The long, contentious and trying session of the General Assembly has been over for two days now, a prefect time to start looking forward to the next time lawmakers come to town, May 2010 unless a special session is called, which is unlikely but not impossible.
The budget will dominate next year's year session like it did this years, and while lawmakers won't have to fill a $4.6 billion hole again, no one expects any revenue surplus. That could mean more budget cuts just to fund inflationary increases, rising health care costs, and higher enrollment in public schools, community colleges, and universities.
Lawmakers will also have to replace one-time money that was used to fund ongoing programs this year and start to plan for 2011 when the federal stimulus money runs out, creating a shortfall of more than a billion dollars unless the state's economy has fully recovered.
Tax increases are likely off the table for next year with an election looming in the fall and Democrats already nervous.
But tax reform will be front and center and expect legislative leaders to build on the plan developed this session by Senator Dan Clodfelter and other Senate leaders to expand the base of state sales and income taxes while lowering both rates.
A tax reform package that is revenue neutral and lowers taxes for many people may help soften the political sting Democrats are worried that this year's tax hikes have created.
There's plenty more for lawmakers to tackle, much of it left over from this session. Government and election reform top the list.
Legislation to require members of powerful state boards to report their role in raising money for political candidates was introduced this session but didn't pass. Neither did a proposal to prohibit people who receive state contracts from making campaign contributions or one that would establish a cooling off period before top state officials could become lobbyists.
All those make sense and it's hard to understand why they didn't pas this year, given the growing scandals surrounding former Governor Mike Easley.
Just as important is legislation to expand public financing to more Council of State races. That proposal passed the House this year, but stalled in the Senate. It makes no sense to force candidates for offices like State Treasurer to raise private money.
The people most interested in the treasurer's race are people who do business with the treasurer's office, bond lawyers, banks, investment firms, etc. Those are not the people who should be funding campaigns.
Lawmakers took a major step this tear toward addressing some of the problems with capital punishment by passing the Racial Justice Act, but they left on the table a proposal to ban the execution of people with severe mental illness.
There's a lot more to discuss next May, including legislation that the state would be better off without, like legalizing video poker or lifting a prohibition on hardened structures off North Carolina that has protected the state's beaches.
Legislative rules say that only proposals that have passed one chamber are eligible for consideration next year. But legislative rules are often bent, if not broken, and who knows what issues will arise before the General Assembly reconvenes in ten months. It will be here before you know it.
