Republican leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly convened a special session in mid-September to pass constitutional amendments, but the real story might be what they didn’t pass.
Lawmakers delayed action on three amendments that could shore up the state’s fiscal house. The proposals would limit the spending growth of state government, require a three-fifths vote of the legislature to raise taxes, and create a state savings account.
Weary from a six-month session where legislators wrangled over a new budget and redistricting plan, Republicans opted to put off the political fight on the fiscal amendments until next year — or beyond.
Chief among the fiscal-related amendments is House Bill 188, Taxpayer Bill of Rights (commonly known as TABOR). Under the amendment, General Fund expenditures would have to correlate with population growth plus inflation. A two-thirds majority vote of the legislature would be needed to exceed the expenditure limit.
The idea follows on successful passage of TABOR in other states, including Colorado in 1992 and Washington state in 2007 and again in 2010.
“Had we had some constraints in place, the legislature wouldn’t have had to do what it had to do this session on the spending side,” said Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford, TABOR’s primary sponsor. “It’s always harder to slam brakes on than it is to bring the vehicle to a stop over a decent distance.”
Blust, who chairs the House judiciary subcommittee where TABOR was assigned, added that he probably would’ve pushed the bill through his committee had he known the legislature would adjourn the long session by mid-June.
“I was taken by surprise at how quick we got out of the regular session,” the Greensboro Republican said. “We were not really consulted — at least the membership wasn’t consulted, or the caucus polled.”
Another amendment — House Bill 784, Three-Fifths Vote to Levy Taxes — would bar lawmakers from raising taxes without a supermajority vote in both chambers of the legislature. Right now, a simple majority is needed.
A third — House Bill 913, Amend Constitution/State Savings Fund — would require the legislature to lay aside a percentage of revenue growth in a savings account, to be used only for specified expenditures.
All three amendments are in for more revisions before they appear in prime time.
“These are concepts that we have worked on for a number of years,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, a primary backer of H.B. 188 and H.B. 913. “Now that we’re in the majority, we need to see if we can put together a reasonable, workable proposal for limiting the growth of government that will actually work and not keep us from being able to address the needs of the state.”
During the September session, the GOP also slowed action on amendments addressing eminent domain and term limits for top legislative leaders to iron out wrinkles from each proposal.
The one successful amendment — Senate Bill 514, Defense of Marriage — would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman and ban same-sex marriage. It passed the House 75-42 and the Senate 30-16 and will appear on the primary ballot in May next year.
Other proposals that got shunted would call for amendments making English the official language for business in North Carolina, codifying the state’s public records law in the constitution, and creating an independent redistricting commission.
Shortly after the September session adjourned, House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said he didn’t anticipate any more amendments arising before the short session next year, even though lawmakers will return to Raleigh Nov. 7 for another special session.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.