Lawmakers have a long recognized love-hate relationship with the media and lobbyists. Those groups share a quarrel with the General Assembly these days.
They say new security measures imposed at the state Legislative Building just before the current short session opened are impeding their ability to do their jobs — in the lobbyists’ case, of keeping legislators informed about issues on which they will vote; and for the media, keeping the public informed about how their elected representatives are voting.
Elizabeth Robinson, president of the North Carolina Professional Lobbyists Association, said members of her organization understand the need for building security after decades of unrestrained access. Many have been exposed to security measures in statehouses outside North Carolina.
But she said lobbyists would like to have expedited access to the Legislative Building as their counterparts in other states enjoy. As frequent visitors, she suggests, lobbyists should get badges to bypass slower security check lines in favor of fast-lane access through the turnstile entrance just like legislators and staff.
“I think that North Carolina’s a little bit unique in that our Legislative Building is not a campus unto itself,” Robinson said.
Lawmakers’ offices and committee meeting rooms are split between two buildings that are not linked in one secure environment. Legislative sessions and formal press conferences take place at the Legislative Building, but many members have offices at the Legislative Office Building, and the largest committee meeting rooms are located in the LOB.
Lobbyists can lose time, seats in crowded meetings, or a chance to catch a legislator when shuttling back and forth between buildings all day long, subjected to repeat security scans.
Jeff Tiberii of WUNC Radio, president of the N.C. Capital Press Corps, said its media members also have concerns about reduced access. They had to relinquish building passes that allowed them to gain access when the building is locked. Credentialed reporters covering the legislature have free use of a room inside the building, and traditionally have worked from there, sometimes before and often after the building opened and closed.
They remain in limbo as a decision is pending on whether to move them out of their quarters.
The building is now locked at 5 p.m. If reporters are covering a late afternoon meeting in the Legislative Office Building — across the street from the Legislative Building — which runs into overtime, or are on assignment elsewhere outside the building, they can’t get back inside to collect their belongings in the press room.
Television reporters who want to do live spots from in front of the building for late afternoon news shows can’t get back inside. And the security lines are a hassle for television crews that come in and out all day, lugging cables, cameras, and other bulky gear.
Unlike the Legislative Building, with a metal detector and human screeners at the public entrance, the LOB has no similar security devices. Yet.
Legislative Services Officer Paul Coble, the former mayor of Raleigh and a former Wake County commissioner, is in charge of access to the legislative complex and implementing the security measures.
Coble acknowledges some groups are unhappy, but said the changes were strongly recommended by security experts. One reason all-hours passes were rescinded was because of experts’ warning that there is no control over building access if the passes are handed off to unauthorized people.
“As soon as we give any group any leeway for whatever reason — and everybody can come up with a great excuse, a rationale about why we should treat them differently — I would expect us to be sued,” Coble said, on grounds of unfair treatment.