February 7, 1994
Mr. Richard H. Carlton Chief Deputy Secretary of State State of North Carolina 300 N. Salisbury Street Raleigh, North Carolina 27603-5909
RE: Advisory Opinion, N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 120, Article 9A
Dear Mr. Carlton:
This is in response to your letter of January 21, 1994, requesting an opinion on the issue of whether a separate set of expense reports would be required for registered lobbyists and principals for the upcoming special session of the General Assembly.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 120-47.6(a) and -47.7(a) (1993), require all registered lobbyists and principals to file expense reports within 60 days after the last day of the regular session of the General Assembly. It is our opinion that this statute does not require filing of a separate set of reports after a special session of the legislature.
The constitution provides, "The General Assembly shall meet in regular session in 1973 and every two years thereafter on the day prescribed by law." N.C. Const. Art. II, § 11(1). The "day prescribed by law" is in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-11.1 (1991) which says: "The regular session of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be held biennially beginning at 12:00 noon on the third Wednesday after the second Monday in January next after their election." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-1(a) (1991) specifies that the election of members of the General Assembly shall be held on "Tuesday next after the first Monday in November 1968 and every two years thereafter." Accordingly, when read together, all of the constitutional and statutory provisions contemplate elections in even numbered years and convening of a regular session of the General Assembly in the following odd numbered years. The view that regular sessions of the General Assembly convene in odd numbered years was articulated in the recent case of Newsome v. N.C. State Board of Elections, 105 N.C. App. 499, 415 S.E.2d 201 (1992). There the Court of Appeals said: "Under the directive in section 11(1) [of the North Carolina Constitution], there are `regular’ sessions of the General Assembly in the odd-numbered years after 1973." Id. at 508, 415 S.E.2d at 203.
The Court of Appeals also recognized that the General Assembly had adopted resolutions establishing a date for it to reconvene for a short session in an even numbered year and, implicitly, that it had the power to do so. Specifically, the Court said: "The session of the General Assembly held in 1990 was a continuation of the 1989 `regular’ session, commonly termed a short session, in which only a limited number of matters are considered. See H.R.J. Res. 34, 138th Leg., First Sess., 1989 N.C. Sess. 3064." Id. Thus, regular sessions can be held in even numbered years.
The constitution further provides for "extra sessions" on legislative call, N.C. Const. Art. II, §
11(2), or by the Governor with the advice of the Council of State, N.C. Const. Art. III, § 5(7).
The extra sessions can be convened at any time as long as the constitutional requirements are
met. Extra sessions are convened at infrequent intervals and at different times from regular
sessions with limited agendas to deal with specific issues. Extra sessions are clearly different
from regular sessions.
In that the statute by its very terms is limited to regular sessions and is silent as to extra sessions,
it is our view that it was not intended to apply to them. Therefore, separate sets of expense forms
for an extra session are not required.
Andrew A. Vanore, Jr.
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Charles M. Hensey
Special Deputy Attorney General