RALEIGH -- In quick order and with little debate, the state Senate on Wednesday overrode all six vetoes of its bills, sending Gov. Bev Perdue a clear - if not necessarily effective - message.
Although the Republican-controlled Senate flexed its muscles, successful overrides aren't guaranteed in the House and so might amount to no more than an opportunity to make a political statement. After the votes, Phil Berger, Senate president pro tem, told reporters that many of the bills were meant to help the economy.
"We've heard a chorus of 'Where's the jobs legislation? Where's the jobs legislation?' " Berger said. "We passed jobs legislation and then the governor vetoes a number of them. ... I think that's a strong message."
Yet it wasn't all party politics. Several of the overrides passed with Democratic support, reflecting a difference of opinion among Democrats over the governor's rationale for some of her vetoes.
The bills kept alive for another day by Wednesday's overrides dealt with medical malpractice, regulatory reform, energy exploration, dues deductions for teachers, Medicaid and the Employment Security Commission.
"We're going to be making history today," Sen. David Rouzer, a Republican representing Johnston and Wayne counties, predicted at a morning rally on Halifax Mall in support of the overrides. Rouzer predicted another unanimous Senate vote on the regulatory reform bill.
He was right on both counts. The bill, SB781, passed unanimously after just a few minutes of discussion. Then the Senate breezed through the rest of the overrides in less than an hour. But then the governor had given lawmakers plenty of material to work with: a record 15 vetoes of bills from this past session.
After the votes, Perdue issued a statement: "The Senate today made the wrong choices for North Carolina - six times over," she said. "I remain hopeful that the House will take up these issues and make better choices."
The six votes represented all the Senate bills that the governor vetoed. The House is considering taking up some of its bills that were vetoed, in addition to voting on the overrides passed along by the Senate. But that won't happen until the week of July 25, when the House will also vote on redistricting maps. The House is certain to take the voter identification bill.
House vote in doubt
But on key bills the House doesn't necessarily have the three-fifths votes it needs to override. Berger acknowledged that he has talked to House Speaker Thom Tillis about the prospect for success, and knows Republicans might not have the votes to prevail in some cases.
"I have some concerns on the House side that politics may get in the way," he said.
Perdue had suggested that some of the bills just needed tweaking for her to sign them.
And earlier Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County said it would be possible to craft a new version of the medical malpractice bill this month, for example.
Perdue had objected to the $500,000 cap on noneconomic damages, saying the most severely injured patients - those suffering disfigurement, loss of a limb or even death - should not have a limit on how much a jury can award.
Nesbitt said that provision and a last-minute change in the bill that created a liability loophole covering any medical emergency anywhere in a hospital - rather than just in emergency rooms - was also a sticking point with some Democrats. He said his caucus could support a bill without the cap or the loophole.
But Berger said it was not likely that bills that both chambers can't override would be retooled and voted on during this short session.
"We don't want to be in a full-blown session again."
Senators voted to override the veto on SB33, the medical malpractice bill, 35-12,with five Democrats joining the Republicans. The House approved the bill in June on a 62-44 vote - short of the 72 votes needed for an override.
Also Wednesday, the Senate voted 31-17 without debate to override the veto of SB709, an energy bill that would ramp up exploration of natural gas drilling off the North Carolina coast and study the use of hydraulic fracturing to tap into natural gas in shale deposits elsewhere in the state. Perdue said the bill's requirement that she enter into a compact with neighboring states to pursue gas exploration was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.
Sen. Bob Rucho, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, said Virginia is taking steps to claim potential revenue from offshore gas deposits.
"This is not a warning, this is just saying this is happening now," Rucho said. "Any activity that happens off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, North Carolina needs to be at the table so we can protect our interests, both environmentally and economically."
The Senate began the morning with the unanimous vote on SB781, which would restrict state agencies' regulations in an attempt to make them more efficient and business-friendly; environmentalists say it will be harmful. The bill also gives administrative law judges the final say in appeals of agency decisions, rather than giving the agencies that authority.
That's the part of the bill that Perdue opposed, claiming the attorney general's office has repeatedly found that would violate the state constitution. But Senate Democrats like that provision.
Sen. Harry Brown, a Republican from Jones and Onslow counties, said legislative staff disagrees there's a legal problem, and has only found one old, nonpublished opinion by the attorney general that said that. It also found an appeals court decision that went the other way. Nesbitt said he agreed with Brown.
NCAE dues deduction
The most contentious question of the session Wednesday, and the closest vote at 30 to 18, was to prevent members of the N.C. Association of Educators from having dues deducted from their paychecks, as laid out in SB727.
Perdue in her veto message said she rejected the bill because it is unfair and illegal. She had defended association in other matters this year.
"She didn't want to say, 'My friends don't like this,' " said Sen. Ralph Hise, a Spruce Pine Republican and the bill sponsor.
Other organizations, including the State Employees Association, employ the practice of dues deductions. Senate Democrats said the bill singled out NCAE because it objected to the state budget.
"It's clearly being seen by the people of the state as an attempt to single out teachers because they had the audacity to protest what was being done to the public schools," Nesbitt said. "We can't start taking retribution on everybody who disagrees with us."
