The North Carolina General Assembly is delaying formal business for another week as budget negotiations and summer travel delay actions Republicans want to take before this year’s main legislative session ends.
Aides to House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger confirmed Monday that their respective chambers will not vote or hold committee meetings this week.
That means the fate of five bills vetoed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this month, three of which include restrictions related to LGBTQ+ youth, remains up in the air.
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Moore delayed override votes scheduled for last week on four of the vetoed bills parked in his chamber. Moore had described the challenges of ensuring all Republican colleagues could be in Raleigh to successfully override a veto when lawmakers were traveling.
GOP leaders have little room to maneuver in either chamber to complete an override when their party’s seat margins are exactly veto-proof when all lawmakers are present.
Legislative work in the North Carolina General Assembly has stalled for another week due to budget negotiations and summer travel. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)
The House’s override votes were then delayed until this Wednesday. But now, with no votes recorded this week, they will be pushed back even further.
The Senate, which has not held a recorded vote since June 29, had also initially planned to conduct business on Wednesday. But Berger said last week that that depended on the House taking some override votes, which won’t happen now.
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Both chambers already adjourned for the week that included July 4. Lawmakers had wanted to get a two-year state budget approved by July 1, but negotiations over tax cuts and reserves have caused delays. Berger and another House negotiator said it could be August before a budget is finalized.
State law does not set limits on when annual sessions must end.
