@NCCapitol

Senate delays action on vetoes until Wednesday

The state House is expected to vote on two vetoed bills later Tuesday. But the state Senate will return Wednesday morning to handle one or both measures, depending on House votes.

Posted 2013-09-03T16:32:24+00:00 - Updated 2013-09-03T16:43:40+00:00

Mark Binker

While the state House plans to handle a pair of vetoed bills Tuesday evening, the Senate will wait until 9 a.m. Wednesday to take its votes.

Gov. Pat McCrory has vetoed two bills. One requires drug testing for those who receive certain welfare benefits. The other measure extends the time someone may work for an employer without being screened by the federal E-Verify program.

Both the House and Senate gaveled into session at noon Tuesday. However, the House does not plan to start work in earnest until about 4:30 p.m.

Rather than wait for the House, Senate leaders decided to return Wednesday. Because both vetoed bills were originally drafted by the House, the House gets first crack at deciding whether to override a gubernatorial veto.

"If the House sends one or both of those back to us, I would anticipate the Senate would follow through on what we did before," Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said. "I don't have any information that leads me to believe the vote would be much different than it was before."

Both measures passed the state Senate by wide margins earlier this summer.

McCrory, Berger and the majorities in both the House and Senate are Republicans. However, the governor and Republican lawmakers have had a number of differences this year, these two bills being the most stark examples.