North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) speaks to reporters after the legislative session’s opening day on Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
North Carolina lawmakers returned to Raleigh on Wednesday, kicking off a session that is expected to feature continued Hurricane Helene relief and scrutiny for natural disaster efforts past and present.
Over the coming months, the General Assembly will debate the state’s budget, as well as a wide range of contentious issues — most prominently the ongoing recovery in the mountains.
The new House Speaker, Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), said a bill setting out more relief for Helene would be coming “very soon.”
“Know that you’re not forgotten,” Hall said on the House floor, addressing western North Carolinians. “Know that this body is going to put you all as the number one priority, the number one fix this session. We’re working on some of those things now. It’s going to be a long road to recovery. There’s more than $50 billion, probably, in damage. This body is committed to doing everything possible to build back western North Carolina.”
On Wednesday, the proceedings in the Legislative Building were largely ceremonial, with new officers and members being formally sworn in and chamber leaders elected. Three former Republican House speakers — including Harold Brubaker, Tim Moore and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis — were present to congratulate Hall.
Substantial debate will begin later this month.
While lawmakers are focused foremost on Helene, past hurricanes — and the state’s response — will likely also drive debate.
Republicans have expressed cautious optimism about working with Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, while condemning past recovery efforts under former Gov. Roy Cooper. In particular, ReBuild NC (or NCORR) — the agency charged with rebuilding homes after Hurricanes Florence and Matthew — has drawn criticism by lawmakers.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk with (Stein), but it appears that the steps he’s taken is something of an acknowledgement that the NCORR model is not the model for us to continue to go with,” Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) told reporters. “I think there will be an effort to try to figure out exactly what it looks like. That seems to me to be the most pressing issue we’ve got.”
A razor-thin margin in the House will have implications on veto overrides
The session also brings a partial changing of the guard in leadership across both parties and chambers.
Hall takes the gavel in the House, with Moore now in Congress. And Senate Democrats will be led by Sen. Sydney Batch (D-Wake) after Sen. Dan Blue (D-Wake) stepped down from the post in December.
Berger and Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham) were re-elected to their roles.
Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, a Democrat, will preside over the Senate, where she was formerly a member. She occupies the office previously held by Republican Mark Robinson.
Republicans remain in firm control of both legislative chambers entering the session. But their power in the House was eroded this past election when they lost their supermajority — leaving them just one vote short to override Stein’s vetoes without any Democratic support.
“We want to have a working supermajority on any given issue,” Hall said.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper was able to ward off overrides during years in which Republicans were short of supermajorities in the House and Senate.
Last session, when they had veto-proof majorities, Republicans in the legislature canceled each of Cooper’s vetoes to enact the laws they wanted.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to find common ground,” Berger said of Stein. “I do know that there are a number of issues out there that we should be able to reach agreement on. Hurricane recovery is just one of them.”
House Democrats, despite the win in November, will still be tasked with whipping crucial votes. That won’t always be easy, with just a one-seat margin of error.
And one key member has already signaled frustration with the party — Rep. Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford). After a vote late last year, Brockman accused party leaders of “attacking” him and being made a “scapegoat.”
“For those in our party who desire to keep my name in their mouths, let me make it plain and clear for you: Over these next two years, you need me,” Brockman said in a statement. “I do not need you.”
While lawmakers return, ongoing state Supreme Court race looms large
As the chambers convened, a truck circled the Legislative Building — flashing messages about the ongoing state Supreme Court race.
The truck, from Common Cause NC, displayed messages saying, “Jefferson Griffin’s campaign to toss our votes is an injustice,” “Jefferson Griffin’s campaign to silence 6,104 Wake Co. voters is shameful,” and “Jefferson Griffin’s campaign to silence 60,000 voters is shameful.”
Two months after the election, the race still hasn’t been certified.
Republicans on the state Supreme Court have barred the state Board of Elections from certifying Democratic Justice Allison Riggs’ victory, following GOP Judge Jefferson Griffin’s request.
Riggs, the incumbent, leads Griffin by 734 votes in the contest. Griffin has made attempts to throw out more than 60,000 votes.
The NC GOP, in a statement Wednesday, said those protests “highlight specific irregularities and discrepancies in the handling and counting of ballots, raising concerns about adherence to established election laws.”
Berger told reporters Wednesday he “preferred not to weigh in” on the matter. His son, Phil Berger Jr., serves on the high court as an associate justice.
Common Cause NC’s campaigns manager, Gino Nuzzolillo, told NC Newsline in an interview that the protests were “a grave insult to North Carolinians who took the time to vote in an era where people distrust their government more and more.”