2022 North Carolina legislative session
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| 2022 North Carolina legislative session |
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| General information |
| Session start: May 18, 2022 Session end: July 1, 2022 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Mark Robinson (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 8, 2022 Last Election: November 3, 2020 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2022 legislative sessions |
In 2022, the North Carolina State Legislature was scheduled to convene on May 18, 2022 and adjourn on July 1, 2022.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 28-22 majority in the Senate and a 69-50 majority in the House. The Democrats controlled the governorship, creating a divided government. At the start of the 2022 session, North Carolina was one of 26 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2022
North Carolina State Senate
- Senate president: Mark Robinson (R)
- Majority leader: Kathy Harrington (R)
- Minority leader: Dan Blue (D)
North Carolina House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Timothy K. Moore (R)
- Majority leader: John Bell (R)
- Minority leader: Robert Reives (D)
Partisan control in 2022
- See also: State government trifectas
North Carolina was one of 13 divided governments at the start of 2022 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
North Carolina was also one of 26 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the North Carolina State Legislature in the 2022 legislative session.
North Carolina State Senate
| Party | As of January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 22 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | |
| Total | 50 | |
North Carolina House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 50 | |
| Republican Party | 69 | |
| Vacancies | 1 | |
| Total | 120 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2022 legislative session, there were 60 standing committees in North Carolina's state government, including zero joint legislative committees, 18 state Senate committees, and 42 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
There are no joint committees of the General Assembly of North Carolina.
Senate committees
- Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee
- Appropriations on Agriculture, Natural and Economic Resources Committee
- Appropriations on Department of Transportation Committee
- Appropriations on Education/Higher Education Committee
- Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology Committee
- Appropriations/Base Budget Committee
- Commerce and Insurance Committee
- Education/Higher Education Committee
- Health Care Committee
- Pensions and Retirement and Aging Committee
- Redistricting and Elections Committee
- Rules and Operations of the Senate Committee
- Senate Appropriations on Health and Human Services Committee
- Senate Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety Committee
- Senate Finance Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate State and Local Government Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
House committees
- Agriculture Committee
- Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee
- Appropriations Committee
- Appropriations on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources Committee
- Appropriations on Capital Committee
- Appropriations on Education Committee
- Appropriations on General Government Committee
- Appropriations on Information Technology Committee
- Appropriations on Transportation Committee
- Banking Committee
- Commerce Committee
- Education - Community Colleges Committee
- Education - K-12 Committee
- Education - Universities Committee
- Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform
- Energy and Public Utilities Committee
- Environment Committee
- Ethics Committee
- Families, Children, and Aging Policy Committee
- Federal Relations and American Indian Affairs Committee
- Health Committee
- Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee
- House Appropriations on Health and Human Services Committee
- House Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety Committee
- House Finance Committee
- House Redistricting Committee
- House Transportation Committee
- Insurance Committee
- Judiciary I Committee
- Judiciary II Committee
- Judiciary III Committee
- Judiciary IV Committee
- Local Government - Land Use, Planning and Development Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Marine Resources and Aqua Culture Committee
- Pensions and Retirement Committee
- Regulatory Reform Committee
- Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Committee
- State Government Committee
- State Personnel Committee
- UNC BOG Nominations Committee
- Wildlife Resources Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the North Carolina Constitution can be amended:
The North Carolina Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. North Carolina requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.
Legislature
A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the North Carolina General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 72 votes in the North Carolina House of Representatives and 30 votes in the North Carolina State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Article XIII of the North Carolina Constitution, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote vote of both chambers of state Legislature is required to place a constitutional convention question on the ballot. A simple majority vote is required for voters to approve the question. Any amendments proposed by a constitutional convention also require voter approval.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of North Carolina.
North Carolina Party Control: 1992-2025
Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas • Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
Between 1992 and 2020, partisan control of the North Carolina State Senate shifted from a Democratic to a Republican majority. Democrats went from having a 28-seat advantage following the 1992 elections to being at a 6-seat disadvantage after the 2020 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the North Carolina State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Carolina State Senate election results: 1992-2020
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 39 | 26 | 30 | 35 | 35 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 22 |
| Republicans | 11 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 31 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 29 | 28 |
From 1992 to 2010, Senate Democrats controlled the North Carolina State Senate. Democrats had their largest majority following the 1992 election when Democrats held a 28-seat advantage. For the majority of years between 1992 and 2010, Democrats had more than the 30 seats required to override gubernatorial vetoes. Democrats controlled the governor's office for all of that time with the exception of 1992.
Republicans took control of the state Senate in the 2010 elections. Republicans picked up 11 seats in that election to claim a 31-19 majority. Republicans increased their Senate majority in the 2012, 2014, and 2016 elections. Republicans held a veto-proof supermajority from 2011 through 2018, losing it in the 2018 election.
The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.
In June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a federal district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. The maps were created in 2011 by the Republican-controlled state legislature. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. The legislature adopted new state House and Senate district maps on August 30, 2017.[1]
The Republican majority decreased to 29-21 following the 2018 elections and 28-22 following 2020's elections.
Historical House control
Between 1992 and 2008, partisan control of the North Carolina House of Representatives changed four times. Since the 2010 elections, Republicans have controlled the chamber. The table below shows the partisan history of the North Carolina House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Carolina House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 78 | 52 | 59 | 66 | 62 | 59 | 63 | 68 | 68 | 52 | 43 | 46 | 46 | 55 | 51 |
| Republicans | 42 | 68 | 61 | 54 | 58 | 61 | 57 | 52 | 52 | 67 | 77 | 74 | 74 | 65 | 69 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
From 1994 to 2002, the Democratic and Republican parties both claimed relatively small majorities, the largest being from 1994 to 1996 when Republicans had a 16-member majority. The Democratic majority spiked between the 2004 and 2006 elections when the party increased their majority by nine seats.
Democrats held the state House from 2004 until the 2010 election when Republicans gained 15 seats and took control of the chamber. Republicans increased their majority from 67-52 to 77-43 in the 2012 election, gaining a supermajority. Republicans lost three seats in the 2014 election but maintained their supermajority. The Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.
In June 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a federal district court decision finding that 28 state legislative districts had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander. The district court then ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps for use in the 2018 election cycle. The legislature adopted new state House and Senate district maps on August 30, 2017.[2]
After the 2018 elections, the Republican majority decreased to 65-55. After the 2020 elections, their majority increased to 69-51.
See also
| Elections | North Carolina State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
