We talked with four General Assembly watchers to give us their predictions on what we’ll see out of this year’s legislative shorts session:

  • The budget: The two-year state budget is the main reason why state lawmakers come back for the short session. They will make adjustments to the budget, but not many. Could have a budget ready to go and on the chamber floors by middle of June, if not earlier.
  • Teacher pay raises: Despite the planned teacher rally set for this week, calling for pay raises, there is an average 6 percent pay raise for teachers already in the second year of the budget. Republicans will likely stick with that, but Democrats will call for more. This will likely cause partisan votes on the budget once it comes to the floor, expecting that Democrats will vote against the budget, despite a 6-percent teacher pay raise already planned.
  • State employee pay raises: One-third of state employees make about $15 an hour, says Robert Broome, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina. SEANC is also targeting pay increases for prison guards and other personnel that have been targeted in unrest in the state’s prisons. One House budget writer wants to give across-the-board raises to state employees. We’ll see how big of a pay bump will make it into the budget.
  • School safety & prison reform: Legislative committees have been working on recommendations for these issues in the interim period between sessions. Look for legislation to move this session on these issues.
  • Out of session early?: Legislative leaders have said they want to keep true to this session’s name – short. It’s an election year, and all 170 seats in the General Assembly are contested. The honorables look to be done in 6 weeks. One of our guests, lobbyist and marketing specialist Brian Lewis, said he thinks session will be over by July 4. But lobbyists and the Capitol Press Corps know better than to hold their breath on getting out early. Leaders often say one thing about end-of-session, and something inevitably comes up to extend it out a few days or weeks. So we’ll see.

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