By: Thomas Sherrill, The News Reporter
Sen. Danny Britt, Rep. Brenden Jones and Rep. Carson Smith.
Checking the governor’s powers, redistricting and trying to fund roads are some of the many issues that face lawmakers heading to Raleigh this month to start the 2020-21 North Carolina General Assembly’s “long session.”
The NCGA will gavel in to start the session on Wednesday for a swearing-in ceremony, then go into a two-week recess before returning to business on Jan. 27.
Odd-numbered years have a “long session,” which starts in January and runs through the summer. The even-numbered years have a “short session,” which typically starts in April and goes until late June or July.
Most of the work is done in the “long session,” in which a two-year budget is due to be passed by June 30, the end of the state’s fiscal year.
That work will be done by: Sen. Danny Britt, a Lumberton Republican who represents District 13 in the N.C. Senate, which consists of all of Robeson and Columbus counties; Rep. Brenden Jones, a Tabor City Republican who represents District 46 in the N.C. House, which consists of southern and western Columbus, and southern, western and northern Robeson counties; and Rep. Carson Smith, a Topsail Republican who represents District 16 in the N.C. House, which consists of central and eastern Columbus County and all of Pender County.
GOP majorities
State Republicans are starting their second decade in charge of the House and the Senate after flipping both chambers in 2010, the first time in a century that Republicans controlled both.
Currently, Republicans have a 28-21 edge in the N.C. Senate, with one vacant Democrat seat to be appointed. Republicans also control the N.C. House 69-50, with one vacant Democrat seat to be appointed.
For the second straight cycle, Republican majorities fall under the three-fifths supermajority (30 in the Senate, 72 in the House) that is needed to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
The budget
The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding shutdowns will negatively affect the 2020-21 budget, Columbus County’s lawmakers said.
“We’re going to have decreased revenue. We have to look at offsetting that with careful control on the spending side. My goal there is to keep [the state] in a great financial position, even in a COVID[-19] year,” Smith said.
“I’m afraid the state will be in somewhat of a shortfall right now due to the lack of a tax base because of the governor’s consistent shutdown of the state…Our side has done really well working budget numbers,” Jones said.
Jones said he has spoken to the Columbus County commissioners “on a weekly basis” about the county’s needs. The board is slated to prepare a “needs list” for Jones at its Jan. 18 meeting.
“I told them it’s like when you’re little kids and your mom hands you a JC Penney book and you circle all the Christmas items you want and we’ll work on what you can get,” Jones said of asking the commissioners for a needs list. “I got my research assistant in my office already working on many needs for Columbus County so we can be prepared to help out in any way I can.”
Jones said he was disappointed that the governor did not sign the last budget, which “had millions of dollars coming to Columbus County.
“We’re going to go back and start fresh with a new budget. I’ve already spoken to the senior appropriations chairman about many of our needs,” Jones said. “Hopefully we can find a compromise with the governor on this budget.”
That hope isn’t shared by Britt, who doesn’t believe a full budget will pass again in 2021 due to Cooper’s demand that Medicaid expansion be included in the state budget.
“That’s not going to happen because we’re not going to support putting disabled folks, putting children, putting our elderly, putting our people who are already struggling to find good access to healthcare, farther in the back of the line so able-bodied individuals who can get insurance on the [Marketplace] if they worked and paid for the insurance…not going to happen,” Britt said.
Britt said he expects a replay of 2019-20, which saw the passage of “mini-budget bills” that covered a vast majority of what would otherwise be in the full budget and can be passed with bipartisan support.
Britt said he feels like Columbus County has “lost out” in the last few years due to the governor’s budget vetoes.
“I feel like Columbus County is going to lose out again in the budget that’ll be vetoed by the governor. We had close to $40 million coming just to Columbus County that was lost,” Britt said.
Redistricting
The maps for the NCGA House and Senate and U.S. House maps for North Carolina are to be redrawn in 2021 after the U.S. Census results come in. Due to various court rulings, the NCGA has drawn maps several times since 2011, meaning that the most recent maps for all three governing bodies are as recently drawn as 2019.
“I’ve been redrawn every time I’ve run, so yeah, we’re getting pretty good at drawing maps,” Jones said.
This time, the map drawing is scheduled, and lawmakers have to wait on the U.S. Census results, Smith said.
“We won’t have the numbers, we don’t believe, until late spring, and we have certain restraints that the court requires us to go by,” Britt said.
Jones said he believes that legislators have some “long days and some long weeks ahead of us” dealing with redistricting.
Britt, who has been on the redistricting committee in the past, said the process could involve many 12-18 hour days, every day of the week, when the U.S. Census numbers come in.
North Carolina is widely expected to pick up a new U.S. House seat, which could change all of North Carolina’s U.S. House districts.
Committee assignments
Senate Leader Phil Berger of Rockingham County announced committee assignments on Friday for state Senate members.
