Fundraising, filing, and gearing up for everything 2020 has in store has been keeping members of the North Carolina General Assembly pretty busy over the last few weeks. Members have been making the most of their time away from downtown Raleigh as the 2019 legislative session adjourned shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. The General Assembly will be back to consider a limited list of legislation on Tuesday, January 14th before heading into the short session in the spring of 2020.

Candidate Filing

Those interested in joining the race for elected public office in North Carolina have just one more week to file their candidacy. Candidate filing for the state's March 3, 2020 primaries will close next week, Friday, December 20 at noon. Some of the biggest news this filing period has come from members of the General Assembly who have announced they will not be seeking reelection in 2020. To date, 13 current members of the state House and nine members of the state Senate have filed their candidacy for a different office or have announced they will be retiring their seat.

In the House, these members include:

• Rep. Chaz Beasley (D-Mecklenburg)
• Rep. MaryAnn Black (D-Durham)
• Rep. Debra Conrad (R-Forsyth)
• Rep. Kevin Corbin (R-Macon)
• Rep. Josh Dobson (R-McDowell)
• Rep. John Fraley (R-Iredell)
• Rep. Holly Grange (R-New Hanover)
• Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley (D-Wake)
• Rep. Chuck McGrady (R-Henderson)
• Rep. Derwin Montgomery (D-Forsyth)
• Rep. Michele Presnell (R-Yancey)
• Rep. Michael Speciale (R-Craven)

Over in the Senate, members include:

• Sen. John Alexander (R-Wake)
• Sen. Harry Brown (R-Onslow)
• Sen. Jim Davis (R-Graham)
• Sen. Rick Gunn (R-Alamance)
• Sen. Rick Horner (R-Nash)
• Sen. Floyd McKissick (D-Durham)
• Sen. Erica Smith (D-Beaufort)
• Sen. Terry Van Duyn (D-Buncombe)
• Sen. Andy Wells (R-Catawba)

In addition to the General Assembly seats, the State Superintendent, Lieutenant Governor, and other council of state races are open for candidate filing. Many names and faces familiar to North Carolina politics are seeking election to these offices in 2020. 

The announcement of current Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest (R) candidacy for Governor has generated a crowded field of candidates wishing to take over the seat, including:

• Bill Toole (D)
• Current state Senator Terry Van Duyn (D)
• Current state Representative Yvonne Lewis Holley (D)
• Current state Representative Chaz Beasley (D)
• Allen Thomas (D)
• Ron Newton (D)
• Mark Robinson (R)
• Deborah Cochran (R)
• Current state Senator Andy Wells (R)
• Greg Gebhardt (R)
• Renee Ellmers (R)
• Scott Stone (R)

Another race capturing a lot of attention is for the Superintendent of Public Instruction. While candidates still have another week to file, the list of names already include:

• James Barrett (D)
• Constance Lav Johnson (D)
• Jen Mangrum (D)
• Michael Maher (D)
• Keith A. Sutton (D)
• Current state Representative Craig Horn (R)

For a complete list of candidates who have filed for office in 2020, visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website, or click here. 

Legislator Rankings

The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce released a ranking of the top business friendly legislators at the General Assembly earlier this week. The rankings were based on the score the Chamber assigned to each member -- awarding points for each pro-business vote and subtracting points for each anti-business vote on bills from this year's legislative session. The bills factored in to each of the scores included SB 86: Small Business Health Care Act, SB 356: DOT Cash and Accountability, and HB 487: Community College Short-Term Workforce Training Funds which was ultimately signed into law as a part of a mini-budget bill. 

The NC Chamber's presentation included a list of each member in the state House and Senate, the number of their pro-jobs and anti-jobs votes for the 2019 session, and their lifetime percentage of pro-jobs votes, encompassing how each lawmaker has voted on similar measures since taking office. Additionally, the report included a list of "Jobs Champions," or the legislators who voted in favor of items included in the Chamber's jobs agenda at least 80 percent of the time, or who led efforts to pass pro-business legislation. Lastly, the Chamber ranked 11 members of the General Assembly as "Job Advocates" who increased their lifetime score by 10 percent or more and voted in favor of bills on the Chamber's jobs agenda at least 70 percent of the time this session. 

To read more about the NC Chamber's rankings, legislative agenda, and to see a complete list of each legislator's ranking, click here.

General Fund Reports

The Office of the State Controller (OSC) has ramped up their General Fund Monthly Financial Reports for the 2020 fiscal year once again. The report depicts revenues, receipts, and appropriated expenditures and disbursements in the month the cash is either received or disbursed. The reports show departmental budget expenditures and receipts for each month of the fiscal year. The Office of the State Controller (OSC) pressed pause on publishing these reports earlier in the year as the state budget was held up over in the legislature. With a series of mini-budget proposals being passed almost every week, OSC was not able to generate the reports consistently with all of the constant changes. Now that the General Assembly has adjourned for the time being, the stability has allowed OSC to generate the reports once again. Most recently, the monthly reports for July, August, September, and October of 2019 were published. 

For more information on what is included in the General Fund Monthly Financial Reports or to read the July-October reports, click here.