House Speaker Jim Black and Senate leader Marc Basnight are backed by staffs of lawyers, researchers and public relations specialists. Black has nine staff members making about $653,500, and Basnight has a staff of 10 making about $686,320.

Nine years ago, Basnight had a staff of five, making about $293,730.

Rank-and-file legislators, by comparison, typically have a part-time administrative assistant.

Black and Basnight's influence extends beyond the government complex through the hundreds of appointments they make to boards as varied as those that license acupuncturists, seek to improve Internet access, or assess the aftermath of the 1898 race riot in Wilmington.

Black and Basnight hand out committee chairmanships and other assignments.

Then, there's the Republican minority, whose members have few chairmanships, few legislative successes to brag about and no say in how the budget looks.

"How do you have good processes of government when the party in power controls all the votes and have pocket vetoes of every bill?" asked Sen. Robert Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican.

Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, said House leaders manipulate rules to block debate on ideas they want buried.

Stam wanted last year to add $5 million to the budget for early intervention services for young children who may develop learning problems. He wanted to transfer money from Golden LEAF, an economic development foundation set up with money from the national tobacco settlement.

When Stam tried to make that proposal during budget deliberations, Black wouldn't let him.

"The problem was, he didn't want to do it, so it was ruled out of order," Stam said.

By the time the budget reaches the House floor, members are prohibited from recommending changes that would move money between departments. Stam says the limits stifle open debate.

Democrats say the style of today's leadership is more inclusive than it used to be.

Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, noted that when he was elected to the Senate in 1981, the chamber was run with an iron hand by Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green, a Democrat and crusty conservative.

"It didn't move if Jimmy didn't want it to move," Rand said. "I mean it didn't wiggle."