| Legislative
Bulletin |
December
12, 2001 |
 |
Read more:
The Senate's leading proponent
of session limits outlines his views
NCCBI
makes session limits its top legislative priority
The
NCCBI Board of Directors has adopted a resolution stating that
it will be the top priority of the association to lobby the
General Assembly for passage of a bill calling for a
referendum on amending the state constitution to limit the
length of time the legislature can remain in session.
The action came during a mid-year meeting of the board in
Charlotte on Nov. 13 at which several board members expressed
dismay that the legislature remains in session after having
convened on Jan. 24, making it the longest one in the history
of the state. Members took note of the fact that the General
Assembly did not adopt a state budget until the fiscal year
was nearly three months old. Members also expressed concern
that the General Assembly’s continued delay in completing
the redistricting process imperils orderly legislative and
congressional elections next year.
The NCCBI board unanimously adopted the resolution on the
recommendation of the association’s governing Executive
Committee, which had met earlier in the day.
In urging the board to adopt the resolution, NCCBI Chairman
Gordon Myers of Asheville, the Ingles Markets executive,
pointed out that North Carolina is the only state in the
Southeast and one of the few in the nation that has no
constitutional or statutory limit on the number of days the
legislature can remain in session. “Most average people now
are reluctant to serve in the General Assembly because the
sessions just seem to go on and on,” Myers said. “It’s
nearly impossible nowadays for anyone who has to work for a
living to serve in our so-called citizen legislature,” he
added.
NCCBI President Phil Kirk said the association will make
session limits its No. 1 goal during the 2002 session of the
General Assembly, which will convene in May.
“That the General Assembly remains camped out in Raleigh ten
months after convening should eliminate any doubt that may
remain in anyone’s mind that North Carolina needs session
limits," Kirk said. “I don’t think our legislators
are deliberately staying in session, but without a deadline in
front of them, they simply don’t have any incentive to wrap
up their work.”
Kirk pointed out that Virginia’s legislature meets 45 days
one year and 60 days the next. Georgia’s legislature meets
only 40 days every year. Tennessee limits their legislature to
90 days a year. South Carolina’s legislature must adjourn by
the first Thursday in June. In all 37 states impose either a
constitutional or statutory limit on how long their
legislatures can remain in session. A copy of the
resolution follows:
Resolution in Support of Session Limits
Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly is in the midst
of its longest session in history; and,
Whereas, North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast and
one of the few in the nation which does not place a
constitutional or statutory limit on the number of days its
legislature can meet; and,
Whereas, the North Carolina Senate has on five occasions
overwhelmingly supported a constitutional amendment to limit
the sessions, which was sponsored by Senator David Hoyle; and,
Whereas, the longer and longer sessions are severely limiting
the people who can afford to serve in our legislature and are
making it more difficult for the political parties to recruit
qualified people to run for the General Assembly;
Now, therefore be it resolved that North Carolina Citizens for
Business and Industry (NCCBI) makes passage of this
constitutional amendment the major priority when the
legislature reconvenes in May and the executive committee and
the board of directors call on its 2,300 members, including
all local chambers of commerce, to make this goal a major
priority and that they contact their state legislators in
support of this long overdue and much-needed action.
Adopted this the 13th day of November, 2001.
Signed,
Gordon Myers, Chair
Phillip J. Kirk Jr., President and Secretary
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