Scratch off the lottery for now
There was a moment - okay, about 30 minutes or so - when it looked like the Senate might get a lottery done.
The full explanation involves a lot of parliamentary gobbly-gook. What you need to know: the lottery supporters came up short in the end.
As those who have been following the lottery debate know, the House passed a lottery bill back in the spring. The budget that passed earlier this month even set out how lottery proceeds could be spent.
But the Senate has yet to pass a lottery bill. For weeks, the nose count in the 50-member chamber has been 24-26, with lottery supporters down a vote.
That tally apparently did not change over the course of the night and the Senate plans on adjourning today.
Because the 2006 session is basically and extension of this year's session, the bill will be waiting for the Senate when it returns.
The kicker here is this:
Some members of the House and Senate began meeting in committees at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. They have been meeting in one form or another ever since (it's 4:08 a.m. Wednesday morning as I write this).
The House has finally taken a break and will come back at 2 p.m. (Wednesday).
The Senate, meanwhile, is still chugging along as I write this…I don't think they realize the House has gone home to take a nap.
Don't believe me? Here's the Associated Press' take on the latest goings on:
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The General Assembly worked into early Wednesday to attempt to close out this year's legislative session, and Senate leader Marc Basnight all but gave up on passing a lottery before going home.
At least five Democrats and all 21 Republicans in the Senate oppose the lottery _ just enough to block its passage earlier this month. The House already approved the lottery bill in April.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Basnight, D-Dare, said the lottery was dead for the year. The bill can be brought up again when lawmakers reconvene in May.
"We only needed one vote. We didn't get it. It was done in an honorable way," Basnight said. "We lost."
Both the House and Senate stayed into the wee hours of the morning. New lobbying rules gained final approval, but regulations of sales of cold medicines to curb methamphetamine production had yet to be finalized.
Basnight said senators were prepared to leave for the year as soon as their work was completed in the early morning hours.
"We're leaving. We're not coming back," Basnight said. "We've had enough of this."
But the House quit at 4 a.m. and prepared to come back at 2 p.m. There was no immediate response from the Senate.
"We're going to keep working here," said House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg. "We're willing to stay until we get the work done."
The Senate and House took care of their last bit of required business Tuesday, choosing Democrat June Atkinson as the superintendent of public instruction over Republican Bill Fletcher. The General Assembly intervened when Fletcher protested the counting of certain provisional ballots in the totals from last November's election.
A lottery appeared to gain life early Wednesday when the Democrats cited a parliamentary move that likely would have given them enough votes to pass the bill. But Basnight later announced he had decided against using the maneuver.
The defeat was a significant blow to Gov. Mike Easley, who made getting a lottery for education programs a priority in his first 4 1/2 years in office.
Easley spoke on the phone late Tuesday with several lottery opponents to attempt to persuade them to change sides but didn't make headway.
"He's just trying to call everybody," said Sen. Janet Cowell, D-Wake, one of the lottery holdouts who spoke with Easley. "He's very passionate about what he's saying and he really wants a lottery."
Both chambers waded through traditional session-end bills that appoint members to state boards and commissions, order legislative studies and make largely technical changes to existing laws.
The General Assembly gave final approval to several bills Tuesday, including anti-identity theft legislation, tougher penalties for people who shoot in occupied cars and homes and requiring state educators to set nutrition guidelines for school lunches.
Another measure approved Tuesday night would provide quicker access to government documents about incentives deals. The House also agreed to a compromise to make some changes to the workers' compensation law.
But time was running out and several measures likely would have to wait to be considered again next year, including a bill to study the death penalty and allow judges to stay some executions during the study period.
Some lawmakers led a charge Tuesday evening to ask voters to change the constitution to make appellate court judges appointed, rather than elected, positions. Others questioned the timing.
"I think this needs more debate than the time we have tonight," House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said before the bill cleared the House Rules Committee. A constitutional referendum would be required for any change.
The House spent early Wednesday pushing through bills that would allow several counties to hold referenda to raise their local sales taxes by a halfpenny to pay for public schools and community college construction. But it didn't appear the Senate planned to handle them.
Unless called back to Raleigh for a special reason, the General Assembly wouldn't reconvene floor sessions following its official adjournment until May 9 of next year.