Now that N.C. House Democrats have pledged to maintain support for Speaker Jim Black, one of the most interesting items on the plate before next month’s legislative session is chairmanship of the House Rules Committee.
This might sound a bit too much like inside politics, but the rules chairman plays a major role in deciding if, when, and how legislation will move forward in the 120-member lower chamber.
Before he ascended to the co-speakership in 2003, Rep. Richard Morgan, R-Moore, made his name (and some enemies) as Harold Brubaker’s rules chairman in the late 1990’s.
The most recent rules chairman, Bill Culpepper, helped Black run the show in recent years. He scheduled bills for consideration, killed off bills the House leadership did not want to see, and helped Black silence House floor debate that ran afoul of the “rules.” Culpepper was the first House member to speak from the floor each day, and he made each day’s motion to adjourn the session.
Culpepper gave up his position as one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers to take an appointment to the N.C. Utilities Commission. You’ll remember that a campaign contribution from BellSouth has caused some critics to ask the governor to reassess that appointment.
With Culpepper’s resignation from the House, the Rules Committee now has two vice chairmen — Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Rep. Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir. Since Hackney already serves as House Majority Leader, it’s not clear whether he would have time or inclination to take on the additional rules duties. Meanwhile, the Democrats are unlikely to accept a Republican rules chairman (even a Morgan ally like LaRoque), given the possibility of partisan splits on the budget and other top issues.
Whoever sits in the rules chairman’s seat this spring will play a key role in the next short session.
