House to dig in

The House is ready for a full calendar.

At the start of session today, Speaker Joe Hackney announced that rule 12 (d) has been suspended. That rule states:

Food or beverages shall not be permitted on the floor of the House during the first two hours of the daily session.  

The Senate's rules on bill titles

The Senate says bill titles have to be accurate.

Under the permanent Senate rules adopted this session, a bill's title must "adequately and fairly reflect its subject matter."

In addition, if a bill is "materially modified" in committee to either expand or reduce its scope, or additional counties are added to a local bill, the title has to be changed as well.

When senators speak about a bill on the floor or introduce a motion to amend it, they are required to use the bill number and short title.

After the jump, the rules.

Stam: You're gonna want to share this

N.C. House Republican leader Paul Stam hasn't voted for the House rules since 1989.

Stam, an Apex Republican, says the House rules don't allow full debate for the minority party. On Wednesday, Stam tried a different approach in making his case. He still complained that the rules would give Democrats overwhelming influence on the state budget. 

But he added a morsel to encourage Democrats to see things his way. Stam pointed out that whoever writes the state budget will be responsible for making difficult and unpopular choices.

"If I was the majority party, I would want to share that pain," Stam said.

On Wednesday, House Speaker Joe Hackney said Stam's complaints are "noise."

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