GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
SESSION LAW 2009-10
SENATE BILL 136
AN ACT to provide for four-year staggered terms of office for members of the legislative ethics committee and to amend the timing of Ethics training for LEGISLATORS as recommended by the legislative ethics committee.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 120-99 reads as rewritten:
"§ 120-99. Creation; composition.
(a) The Legislative
Ethics Committee is created and shall consist of 12 members, six Senators
appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, among them - three
from a list of six submitted by the Majority Leader and three from a list of
six submitted by the Minority Leader, and six members of the House of
Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, among them - three
from a list of six submitted by the Majority Leader and three from a list of
six submitted by the Minority Leader. House. The President Pro Tempore
of the Senate shall appoint three members from a list of nominees submitted by
the majority leader of the Senate and three members from a list of nominees
submitted by the minority leader of the Senate. The Speaker of the House shall
appoint three members from a list of nominees submitted by the majority leader
of the House and three members from a list of nominees submitted by the
minority leader of the House. The nominating majority or minority leader shall
submit to the person making the appointment a list of twice the number of vacancies
on the Committee that are to be filled from that leader's nominees.
(b) The President
Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House as the appointing
officers shall each designate a cochair of the Legislative Ethics Committee
from the respective officer's appointees.appointees to serve as
cochair for the current General Assembly, and until the cochair's successor is
designated. The cochair appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate shall preside over the Legislative Ethics Committee during the odd-numbered
year, and the cochair appointed by the Speaker of the House shall preside in
the even-numbered year. However, a A cochair may preside at
anytime during the absence of the presiding cochair or upon the presiding
cochair's designation. In the event a cochair is unable to act as cochair on a
specific matter before the Legislative Ethics Committee, and so indicates in
writing to the appointing officer and the Legislative Ethics Committee, the
respective officer shall designate from that officer's appointees a member to
serve as cochair for that specific matter.
(c) Repealed by Session Laws 2006-201, s. 8, effective January 1, 2007.
(d) The appointments of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall ensure that the composition of the Legislative Ethics Committee is bipartisan in equal numbers."
SECTION 2. G.S. 120-100 reads as rewritten:
"§ 120-100. Term of office; vacancies.
(a) Appointments to
the Legislative Ethics Committee shall be made immediately after the convening
of the regular session of the General Assembly in odd-numbered years, and
appointees shall serve until the expiration of their then-current terms as
members of the General Assembly.years. The term of office for members of
the Legislative Ethics Committee shall be four years from the date of the
convening of the General Assembly in which the member is appointed to the
Committee. Members shall not serve two consecutive full terms.
(b) A vacancy
occurs on the Legislative Ethics Committee when a member resigns or is no
longer a member of the General Assembly. A vacancy occurring for any reason
during a term shall be filled for the unexpired term by the authority making
the appointment which caused the vacancy, and the person appointed to fill the
vacancy shall, if possible, be a member of the same political party as the
member who caused the vacancy.vacancy, from a list of two nominees
submitted by that party's leader.
(c) In the event a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee is unable to act on a specific matter before the Legislative Ethics Committee, and so indicates in writing to the appointing officer and the Legislative Ethics Committee, the appointing officer may appoint another member of the respective chamber from a list of two members submitted by the majority leader or minority leader who nominated the member who is unable to act on the matter to serve as a member of the Legislative Ethics Committee for the specific matter only. If on any specific matter, the number of members of the Legislative Ethics Committee who are unable to act on a specific matter exceeds four members, the appropriate appointing officer shall appoint other members of the General Assembly to serve as members of the Legislative Ethics Committee for that specific matter only."
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding G.S. 120-100(a) as amended in Section 2 of this act, legislators appointed as members of the Legislative Ethics Committee for the 2009 General Assembly shall serve initial terms as follows:
(1) Two senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the Senate and one senator appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate shall be designated by the President Pro Tempore as having a term of two years. Two senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate and one senator appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the Senate shall be designated by the President Pro Tempore as having a term of four years.
(2) Two representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the House and one representative appointed by the Speaker of the House upon the recommendation of the majority leader of the House shall be designated by the Speaker as having a term of two years. Two representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House upon the recommendation of the majority leader of the House and one representative appointed by the Speaker of the House upon the recommendation of the minority leader of the House shall be designated by the Speaker as having a term of four years.
SECTION 4. G.S. 138A-14(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c) The Commission,
jointly with the Committee, shall make basic ethics education and awareness
presentations to all legislators and legislative employees upon their election,
reelection, appointment, or employment and shall offer periodic refresher
presentations as the Commission and the Committee deem appropriate. Every
legislator and legislative employee shall participate in an ethics
presentation approved by the Commission and Committee within three two
months of either the convening of the General Assembly to which
the legislator is elected or within two months of the
legislator's appointment, whichever is later. legislative employee's
election, reelection, appointment, orEvery legislative employee shall
participate in an ethics presentation approved by the Commission and Committee
within three months of employment, and every legislative employee shall
attend refresher ethics education presentations at least every two years
thereafter, in a manner as the Commission and Committee deem appropriate."
SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of March, 2009.
s/ Walter H. Dalton
President of the Senate
s/ William L. Wainwright
Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
Governor
Approved 4:54 p.m. this 26th day of March, 2009