Home

Login

Search

Site Map

Fonts

Translate

Share

Print

Help

General Assembly Adjourns Long Session

Article Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009

The General Assembly adjourned the 2009 long session on Aug. 11. This year's legislative session, which began on Jan. 28, was dominated by historic budgetary shortfalls and tax increases. Despite more than $2 billion in cuts to over 600 statewide programs, the legislature passed a $19 billion state budget that included $990 million in tax increases.

Unfortunately, the judicial branch faced major reductions to its budget during this long process. Total cuts to the judicial budget were $30.7 million for 2009-10 and $43.7 million for 2010-11. However, these reductions did not involve any department layoffs and allowed for the judicial branch to maintain its operating budget. For a complete summary of the judicial branch budget, please see the latest edition of the Governmental Affairs Update 

Despite the tough budgetary measures, the legislature passed a number of significant pieces of legislation this year, such as the “Racial Justice Act,” which allows death-row inmates to use statistics to try to prove that racial bias played a part in the imposition of capital punishment. This bill prohibits the seeking or imposing of the death penalty on the basis of race, creates a process to establish that race was a significant factor in seeking or imposing the death penalty, and identifies types of evidence that may be considered by the court when considering whether race was a basis for seeking or imposing the death penalty (S 461). 

Legislation of significant interest to the North Carolina Bar Association included the establishment of new procedures in causes of action for alienation of affection and criminal conversation. Effective Oct. 1, 2009, no act of the defendant that occurs after the plaintiff and the plaintiff's spouse physically separate with the intent that the separation remain permanent can give rise to a cause of action for alienation of affection or criminal conversation (H1110).

Another success for the NCBA involved a statutory change to Chapter 30 of the North Carolina General Statutes which clarified the elective share provisions (H765). 

In addition, the NCBA assisted with the passage of clarifying language to the North Carolina Uniform Trust Code (S482) and the enactment of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (S127).

The NCBA also worked to make various changes to the North Carolina Limited Liability Company Act (S 412).  While purely technical in nature, these changes will provide much needed assistance with statutory interpretation.

In other significant news, the legislature established a commission to study the compensation of North Carolina’s judicial officials. North Carolina’s judges are the lowest paid judges in the southeastern court system, which includes Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. The commission is to make a final report, including any proposed legislation, during or prior to the 2010 General Assembly (H 945).

The legislature passed a handful of bills aimed at addressing the housing crisis in North Carolina.  The Consumer Protection Act (S 974) gives homeowners additional protections and further opportunities to resolve debt disputes before moving into foreclosure proceedings. Meanwhile, an increase in the statutory homestead exemption (H 1058) from $18,500 to $35,000 for an individual and $37,000 to $60,000 for tenancy by the entirety or a joint tenant with rights of survivorship was also enacted into law.

A complete recap of the session’s proceedings will be provided in the Legislative Bulletin and provided to the members of the NCBA at the end of each legislative session by the Office of Governmental Affairs. The latest edition, which will be available by the end of September, will provide a synopsis of the legislative session in a user-friendly format that links directly from the summaries to the complete text of each bill.

The legislature will reconvene on May 12, 2010, for its short session. That session is devoted to adjusting the state budget and considering bills that were approved by one out of two chambers in 2009. The General Assembly could be called into a special session to consider a blueprint for revamping the state's entire tax system.

For additional information, please contact Kim Crouch, director of governmental affairs.