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2019 North Carolina legislative session

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North Carolina State Legislature

Seal of North Carolina.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 9, 2019
Session end:   October 31, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Dan Forest (R)
House Speaker:  Timothy K. Moore (R)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Harry Brown (R)
House: John Bell (R)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Dan Blue (D)
House: Darren Jackson (D)
Structure
Members:  50 (Senate), 120 (House)
Length of term:   2 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art II, North Carolina Constitution
Salary:   $13,951/year + per diem
Elections
Redistricting:  North Carolina Legislature has control

North Carolina convened its legislative session on January 9, 2019, and legislators remained in session until October 31, 2019. Republicans have a majority this legislative session, although they did not have the veto-proof supermajority they had in 2018. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 29-21 majority in the Senate and a 65-55 majority in the House. Democrats controlled the governorship, meaning that North Carolina was under divided government.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Republicans held a majority in the North Carolina state Senate and state House.
  • North Carolina was one of 14 states under divided government.
  • North Carolina's governor was Democrat Roy Cooper.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    North Carolina was one of 14 states under divided government at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    North Carolina was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the General Assembly of North Carolina in the 2019 legislative session.

    North Carolina State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 21
         Republican Party 29
    Total 50

    Between 1992 and 2016, partisan control of the North Carolina State Senate shifted from being heavily Democratic to a Republican majority. Democrats went from having a 28-seat advantage following the 1992 elections to being at a 20-seat disadvantage after the 2016 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the North Carolina State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2016. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    North Carolina State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 39 26 30 35 35 28 29 31 30 19 18 16 15 21
    Republicans 11 24 20 15 15 22 21 19 20 31 32 34 35 29

    From 1992 to 2010, Senate Democrats controlled the North Carolina State Senate. Democrats had their largest majority following the 1992 election when Democrats held a 28-seat advantage. For the majority of years between 1992 and 2010, Democrats had more than the 30 seats required to override gubernatorial vetoes. Democrats controlled the governor's office for all of that time with the exception of 1992.

    Republicans took control of the state Senate in the 2010 elections. Republicans picked up 11 seats in that election and won a 31-19 majority. Republicans increased their Senate majority in the 2012, 2014, and 2016 elections. Republicans held a veto-proof supermajority from 2011 through 2018, losing it in the 2018 election. Since Gov. Roy Cooper (D) was elected in 2016, Cooper and the Republican-controlled legislature have been in a regular state of conflict that has resulted in a series of vetoes, veto overrides, and lawsuits, some of which predate Cooper's swearing-in on January 1, 2017. Legislation passed by the legislature has included, for example, efforts to merge the state elections board and ethics commission, decrease the number of governor-appointed judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and require Senate approval of Cooper's cabinet-level appointments. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.

    In June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a federal district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. The maps were created in 2011 by the Republican-controlled state legislature. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. The legislature adopted new state House and Senate district maps on August 30, 2017.[1]

    North Carolina House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 55
         Republican Party 65
    Total 120

    Between 1992 and 2008, partisan control of the North Carolina House of Representatives fluctuated, swinging back and forth between the Democratic and Republican parties. Since the 2010 elections, Republicans have controlled the chamber. The table below shows the partisan history of the North Carolina House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    North Carolina House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 78 52 59 66 62 59 63 68 68 52 43 46 46 55
    Republicans 42 68 61 54 58 61 57 52 52 67 77 74 74 65
    Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

    From 1994 to 2002, the Democratic and Republican parties both claimed relatively small majorities, the largest being from 1994 to 1996 when Republicans had a 16-member majority. The Democratic majority spiked between the 2004 and 2006 elections when the party increased their majority by nine seats. 2006 was an election that trended nationally for Democrats and saw them retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years.[2]

    Democrats held the state House from 2004 until the 2010 election when Republicans gained 15 seats and took control of the chamber. Republicans increased their partisan balance from 67-52 to 77-43 in the 2012 election and also gained a supermajority. A supermajority, which requires seventy-two seats, gives Republicans the power to override gubernatorial vetoes. Republicans lost three seats in the 2014 election but maintained their supermajority. Since Gov. Roy Cooper (D) was elected in 2016, Cooper and the Republican-controlled legislature have been in a regular state of conflict that has resulted in a series of vetoes, veto overrides, and lawsuits, some of which predate Cooper's swearing-in on January 1, 2017. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.

    In June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a federal district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. The legislature adopted new state House and Senate district maps on August 30, 2017.[3]

    Leadership in 2019

    North Carolina State Senate

    North Carolina House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in North Carolina state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 37 standing committees in North Carolina's state government, including 18 state Senate committees and 19 state House committees.

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the North Carolina Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XIII of the North Carolina Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in North Carolina

    The North Carolina Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. North Carolina requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the North Carolina General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 72 votes in the North Carolina House of Representatives and 30 votes in the North Carolina State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XIII of the North Carolina Constitution, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote vote of both chambers of state Legislature is required to place a constitutional convention question on the ballot. A simple majority vote is required for voters to approve the question. Any amendments proposed by a constitutional convention also require voter approval.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of North Carolina.

    North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
    Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D D
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    House D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    See also

    Elections North Carolina State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    North Carolina State Flag-Close Up.jpg
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    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The News and Observer, "See the proposed NC Senate map," August 20, 2017
    2. ↑ The New York Times, "On Wave of Voter Unrest, Democrats Take Control of House," November 8, 2006
    3. ↑ The News and Observer, "See the proposed NC Senate map," August 20, 2017
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