The magazine of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education • Saturday May 19, 2012

Perdue Calls for Redistricting Commission, Session Limits, Increased Transparency

By Bryan Warner
Published: Dec. 16, 2010

RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue on Wednesday urged state lawmakers to create an independent redistricting commission, set fixed session lengths and increase legislative-branch transparency.

Speaking before veteran legislators and recently elected newcomers gathered at the Legislative Office Building, Perdue proposed the three points of reform, while also discussing a projected $3.7 billion budget shortfall facing the state next year.

Perdue’s call for an independent redistricting commission comes as lawmakers prepare to redraw legislative and congressional voting districts in the coming months, based on the latest U.S. census data. For the first time in a century, Republicans will hold the reins of power and steer the map-drawing process after winning majorities in the N.C. House and Senate last month.

“I believe it will ensure fairness as the maps are drawn,” Perdue said of an independent redistricting commission. “It will once and for all do away with the divisive partisan politics that have plagued North Carolina’s redistricting efforts in the past and that have ended up in court time, after time, after time.”

While several prominent legislative Republicans have called for an independent redistricting commission in the past, presumptive House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) and incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Guilford, Rockingham) have expressed doubt about having enough time to create such a commission for the upcoming year. Instead, they say a commission could be in place for 2021.

Both Tillis and Berger were among the co-sponsors of bills introduced in their respective chambers in 2009 that would have amended the N.C. Constitution to create the “Hamilton Horton Independent Redistricting Commission,” named after the late state senator who long championed an independent commission before his death in 2006.

The commission proposed in the measures would have been comprised of four Republicans, four Democrats and three independents.  Neither bill emerged for a vote in the Democratic-controlled legislature.

In addition to making a pitch for redistricting reform, Perdue called for lawmakers to establish definitive session lengths at 90 days for so-called “long sessions” in odd-numbered years and 45 days for even-numbered years. Currently, long sessions last about 200 business days on average, at the cost of roughly $1 million per month.

Perdue said a defined and briefer session duration would save taxpayer money, while allowing more citizens to serve in the General Assembly who otherwise could not dedicate nearly two-thirds of the year to being in Raleigh.

The governor also encouraged lawmakers to open up the legislative process to greater transparency and accountability.

In terms of tackling the multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall, Perdue said the state should be run more like a business, with consolidation and privatization of some agencies and elimination of duplicative services. To the newly elected lawmakers in attendance, Perdue said, “The honeymoon’s almost over. The real work is about to begin.”

Following Perdue’s remarks, Tillis requested that the governor provide her spending plan to lawmakers earlier than what is typical, in order to expedite what will likely be a difficult budgeting process.

“We’ve got a monumental task ahead of us, arguably the most challenging fiscal situation since the Great Depression,” Tillis said. “We hope by the second week of February, what we’re starting on is the governor’s recommended budget, a month before we normally get it.”