The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets in the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes. The General Assembly is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the North Carolina House of Representatives (formerly called the North Carolina House of Commons until 1868) and the North Carolina Senate. Since 1868, the House has had 120 members, while the Senate has had 50 members. There are no term limits for either chamber.
Both chambers are currently controlled by the Republican Party, by three-fifths majority necessary to override vetoes.
History
Colonial period
The North Carolina legislature traces its roots to the first assembly for the "County of Albemarle", which was convened in 1665 by Governor William Drummond. Albemarle County was the portion of the British colony of Carolina (under the control of the "Lords Proprietors" before becoming a royal province in 1729) that would eventually become North Carolina.
From approximately 1666 to 1697, the governor, his council, and representatives of various precincts and towns, elected by male freeholders, sat together as a unicameral legislature. By 1697, this evolved into a bicameral body, with the governor and his council as the upper house, and the House of Burgesses as the elected lower house. The House, sometimes known simply as "the Assembly", could only meet when called by the governor, but it was allowed to set its own rules and to elect its own Speaker. The House also controlled the salary of the governor and withheld that salary when the governor displeased a majority of the House. Naturally, conflicts between the governor and the legislature were frequent.
According to one early compilation of the "Laws of North Carolina", the first "General Biennial Assembly" was held "at the House of Capt. Richard Sanderson, at Little-River begun on the 17th day of November, 1715 and continued by several Adjournments, until the 19th Day of January, 1715 ". At that session, the Assembly adopted many of the laws of England that remained in effect through most of the 20th century. Notable in this category is the Statute of Elizabeth or Statute of Frauds, which was not repealed until the General Assembly adopted the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act in July 1997.
Revolution and early statehood
In 1774 and 1775, the people of the colony elected a provincial congress, independent of the royal governor, as the American Revolution began. Most of its members were also members of what would be the last House of Burgesses. There would be five provincial congresses. The fifth Congress approved the first constitution in 1776.
With the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, the United States became an independent nation with different legislatures in each colony. Because of the history of distrust of the executive, the North Carolina constitution firmly established the General Assembly, as it was now called, as the most powerful branch of the state government. The bicameral legislature, whose members would all be elected by the people, would itself elect all the officers of the executive and judicial branches. As William S. Powell wrote in North Carolina: A History, "The legislative branch henceforth would have the upper hand. The governor would be the creature of the assembly, elected by it and removable by it. ... The governor could not take any important step without the advice and consent of the 'council of state,' and he had no voice in the appointment or removal of [council of state members]."
This constitution was not submitted to a vote of the people. The Congress simply adopted it and elected Richard Caswell, the last president of the Congress, as acting governor until the new legislature was elected and seated. The constitution provided for more rights for freedmen and free men of color. The 9th Amendment on the 1776 constitution states, "That no freeman shall be convicted of any crime, but by the unanimous verdict of a jury of good lawful men, in open court, as heretofore used." Free men of color with sufficient property were allowed to vote.