A federal appeals court ruled North Carolina must hold special elections in November 2017 for General Assembly seats in unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts. The Legislature will need to redraw districts by mid-March, and legislators recently elected from the affected districts will have their terms shortened to one year from the usual two-year term.

Earlier this year, the court ruled the affected 28 districts unconstitutional, but allowed the 2016 election to continue under the old maps. This new order settles the issue of whether the new districts would take effect for the regular 2018 election or if a special election would be necessary.

The gubernatorial race is still too close to call more than a week after election day. Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper declared victory over Republican incumbent Pat McCrory, but McCrory is not conceding until all provisional ballots are counted.

Cooper is ahead by about 5,000 votes, but more than 58,000 provisional and absentee ballots remain to be counted. If the race is within 10,000 votes after all ballots are counted, candidates can request a recount which would not take place until after Thanksgiving.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced that he expects to call a special session in early December to address Hurricane Matthew relief.

The governor said he will turn in the state’s request for federal disaster assistance on Nov. 14.

Once federal relief is approved by Congress, the state will need to provide matching funds and funding for what federal relief won’t cover.

Photo of Gov. Pat McCrory by Hal Goodtree on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Pat McCrory is planning to call a special session to address Hurricane Matthew disaster relief.

Information on when the session will be held is expected to be released next week.

The regular session of the General Assembly is not scheduled to meet until January 2017.

Photo of Governor McCrory by Hal Goodtree on Wikimedia Commons.

State Democrats called for a special session of the General Assembly following Hurricane Matthew’s devastating impact on the state. Twenty people were killed, thousands retreated to emergency shelters, and the storm transformed one-third of the state’s 100 counties into federal disaster areas.

Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue and House Rep. Billy Richardson urged legislators to address the emergency so that funds from the state’s rainy day reserves could be distributed. Republicans denied the request. House Speaker Tim Moore and Senator Phil Berger stated it would be better to wait until the waters recede to determine long-term needs.

The General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene when the regular session starts in February.

State House Majority Leader Mike Hager (R) resigned from the General Assembly to support himself financially and take care of his elderly parents. Hager was the majority leader for two years and a House member for five.

It is likely Hager would have been reelected in November as his only competition was an unaffiliated candidate.

The North Carolina Republican Party House District 112 Executive Committee has not yet named Hager’s replacement.

The North Carolina Legislature adjourned its short session on Friday, July 1, 2016. The session lasted almost 10 weeks with the biggest accomplishment being the passage of the state budget.

The next regular session is not scheduled until January 2017.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.

Lawmakers will return to Raleigh today to begin the 2016 short session of the North Carolina General Assembly. The session is expected to primarily address adjustments needed to the biennial budget.

The session is expected to adjourn in early July.

Photo of the North Carolina Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.

The North Carolina Legislature adjourned a special session on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.

Before adjourning, the Legislature ratified a bill to block local governments from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances regarding the use of public bathrooms.

North Carolina legislative leaders have announced a special legislative session convening Wednesday, March 23 to address a Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance that would otherwise take effect April 1.

The regular session of the General Assembly is not scheduled to meet until April 25.

The number of municipalities and regional governments our research associates track continues to grow. We now cover almost 300 municipalities and local governments. This is part of a continuous effort to better serve the needs of our clients.

In that effort, we have added abridged jurisdictions to our website. These entries, condensed due to the limited number of relevant local laws, provide the core information our clients need for their government relations work.

The new jurisdiction is: Asheville, North Carolina

On February 18, Gov. Pat McCrory called a special session of the General Assembly, for the purpose of drawing new congressional district maps. The new maps are needed because two congressional districts have been declared unconstitutional by the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina just ahead of the upcoming primary election.

The regular session of the General Assembly is not scheduled to meet until April 25.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.

On September 30, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed legislation moving next year’s presidential primary and general primary for state elected offices to a single date in March. House Bill 373 sets the single primary date to March 15, 2016. The bill contains other provisions include adjusting the filing dates for campaign finance reporting and permitting the leader of each political party caucus of the House of Representatives and the Senate to establish a separate affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates of that leader’s political party. According to the governor’s press release, he signed the bill after getting an agreement from the legislature to make revisions to the bill regarding campaign finance law, including prohibiting contributions from lobbyists or political action committees while the legislature is in session.

“There were specific concerns I had with the original version of the bill, and the General Assembly agreed to make revisions to address those concerns,” said McCrory in his press release.

Photo of Gov. Pat McCrory by Hal Goodtree on Wikimedia Commons.

On September 30, the North Carolina General Assembly adjourned its legislative session. Both chambers finished their legislative work shortly after 4 a.m. The Legislature is scheduled to next convene on April 25, 2016.

Photo of the North Carolina State Capitol by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.