RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina’s General Assembly has closed down for the year after more than six months of work dominated by the recession, a tight state budget and tax increases.

The House and Senate each held brief sessions Tuesday to adjourn the General Assembly’s legislative work.

Lawmakers spent most of their energy this year balancing service cuts against tax increases in one of the worst recessions in generations. The tough economic times didn’t stop lawmakers from banning cigarette smoke from restaurants and bars, extending tax breaks to Apple Inc. and other businesses promising to create jobs, and bailing out the state-funded health insurance plan for its employees, retirees and teachers.

RALEIGH, N.C. –  Girls Scouts from across the state will come to the Capital City to meet their legislators and watch the General Assembly in session.  Afterwards, Girl Scouts will host a Cookie and Milk Reception at the General Assembly from 3 to 4:30pm.  More than 150 Girl Scouts from across the state are expected to attend.

The Senate Rules Committee approved two bills Wednesday to reduce the time lawmakes are in Raleigh.

Senator David Hoyle’s bill calls for an early organizational meeting for two days followed by a recess in January.

“We’ve been here for three weeks and I’ve been to two committee meetings; commerce and rules, really it’s three weeks where we’ve been twidling our thumbs,” said the Democrat from Gaston County.

His bill would give the leadership time to assign committees, even begin filing bills, then lawmakers could go right to work.

The other bill by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand would cap the number of days lawmakers receive their “per diem,” a $104 daily expense check.

The money stops after 135 days during long session or odd-numbered years and 60 days for the short session in even-numbered years.

“It saves taxpayers money because we don’t get $104 a day after 135 days and that’s the way it should be,” said Senator Hoyle.

Senators Ellie Kinnaird and Martin Nesbitt opposed the language in the bill and said it was written as though lawmakers were sticking around to make money when in reality the daily expense check does not cover much for lawmakers traveling from the mountains or the coast.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to address Congress for the first time on Feb. 24, five weeks after his inauguration.

White House officials say that Obama’s speech to a joint session of the House and Senate will have the trappings of a State of the Union address, but it will not be considered one. His first State of the Union speech won’t come until next January.

The speech to Congress on Feb. 24 is expected to emphasize that Obama inherited difficult situations on many fronts and that he will preside over a new dawn in Washington.

From the Winston-Salem Journal
The 2009 General Assembly convenes today in Raleigh amid what may be North Carolina’s biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. If ever North Carolinians needed wisdom and good judgment from their legislators, this is the time.

Various estimates put the current year budget shortfall in the range of $1.2 billion to $3 billion. But this budget is no longer the responsibility of legislators. It is up to Gov. Bev Perdue, the manager of the budget, to make sure that spending and income balance by June 30, the end of the budget year.

The challenge for legislators is to craft a 2009-11 budget, which will take effect July 1, that is balanced despite the economic downturn. North Carolinians must demand that the top priorities of public education, essential medical care for our most vulnerable citizens and public safety are protected.

But the budget is not the only challenge facing legislators. The year opens with a wide-ranging legislative agenda.

The health-insurance plan for state employees and teachers is in serious trouble, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars in the red. Legislators can patch that hole with reserve funds, but they must redesign the system to fix the underlying problems at hand or else the problem will recur.

Similarly, the state’s mental-health system is so severely deficient that the federal government has refused to pay for some patients at state hospitals. While the fix is primarily a job for Perdue’s administration, legislators must assure that necessary changes to law are made.

The same holds true for the state’s troubled probation and parole system. It needs revamping in aspects ranging from technology upgrades to management practices. The legislature cannot allow such poor management of this system because public safety is very much at risk.

Many North Carolinians complain that the state’s city-annexation laws need changes. They are right to a degree. The state’s municipalities have offered a reasonable and practical series of reforms that will deal with some citizen concerns without abandoning the state’s very successful approach to urban sprawl.

