@NCCapitol

No votes April 23

Neither the House nor the Senate plans any votes during the April 23 special session.

Posted Updated

By
Mark Binker

Those hoping for excitement during the April 23 special session at the General Assembly will (most likely) be disappointed. Everyone else can go ahead and focus on primary campaigns, the budget and other work for the legislative session. 

Leaders in both the House and Senate said Monday that they planned only "skeleton sessions," where the bare minimum of members needed to gavel in and out session attend.

Short mini-sessions have dotted the calendar since lawmakers adjourned last June. Most were designed to handle redistricting business in case courts overturned Congressional or legislative maps drawn by the General Assembly. Thus far, those maps have encountered little resistance in the courts. 

However, speculation about what will happen during these non-traditional occasions has become particularly intense since January's midnight madness veto override session. 

Amy Auth, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, told my colleague Laura Leslie today that there will be no votes in the Senate.

And an e-mail from House Speaker Thom Tillis says the same will be true in the House. From the e-mail that went out from Tillis to House members today:

"After consultation with the Senate leadership, we have agreed that no matters will be taken up when the General Assembly convenes on Monday, April 23, 2012. There will be no recorded votes and only a limited number of members will attend. Unless you have other business in Raleigh, we encourage you to defer per diem and session compensation for the time the legislature is technically in session.

"The April 23, 2012 session is the last “special session” prior to the convening of the Short Session on May 16, 2012."

That said, it would surprise nobody if these were well attended skeleton sessions, just in case. 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.