February 2, 2021
The NC General Assembly officially convened on January 13th and used the first two weeks of the long session to select committee members and appoint chairs. They reconvened on January 27th and began deliberations. Bills are slowly being introduced and committee work has not yet gotten underway.
There are some new and familiar leaders in health and human service committees. Three of the four Co-Chairs for the House HHS Appropriations are now health care providers. Rep. Kristin Baker is a physician, Rep. Donna White is a registered nurse and Rep. Wayne Sasser is a pharmacist. Sen. Perry is a co-chair of the Senate HHS Appropriations and his career has been in medical organization personnel. HHS also includes some members that have extensive legislative experience on health and human service issues including Reps. Cunningham, Insko and Lambeth and Sens. Krawiec and Robinson. There is now a House Families, Children and Aging Policy Committee. The members include medical professionals, educators, law enforcement, a judge, a pastor and a funeral homeowner.
The deadlines have been set for crossover action and filing. The crossover deadline is Thursday, May 13th for bills originating in both the House and the Senate. Certain bills, like bills with appropriations/funding, do not have to follow the crossover requirements. A bill meets crossover if it passes from one chamber to the other by the deadline (May 13th). If a bill meets the crossover deadline, it remains eligible for consideration for the remainder of the long and short sessions (that will begin in spring of 2022). If the bill does not meet the crossover deadline, the bill itself can no longer progress in the legislature. Sometimes bills that do not meet crossover are later added as provisions of budget bills or amendments to other bills.
Other important deadlines in the legislature are the filing deadlines for bills. The House has several deadlines including bills recommended by State Agencies filed by 2/25/21, bills without appropriations or funding filed by 4/20/21 and bills with appropriations or funding filed by 4/27/21. Most Senate bills are required to be filed by April 6th.