Thirty minutes. That’s how long it took the Republican-controlled state Senate to override six of Gov. Bev Perdue’s vetoes Wednesday. But it’s only the opening salvo in an override war that will reach its climax later this month.

Perdue, a Democrat, has vetoed 15 bills this year. Eight of those originated in the Senate, and seven in the House. To this point, the full General Assembly has overridden only one — the $19.7 billion budget bill.

Look for that to change as the General Assembly reconvenes this month to tackle redistricting. The House already has calendared veto override votes in its chamber for the week of July 25. The Senate began that process Wednesday by reversing six of Perdue’s vetoes. The House must pass them before they become law.

At a press conference hours after the lightning-round session, Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, touted the bipartisan votes on five of the six overrides.

“The message it sends is a strong majority, an overwhelming majority, a bipartisan majority of the North Carolina General Assembly understands the importance of this legislation to North Carolina,” Berger said.

Perdue reacted to the overrides by saying in a statement that the Senate “made the wrong choices for North Carolina — six times over. I remain hopeful that the House will take up these issues and make better choices.”

Vetoes overridden

• Senate Bill 781, Regulatory Reform Act of 2011: Largely reflected Perdue’s executive order last year easing burdensome rules and regulations on private businesses. In her veto message, Perdue claimed that certain provisions were unconstitutional. Members of her party in the Senate disagreed. “This is an appropriate constitutional provision,” said Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, minutes before the Senate voted unanimously to override the veto.

• Senate Bill 496, Medicaid & Health Choice Provider Req.: Addresses screening requirements for Medicaid and Health Choice providers. In a similar rationale as for S.B. 781, Perdue said she supports most of the bill, but objected to a provision that transfers decision-making power from a state agency to the Office of Administrative Hearings. The Senate voted 47-1 to override.

• Senate Bill 33, Medical Liability Reforms: Caps awards for noneconomic damages at $500,000 unless the defendant can prove gross negligence and “disfigurement, loss of use of part of the body, permanent injury or death.” It also expands protections for emergency-room doctors who face malpractice suits. “I honestly don’t know why she vetoed this,” said Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, a chief sponsor of the bill. The Senate voted 35-12 to override.

• Senate Bill 709, Energy Jobs Act: Would expand North Carolina’s ability to drill for natural gas off its coast. Also asks Perdue to enter into a regional compact with Virginia and South Carolina on the issue. Perdue said the bill “is unconstitutional on its face” by interfering with executive powers. The Senate disagreed, 31-17, overriding her veto.

• Senate Bill 532, ESC/Jobs Reform: Transfers the Employment Securities Commission to the Department of Commerce and overhauls how unemployment benefits are distributed. With scant debate, the Senate voted 31-17 to override.

• Senate Bill 727, No Dues Checkoff for School Employees: Right now, dues to the N.C. Association of Educators are deducted from teachers’ paychecks automatically, unless they opt out. The bill would reverse the situation so that teachers must choose to join the NCAE. The measure elicited the most debate Wednesday, with Democrats calling it an attempt to punish Republicans’ political enemies. The Senate voted 30-18 to override.

Other overrides

In April, the Senate voted along party lines to override Perdue’s veto of Senate Bill 265, State Health Plan/Appropriations and Transfer. It requires teachers and other state employees to pay, for the first time, a monthly premium for their health insurance — $21 for the plan offering the best coverage and about half that for the basic plan. The House has yet to take up the override.

House side

A number of controversial bills — such as voter ID, informed consent for an abortion, and legislation exempting North Carolinians from the federal health-care law’s individual mandate — originated on the House side, meaning that chamber must vote on them first. That’s problematic for Republicans, who are four seats short of a 72-seat majority needed to overcome a veto.

Berger was optimistic about the House’s chances of overriding the veto on the six bills the Senate took action on Wednesday, but with a caveat.

“I’m some concerned that on the House side the politics may get more in the way than the actual consideration of the merits,” he said.

Aside from the budget, the House has taken veto override votes on only one other bill — the federal health care law opt-out. It failed in a party line vote.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.