The state legislature is scheduled to return to Raleigh next week, but no one seems to know what's on the agenda, when votes will take place, or how long it will last.
While Democrats won control of the state House in last week's election (and Republicans lost seats in the Senate), current lawmakers will remain in office until Dec. 31. That means Republicans still have a veto-proof majority in the Senate and what they call a "working supermajority" in the House. And in past elections where Republicans have lost seats or key statewide races, they've convened after the election to pass measures shifting power away from Democrats.
But just days before this year's lame-duck session is set to convene next Monday, no information has been released about legislative leaders' plans.
"If I'm being honest with you, I've not seen a plan," House Rules Chairman John Bell, R-Wayne, told WUNC News on Wednesday. "I've not seen the agenda. I've not seen anything. Neither has anyone else in the caucus."
Bell says he thinks lawmakers will be back in Raleigh on Tuesday, a day after the session's formal start.
Spokespeople for Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall also said this week that they did not have any information yet about the session agenda or schedule.
Both Berger and Hall have been quiet since Election Day. Berger has not issued a public statement or posted on social media in about a month, aside from a brief post on Wednesday recognizing Veterans Day. Hall sent out a news release around 1 a.m. on election night congratulating Democrats on their wins, but his typically active social media accounts haven't posted since Election Day, nor has he made any other public statements. The House Republican Caucus' social media account has also gone dark.
The legislature's adjournment resolution gives some scheduling framework for the rest of the year, but it's unclear which dates could see votes or other legislative action. It calls for the House and Senate to be in session from Nov. 16-19, before taking a Thanksgiving break and potentially returning on Nov. 30. After that date, the legislature could be in session until a Dec. 18 date to adjourn "sine die," which means its business is concluded until the newly elected lawmakers take office in 2027.
The lack of information about legislative leaders' plans for the coming weeks has Democrats worried about what might be coming.
"It's still a mystery," Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, told WUNC News on Monday. "But what we have heard is conversations about the House Republicans wanting to spend a lot of the money in the reserves, and to make sure that makes it harder for the Democrats to have any money left to spend."
Batch says she's also heard rumors that Republicans could try to change who's responsible for prosecuting public corruption cases. That duty currently belongs to the Wake County district attorney, an office that former Democratic Congressman Wiley Nickel will occupy next year. Nickel has vowed to make those cases a top priority.
Batch said she'd rather see the legislature take a break over the holidays and return in the new year. "But if they want to be Grinches and go ahead and come back and steal from the coffers of North Carolinians, and do whatever they think that they need to do, then, by all means," she said.
"I just want them all to remember that January is coming, and they're going to have to work with the new members that are actually in the majority (in the House). So it's going to be very difficult for them to get anything passed, especially in the House, if they decide to take a really hard line and make sure that they spend a ton of money."
In a Tuesday news conference, incoming House Speaker Robert Reives, D-Chatham, had a similar warning to his GOP colleagues.
"If we come in here with the lame-duck sessions that we've had every cycle since I've been here, then that will be a signal to the (Democratic) caucus that there is no interest in working with us, and there's no interest in any bipartisanism or camaraderie" next year, Reives said. "I don't want business as usual."
Reives said he's also received no information so far about the legislature's schedule for the remainder of the year. He'd prefer to see "the bare minimum that you need to do, as far as any cleanup we've got to do from the budget process or something like that."
In addition to budget or spending bills, a range of other items could be on the agenda:
Veto overrides: House Republicans have a total of five vetoes from Gov. Josh Stein that they haven't yet tried to override. They include a bill to repeal the permit requirements to carry a concealed handgun, controversial changes to election laws and changes to eviction laws. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, still haven't scheduled an override vote on a bill to ban diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs in state government.
Property taxes: After voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to restrict property taxes, lawmakers need to decide what those restrictions will be. It's unclear whether that will happen in the lame-duck session or wait until next year; Stein could veto a bill implementing the amendment, which could force lawmakers to try again if they can't get the three-fifths majorities needed for an override before the December adjournment.
Appointment powers: Control over appointments to state boards and commissions has been a common theme in previous lame-duck sessions. Republicans have sought to shift power from the governor to the legislature or to other statewide offices held by Republicans, such as the state auditor.
Stein and previous Gov. Roy Cooper have consistently vetoed those measures, so whether Republicans could succeed in a power shift depends on whether they could get enough GOP legislators (and perhaps two former House Democrats who lost primaries and left their party) in the room at the same time for an override vote. With many incumbents leaving office soon, that could be easier said than done.