Although a reform plan for insuring beach property may not sound of importance this far inland, it is. North Carolina’s beach-insurance plan is, in the words of the state insurance commissioner, “a ticking time bomb.” If it explodes, insurance companies and customers will be harmed statewide. Legislators must deal with this highly politicized issue so that the next coastal hurricane doesn’t send everyone’s insurance premiums skyward.

Finally, Perdue has fulfilled a promise at the N.C. Department of Transportation. She has told her board members that they can’t decide which projects get built. But now the legislature needs to encode that policy in state law. Otherwise, the next governor can go back to the bad old practices.

Each of these issues poses major challenges to our state legislators. If there is ever a year the people need them to meet those challenges, this is it.

WHO’S IN CHARGE: Democrats still hold 98 of the 170 seats in the General Assembly – a 30-20 lead in the Senate and a 68-52 advantage in the House. Senate Republicans gained one seat in November compared to the 2007-08 session. The House margin remained the same. Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, is expected to win a record ninth term as Senate leader and Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, should win a second term as House speaker. Rep. Paul Stam of Wake County and Sen. Phil Berger of Rockingham County are the Republican leaders in their chambers.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will direct floor debate as Senate president after serving 12 years as a senator. He succeeds Gov. Beverly Perdue, a former senator and lieutenant governor for eight years.

NEW FACES: There are at least 19 newcomers to the Legislature, including Rep. Nick Mackey, whose election victory by Democratic Party activists as Mecklenburg County sheriff was thrown out. Another newcomer is Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd of Gaston County, the first Republican black woman elected to the House. Former House Minority Leader Johnathan Rhyne of Lincoln County returns to the House after more than 15 years away, while Sen. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland, switched to the Senate after seven terms in the House.

DEPARTURES: From the Senate, Kay Hagan is now a U.S. senator, Janet Cowell is state treasurer, Fred Smith lost a gubernatorial bid and John Kerr retired. In the House, George Holmes retired after 16 terms and Walter Church and Jim Harrell lost in the November elections. Linda Coleman left the House this month to become Gov. Beverly Perdue’s state personnel director.

BUDGET TROUBLES: Perdue is working to trim this year’s $21.4 billion budget by $2 billion before the end of June because revenues have trailed off with the national recession. Perdue will present her own two-year spending plan that may explain how lawmakers should look for $3 billion to balance the budget starting July 1.

HELP FROM WASHINGTON: Democratic leaders say the federal stimulus package could bring more than $5 billion to the state over the next two years as a way to create jobs and narrow shortfalls created by Medicaid expenses. Perdue is confident enough about the windfall that $900 million of the $2 billion shortfall would be closed with federal funds. Stimulus money also would be earmarked for school construction, highways and other infrastructure projects and federally mandated education programs.

MORE TAXES?: Basnight said he’s interested in raising alcohol and cigarette taxes in part to help make up for the expenses caused by tobacco-related illness and substance abuse. But the taxes would have to rise dramatically to make a dent in the shortfalls. Republicans argue more taxes would eliminate jobs and take money out of the private sector at the wrong time.

COMBINED REPORTING: Both Basnight and Hackney suggested closing some tax loopholes may be one way to find additional revenues. One would create so-called “combined reporting” by multistate corporations so that they would give a more complete picture of their North Carolina activities and could be taxed accordingly.

STATE HEALTH PLAN: The Legislature may tap into the rainy day reserve fund to find $300 million that state employee health insurance plan leaders say they’ll need this spring to cover claims. Another cash influx will be needed over the next two years, likely to come as a combination of higher premiums and state appropriations.

CIVIL FINES: A judge said in August the state owes local school districts nearly $750 million because state agencies wrongly held on to civil penalties for nearly a decade. But a school technology fund has yet to receive the money. School officials hope that legislators will begin to pay it back this year. But cash will be scarce.

MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION: A divided legislative study committee recommended cities and towns should allow residents in areas targeted for annexation to vote on the acquisition. But the N.C. League of Municipalities, Hackney and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand are opposed to referenda for involuntary annexation.

