Wednesday Wrap: And we're off

The General Assembly opened its 2019 legislative session on Wednesday – seems like the 2018 session wasn't that long ago – with a lot of pomp and ceremony.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore were re-elected to their posts, but they both recognized that they don't hold as much power as they used to after the Republican super-majority in the legislature was broken in the November elections. Berger and Moore both called for bipartisanship in their opening statements.

House leaders did seat Rep. Rachel Hunt, D-Mecklenburg, despite a challenge from the North Carolina Values Coalition. The group on Tuesday said several hundred absentee ballots were suspect, enough to flip the race to former Rep. Bill Brawley.

Both chambers adjourned until Jan. 30 to give leaders time to set up committees and lawmakers a chance to draft and file bills.