Summary#

North Carolina Senate Joint Resolution 1091, titled Adjournment Resolution, sets dates for the 2025 regular session to reconvene and limits what lawmakers may consider at those meetings. Its stated purpose is to adjourn the session in stages and then end it. The resolution took effect upon ratification on August 6, 2026.

• After adjournments on August 6, September 2, September 30, October 28 and November 19, the House and Senate are scheduled to reconvene at noon on August 31, September 28, October 26, November 16 and November 30, respectively.
• At each reconvened session, lawmakers may consider only specified matters: veto overrides; certain appointments and confirmations; actions related to litigation over laws; election laws and districts; impeachment; constitutional amendments and related changes; and each chamber’s organizational resolutions.
• They may also adopt conference reports if both chambers had appointed conferees by August 6, consider bills returned for concurrence by August 6, and pass another resolution setting or changing the adjournment schedule.
• The House Speaker or Senate President Pro Tempore may authorize committees to meet between sessions to review the 2025–2027 state budget, prepare reports including revised budgets, or consider other matters they deem appropriate. A conference committee may meet with either leader’s approval.
• The resolution sets December 18, 2026, as the final adjournment date (“sine die,” meaning the session ends).

What it means for you#

• General public: This is mainly a schedule and agenda rule for the legislature. It does not directly change taxes, benefits, rights, or public services.
• People with an interest in other legislation: At the listed reconvened sessions, lawmakers cannot consider matters outside the resolution’s permitted list. The resolution does not promise when or whether other proposals will be considered.
• Legislative committees: The House Speaker or Senate President Pro Tempore may authorize interim meetings for budget work or other matters. The resolution does not require committees to meet.
• Legislators: They may consider the specified matters at the reconvened sessions, subject to conditions such as the August 6 cutoff for certain conference reports and bills returned for concurrence.

Money#

No publicly available information on the resolution’s cost.

• The resolution does not appropriate a specific amount or set a tax, fee, or fine.
• It authorizes committee meetings but gives no estimate for staffing or other meeting costs.

What is unclear#

• The materials do not include the earlier session schedule, so how this resolution changes any existing adjournment plan cannot be verified.
• The resolution does not say how committee meeting costs or staffing will be handled.
• It allows leaders to authorize committees to consider “other matters” they deem appropriate, but does not set limits or procedures for that choice.
• It does not explain how lawmakers would handle proposals that are not on the permitted list during these reconvened sessions.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the schedule is that it sets planned dates for the legislature to return while limiting the business it may take up.
• The permitted list preserves time to address vetoes, appointments, election matters, impeachment, litigation-related actions and constitutional changes.
• Interim committee meetings may allow budget review and reports, including revised budgets, before the session ends.

Case against#

• The limits mean other bills cannot be considered at these reconvened sessions, which could leave them waiting for another opportunity.
• The resolution does not set a process for deciding which non-listed matters might be considered later.
• The power to authorize committees to consider “other matters” rests with the House Speaker or Senate President Pro Tempore, without further criteria in the resolution.