(The Center Square) – Sen. Phil Berger in his opening day address to the North Carolina Senate recalled Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, John Penn and the delegates who adopted the Halifax Resolves three months before Thomas Jefferson’s declaration for the United States.
He spoke of the people of western North Carolina needing help from Hurricane Helene, and the people of eastern North Carolina “left behind by the previous administration – citizens who have not returned to a permanent home after Hurricane Florence more than six years later.”
And he spoke of “generational change” the last 14 years, a “paradigm shift” that has helped lift the state from population 8 million a quarter century ago to more than 11 million and a forecast to be the seventh largest in the country by the end of the decade.
Wednesday marked the convening of the two-year session for the General Assembly, with the Senate and House of Representatives each starting at noon. There was pomp and celebration, oaths and lots of family and pictures on the chamber floors.
Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, was sworn in as speaker of the House. He succeeds record-setting five-term speaker Tim Moore, who won the 14th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Berger was first elected to the Senate in November 2000. He was minority leader the six years prior to the 2010 midterms when the Grand Old Party began its current reign. Hall was first elected in 2016 and quickly rose to a powerful position as chairman of the Rules Committee.
Berger, R-Rockingham, said, “It is not an exaggeration to say that had we not taken seriously our mission to reform how state government operates in North Carolina, we would not have the capacity we have today to respond to Hurricane Helene. There were naysayers 14 years ago. Frankly, there still are.
“But our conservative approach has lifted our state out of a dark place.”
Republicans – with maps favoring Democrats – won majorities in both chambers for the first time in 140 years at the 2010 midterms. Berger, 72, said lawmakers “faced staggering challenges that were the consequences of decisions made over the previous decades.
“It was clear that we could not continue down the same path. We had to chart a different course.”
The strides since, he said, are in education improvement, access to health care, support of public safety and law enforcement, deregulation, and “providing our citizens with the tools they need to take control of their future.” This session in 2025-26 will have dozens of issues to address, he said, including education, infrastructure, child care and health care.
Hall, 37, said relief to the people impacted by Helene is top priority in his chamber.
“The No. 1 priority of this body, starting today, with today as Day 1, is doing all we can to rebuild western North Carolina,” Hall said. “To my friends in the mountains, in the west, I know that you are not forgotten. I know that this body is going to put you all as the No. 1 priority, our No. 1 fix as we come in this session. We’re working on some of those things now. It’s going to be a long road to recovery. There’s more than $50 billion in damage, probably, but this body is committed to doing everything possible to build back western North Carolina, to build it back stronger than before.”
The Senate and House each take three weeks away before reconvening on Jan. 29, each at noon.
