader for the House
Republicans.
Challenges Ahead
In his acceptance speech, Speaker Hackney laid out the
challenges and expectations for the legislature. Below are a few
excerpts from his speech.
- “Because public confidence is critical to our success,
we will continue our emphasis on ethics so that it is clear
we are acting in the public interest and not in our own
self-interest.”
- “We must maintain our state’s fiscal integrity. Economic
conditions will require us to make painful choices about
spending and cutting. Other states have mortgaged their
lotteries, toll roads and their futures for quick-fix cash
to address short-term needs. That is not the North Carolina
way. As our Constitution requires, we will balance our
budget.”
- “We must continue to invest in public education. Our
children must be better prepared than ever to compete in the
global economy. An excellent education is our expectation.
We will continue to support innovative ways to prepare our
children for the world.”
- “We must continue to support and finance our community
college system, for when times are tough our citizens are
drawn to [community colleges] to gain knowledge and
opportunity.”
- “We must improve public safety; expand public
transportation; invest in energy efficiency; and safeguard
the rights and investments of our teachers and other state
employees.”
Accessing Information About the Current Legislative Session
Please remember that you can listen to each day’s session,
committee meetings and press conferences on the General
Assembly’s website at www.ncleg.net. Once on the site, select “audio,” and then
make your selection – House Chamber, Senate Chamber,
Appropriations Committee Room or Press Conference Room.
You can use the website to look up bills and access other
information. You may also view
my member page.
During this session, I will post periodic updates on to
provide information concerning many of the issues coming before
the House of Representatives. You may use the "News from
Raleigh" links listed below to follow future developments.
I will also provide information on some of the activities and
events that I attend as Representative for District 49.
I am excited to return to Raleigh and work on your behalf,
and I hope you will continue to share your ideas and questions
with me as we tackle difficult issues. Thank you as always for
your support and your interest in state government.