HURRICANES AND INSURANCE: Legislators may narrow the potential liabilities of the Beach Plan, which offers homeowners and wind insurance to properties in 18 coastal counties. The traditional insurance industry worries it would be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars if a big storm hit the coast and the Beach Plan can’t pay all claims. Coastal residents are concerned proposed changes recommended by a study committee could make premium costs outrageous.

TRANSPORTATION: A blue-ribbon transportation panel suggested raising taxes and fees, tolling interstates and issuing a bond package to invest $1 billion a year for the next 10 years. The General Assembly agreed last year to begin phasing out a $172 million annual transfer from a general operating fund to a dedicated road-building fund. Basnight said he doesn’t believe lawmakers will allow the 29.9 cents-per-gallon cap on the gasoline tax to expire June 30.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES: A House committee has recommended that video of floor sessions and some committee meetings be shown live on the Internet. But setting up video coverage would be more than $1 million. The Senate also will allow members to have laptop computers on the floor for the first time but the computers won’t allow senators to surf the Internet.

REDISTRICTING: The 2009-10 session will have much to say about which party will get to draw the boundaries for Congress and legislative seats for the next 10 years. The once-a-decade redistricting follows the 2010 elections and is controlled by the majority parties in each chamber.

The 170 members of the House and Senate took the oath of office shortly after the gavels fell at noon at the Legislative Building.

This year’s portion of the session is expected to be dominated by the state budget. New Gov. Beverly Perdue already ordered state agencies to cut up to 7 percent of their budget to close what could be a $2 billion budget shortfall this week. Lawmakers could have to close a $3 billion gap between revenues and expenses when they assemble their own spending plan for the fiscal year starting July

1. “We face great challenges,” House Speaker Joe Hackney, re-elected to a second term to the chamber’s top post, told colleagues in his acceptance speech. “This is our time to do something worthy to be remembered.”

Lawmakers are averse to raising sales or income taxes like they did during the 1991 and 2001 budget crises. But the breadth and depth of the recession across the nation has placed even seasoned legislative leaders into uncharted waters.

“It’s a daunting task, but we have a lot of experienced legislators in our caucus,” said Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, sworn in to a 10th term Wednesday and a recent House Finance Committee co-chairman. “We certainly are looking to avoid the kinds of major taxes that we needed to raise in 2001.”

Democrats are still in charge of both chambers – Republicans had a net gain of one seat in the November election. Hackney was re-elected on a party-line vote over House Minority Leader Paul Stam.

Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, also was elected to a record ninth term as Senate leader. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, also was nominated for Basnight’s job but interrupted the roll-call vote and asked that Basnight be elected by acclamation.

Former Sen. Walter Dalton succeeded Perdue as lieutenant governor and presided over Senate debate. North Carolina is in relatively better shape than surrounding states when it comes to its fiscal picture. The state has nearly $800 million in its rainy day reserve fund. And a federal stimulus package could help bridge the gap between spending cuts and new taxes or fees.

Basnight said “this session will focus on jobs, jobs and jobs” at a time when revenues were dwindling.

“We have to be careful, we have to be steady, and we have to have no errors,” Basnight said. “I would encourage you not to find your way out of this difficulty with cuts alone.”

Republicans have argued recently that the state could be better off if Democrats hadn’t increased spending by nearly 10 percent in 2006 and 2007.

“I think we need all 50 people in (the Senate) to come up with a solution,” said Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union. “It won’t be a time to go back and say, ‘I told you so.”‘

The day was largely ceremonial, as fidgety children and grandchildren sat in chairs of new legislators on the House and Senate floor and lawmakers’ offices were filled with party platters to munch on during the day.

Former lawmakers shook hands with old friends, while first-termers got used to their new surroundings.

State Rep. Ty Harrell, D-Raleigh, sat down with NBC17’s Kim Genardo to talk about President Barack Obama, his inauguration speech and the upcoming General Assembly session.

Watch video below: