THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100443
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
A bill to limit the terms of two of the General Assembly's highest officers was given final approval by the North Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday.
But the measure, approved 92-15, sharply divides members of the Albemarle-area delegation.
Sponsored by Rep. William T. Culpepper III, a Chowan County Democrat, the bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces tough opposition from Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo.
Culpepper's bill calls for a voter referendum, in November of this year or next, on the issue of term limits.
If voters approve the measure, Culpepper's bill would restrict the speaker of the House, the top official in that chamber, to two terms. It also would restrict the president pro tempore of the Senate, that chamber's second highest officer, to serving two terms.
If voters approved the measure, it would be effective in 1997.
There are now no limits on the number of terms those officers can serve.
The House gave tentative approval to the term limit bill Monday night, voting 78-28.
Reps. Culpepper and Howard J. Hunter, Jr., D-Northampton, voted for the bill. Reps. L.W. Locke, D-Halifax, and W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr., D-Pasquotank, voted against it. Reps. Zeno L. Edwards, R-Beaufort, and R. Eugene Rogers, D-Martin, did not vote.
``Limiting the terms of the speaker is a good idea,'' Edwards said from the House floor Tuesday. ``I don't know if two terms is the answer.''
Basnight, in an interview from the Senate floor, said he will oppose the House effort to limit the terms of a Senate officer.
``I'll be glad to send it back to them with just the speaker in the bill,'' Basnight said.
But Basnight, who said he plans to seek a third term as president pro tem, said it should be up to the Senate to set the terms for its own officers. by CNB