Rep. Paul Stam is in line for a big leadership position in the House, with the Republicans back in charge. (It's less clear if he will take the speaker's position, as there will be plenty of jockeying over the job.)
One of the big tasks in the term ahead will be redrawing the election districts for senators and House members, an act that can lead to "safe" districts for one party or the other. And controlling the redistricting process has been seen as one of the prizes of this year's legislative election.
As it turns out, Stam doesn't want lawmakers involved.
Stam was one of four members and a primary sponsor who filed this bill (H252) in Feb. 2009 that would set up an 11-member, independent commission to handle redistricting.
The bill hasn't passed to date.
It would be made up of people from each of the major political parties (4 each) and three others. The commission members would not come from the campaign trail or elected office, or from the lobbying ranks.
Its plan, under the bill, would have the full force of the General Assembly.
"The General Assembly shall not adopt any legislative district plan," the bill says.
It's easy to do this kind of research on your own.
Just click over to the General Assembly website and then click on House or Senate. After that, you can click through from the left side of the page to members of the leadership. Find the person you are interested in, and then click to their "sponsored bills" page.
Stam's bills from the past session are here.
-- J. Andrew Curliss
J. Andrew Curliss covered state and local politics and government for The News & Observer for more than a decade before joining the investigative team in December 2008.
Contact him at
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committee meetings in the General Assembly
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 14:05 — dp123General Assembly Committee meetings give you an opportunity to meet and influence lawmakers on the subjects that are critical to you. To subscribe by email, just go the General Assembly home page and click on "Committees." Then scroll through a list of committees to find the ones that interest you. Then you can subscribe to email alerts so that you get email notifications in advance. I think N&O watchdogs should attend some of these meetings, especially the judiciary and ethics committees to get a firsthand account of what our reps are up to.