There is a (state) House in New Orleans...

North Carolina is sending more than 70 lawmakers and legislative staffers this week to the National Conference of State Legislature's annual meeting in New Orleans, where House Speaker Joe Hackney will be installed Thursday as president of the organization's executive committee.

The list includes 42 lawmakers, all but five of them House members. Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, is among the five senators, all of them Democrats. Five of the 37 House members are Republican, Dan Kane reports.

Thirty-two legislative staffers were planning to attend, though one of them, retiring Fiscal Research Director Lynn Muchmore, later decided to stay home.

Hackney's ascendancy may have drawn more interest among lawmakers to the annual meeting this year. In 2006, roughly 20 lawmakers attended the annual meeting in Nashville, and last year about 30 lawmakers went to the annual meeting in Boston, said Wesley Taylor, the legislature's financial services manager.

Expenses won't become available until after the lawmakers and staffers return and file expense reports, Taylor said.

More after the jump.

————— 

NCSL provides research and expertise to legislatures across the country, and its annual meetings draw thousands of lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists and others.

Hackney began his path to the top spot in 2006 when he was elected vice president of the executive committee. The vice president is automatically promoted to president-elect the next year, and then to the presidency the year after that.

As president, Hackney will become a chief spokesman for NCSL and for state legislatures across the country. At the annual meeting, lawmakers vote on policy positions that Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, will later present to federal lawmakers.

"He's going to be busy," said Michelle Blackston, NCSL's media and public affairs director.

The annual meeting includes several policy sessions on state budgets and hot topics such as immigration and health care. Companies and advocacy groups also sponsor receptions and convention booths to get some face time with lawmakers.