Putting the finishing touches on the shortest long session since the early 1970s made for a harried week in the General Assembly, one underscored by a blistering budget debate and a series of 11th hour attempts to push through legislation.

The result: a collection of grumpy lawmakers ready to leave Raleigh and head back to their districts. That won’t happen until Saturday, the current deadline for the session’s end.

The biggest news of the week came Wednesday when Republicans in the House and Senate overrode Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of the state budget, a $19.7 billion spending plan for the next two fiscal years.

House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, were all smiles during a press conference Thursday morning, the day after the veto override.

“It’s the proudest moment of my political career,” Tillis said. “My sense of accomplishment is very strong when I think about a budget that takes one and a half billion dollars and puts it back in the pockets of businesses and working families and anybody who buys something.”

Democrats weren’t glowing. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said that the budget would devastate public education.

“The Republicans own this. It is their fault. We opposed them. The governor opposed them to the absolute end,” Hackney said.

After adjournment Saturday, lawmakers are expected to return in mid-July to address redistricting and election bills, and again in September to pass constitutional amendments.

Below is a list of major bills passed, or nearly passed, this week.

ELECTIONS

• House Bill 351, Restore Confidence in Government: Requires voters to show photo identification at the polls. Passed the Senate in party line 31-19 vote, concurred in the House 62-51, and now goes to Perdue. The margins are not veto-proof.

• Senate Bill 47, Restore Confidence in Elections: An “omnibus” elections-reform bill that would ban straight-ticket voting, shorten the early-voting period, and repeal same-day voter registration. Originally was a bill to restore partisan labels to judicial races. Passed the Senate earlier in June 36-13. Taken off the House calendar Thursday and sent back to committee.

ANNEXATION

• House Bill 845, Annexation Reform Act of 2011: Allows landowners to veto a proposed annexation if the owners of 60 percent of the parcels signed a petition opposing the annexation. Doesn’t retroactively apply to past annexations. Passed the Senate 37-11 and now goes to Perdue.

• House Bill 56, Local Annexations Subject to 60% Petition: Allows eight municipalities that have been annexed, or are in the process of being annexed, to refuse the annexation with a petition signed by 60 percent of property owners. On the House calendar Friday.

• House Bill 168, Farms Exempt from City Annexation & ETJ: Exempts farms from municipal annexations and extraterritorial jurisdiction. Passed the House and Senate with new unanimous majorities and now goes to Perdue.

TORT/REGULATORY REFORM

• 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. Passed the Senate 32-9, concurred by the House 62-44, and sent to Perdue.

• House Bill 542, Tort Reform for Citizens and Businesses: A scaled-down tort reform bill. A controversial product liability component was removed for the final version. Concurred in the House 80-23, and now goes to Perdue.

EDUCATION

• House Bill 344, Tax Credits for Children with Disabilities: Makes families with disabled children eligible for up to $6,000 in tax credits each year to offset the costs of attending nonpublic schools. Passed the Senate 44-5 and the House concurred 94-20. Now goes to the governor.

• House Bill 342, High School Accreditation: Shields North Carolina public school districts from what critics of outside school-accreditation groups call unnecessary interference and even political punishment. Passed the Senate 32-15 and now goes to Perdue.

• House Bill 744, Safe Students Act: Requires parents to furnish schools with copies of their child’s immunization history and birth certificate. Previous versions of the bill included a provision mandating proof of United States citizenship, touching off an illegal immigration debate that resulted in the requirement being nixed. Passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to Perdue.

• House Bill 588, The Founding Principles Act: Requires school districts to teach courses on America’s founding documents and allows schools to display influential laws from past centuries, such as the Ten Commandments and the Justinian Code. Passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to Perdue.

ABORTION

• House Bill 854, Abortion-Woman’s Right to Know Act: Would require a 24-hour waiting period, ultrasound, and description of the unborn child before an abortion. Passed the Senate 29-20, one vote short of a veto-proof margin, and now goes to Perdue’s desk.

• House Bill 289, Authorize Various Special Plates: An “omnibus” specialty license plate bill that creates a “choose life” license plate. Proceeds from the plate would go to pro-life crisis pregnancy centers. Passed the Senate 40-10 and awaiting concurrence in the House Friday.

GUNS

• House Bill 650, Amend Various Gun Laws/Castle Doctrine: An “omnibus” gun bill that expands concealed carry rights and expands gun owners’ ability to use lethal force in self-defense. Passed the Senate 37-9, concurred by the House 80-39, and now goes to Perdue.

RACE

• Senate Bill 9, No Discriminatory Purpose in Death Penalty: Repeals North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act that allows death-row convicts to appeal their sentence on the basis of race. Passed the House Thursday 64-52 but looks to be dead in the Senate until the short session in 2012.

REDISTRICTING

• House Bill 824, Nonpartisan Redistricting Process: Takes redistricting out of politicians’ hands and leaves it up to legislative staff. Referred to the Senate Rules Committee June 10. Likely won’t be addressed until the short session.

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