Britt will co-chair three Senate committees: transportation, judiciary and appropriations on justice and public safety. The transportation co-chair post is new for Britt, who said he has asked not to be on redistricting committees this year due to his new post.
Britt said that he, along with Jones, represents the two counties with more paved roads than any other counties in the state.
“I’ve been on transportation, but this is my first time as chairman,” Britt said. “I would also say the fact is that I am one of the more senior members in the (state) Senate, and, in particular, transportation is one of those committees in both the (state) House and Senate that typically goes to a more senior member because of the size of its budget and amount of responsibility that goes along with being chairman.”
Britt is also in the select committee on prison safety, the health care committee, the commerce and insurance committee, the finance committee and the base budget committee.
N.C. House committee assignments were to be released Monday after this story was printed. A breakdown of the assignments for Jones and Smith will be included in a future story. Jones enters 2021-22 re-appointed as the House deputy majority leader.
“We’re very fortunate to move up in leadership positions quickly, which is always a positive for our district. It’s an honor the speaker has recognized some of my talents and is able to use them throughout the state and especially here in Columbus County. We’re really starting to see good things, and I think we’ve got some good things coming,” Jones said.
Goals for 2021
A priority for Smith in the 2021 long session is tackling the issue of the governor’s powers in a state of emergency. Cooper has issued a number of executive orders and directives during the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 that shut down and kept certain businesses from opening, imposing curfews and relaxing certain regulations such as allowing the sale of mixed drinks to go.
“I think as a legislature, most of us want to clarify what the governor can and can’t do once he has declared a state of emergency. I think we’ve seen how important that can be as we’ve been in an emergency for almost a year now,” Smith said.
On the heels of the 2020 election, Smith said he wants to look at election law.
“I think it got out of control in other states. It didn’t necessarily do it in North Carolina, but there are still issues with absentee voting,” Smith said. “We need to make sure that absentee voting is secure and that we can depend on it to be as accurate as voting in person.”
Smith said his concern with election law has to do with court-mandated changes that were made in 2020 with COVID-19 in mind. Smith believes that some of the changes were not constitutional.
“I want to make sure people in this state can trust elections,” Smith explained.
One goal Britt said that he’d continue to work on is making broadband accessible for rural residents.
“We’ve put several thousand additional people on broadband,” thanks to state grants that help internet providers expand in rural communities, Britt said.
Britt is hoping that there will be money for school construction in both Whiteville City Schools and Columbus County Schools, as well as continued broadband expansion.
In addition to providing teacher raises — an issue that attracted thousands of marching teachers to Raleigh in 2019 — Britt is focused on economic growth.
“We want to continue making Robeson and Columbus counties more attractive for businesses to come here,” Britt said. “The state itself has done a great job over the last 10 years making itself extremely attractive for businesses coming from other states. And we want to continue to do everything we can to make Columbus and Robeson counties attractive as economic drivers.”
Smith agreed that job growth is a top issue.
“We don’t see the industry other parts of the state are seeing, but I think we’re going to because people want to come to North Carolina and I think Southeastern North Carolina has a lot to offer,” Smith said. “If people like what they see in North Carolina, they’ll come here and they’ll bring jobs, and that’s still what we need in this area of the state.”
Smith said with COVID-19 still here, the NCGA will need to look at “modifying and temporarily changing laws to fit the situation on the ground.”
“We’re trying to help folks with their day to day activities. Extending driver’s license expiration periods, I know stuff like that will be on the table, especially as we see another increase in COVID-19 right now,” Smith said.
All three lawmakers mentioned road and drainage issues for 2021.
“We’re pushing money into programs to help keep these streams clear of debris and beaver activity caused by storms and neglect of maintaining these streams for decades,” Smith said.
Jones said he’s got a good feeling about the state House in 2021 because of new House Minority Leader Robert Reives, a Chatham County Democrat, whom he called an “excellent legislator.”
COVID-19 precautions
Although vaccine rollout continues, COVID-19 remains on the forefront in the Legislative Building. It’ll start on Wednesday as limited attendance will mean families of multi-term representatives won’t be allowed in the chambers for the swearing-in ceremony, Smith said.
“The very first day, we’ll see drastic changes,” Smith said.
Jones said that there will be some virtual meetings in the state House, but given his leadership post, he has to be in Raleigh.
“My responsibilities will not afford me the luxury of being able to stay in the district. I will have to be in Raleigh to do what I have to do,” Jones said.
The state House allowed some virtual meetings and proxy voting in 2019, but the state Senate didn’t, Britt said, explaining that he wants that to change in 2020 as the pandemic continues.
“I personally would prefer to do it virtually. It would save the state money if we could vote virtually, if we could hold our meetings virtually,” Britt said. “For every opportunity I have to hold a meeting virtually, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Smith said that he is opposed to continual proxy voting and will fight it in 2020.
“I disagree with [proxy voting]; I’m going to oppose that if it comes back up,” Smith said. “I do not think proxy voting should be in the House.”