THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020496
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
State Sen. Marc Basnight has wound up the legislative session as clearly the most powerful Democrat in the General Assembly.
As he finishes the first half of his second term as president pro tem of the Senate, Basnight has also risen to new prominence across the state.
The Manteo contractor shifted his focus more to statewide concerns during the last session - taking up the battle to retain funding for the University of North Carolina system, leading the effort to turn back several House bills that would weaken environmental protection and sounding the call for more emphasis on mental health programs.
But he always keeps one eye focused on how his home region of the state is faring - and makes no apologies for that.
``I'm not a Piedmont product,'' Basnight said in a recent interview.
``Northeastern North Carolina has gone without for a long time, just as western North Carolina has gone without.
``And I don't think they'll forget eastern North Carolina while I'm around,'' he said.
In the waning days of the session, northeastern North Carolina snared more than $10.7 million in projects in the 1995-96 capital budget and a promise of more than $9 million more in the second year of the biennium - including the second $5 million appropriation for construction at Ice Plant Island, home to the Elizabeth II, the replica of the ship that brought the first English settlers to Roanoke Island 400 years ago.
Basnight's success in bringing the bacon home to his constituents - particularly funding for the Elizabeth II and a $100,000 appropriation for the First Flight Commission, another pet Basnight project - sparked some criticism among House and Senate Republicans and even some behind-the scenes jokes.
And his handling of a bill late in the session to give liquor-by-the-drink to Pirate's Cove, a Manteo marina, prompted rare criticism from his hometown folks and a quick reversal of Basnight's support for the measure.
But for most of the session, Basnight received high marks from legislative colleagues, lobbyists and others for his ability to retain control of the Senate chamber in a tough year for Democrats and particularly for his role in turning back House-backed legislation to gut some key state environmental protection measures.
``A turning point for many environmental bills came when they moved to the Senate,'' said environmental lobbyist Bill Holman. ``Sen. Marc Basnight has been the key figure in protecting the environment. If it hadn't been for Sen. Basnight, we would have lost much of our environmental protection.''
Basnight's transformation to center-stage power broker came early in the session.
A conservative Democrat with pro-business leanings who had always stressed his ability to cooperate with Republicans, Basnight flexed his political muscles within the first minutes of the Assembly's opening in January, when he and Senate Rules Chairman Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, pushed through new Senate rules that left the Democrats solidly in charge of the chamber, despite holding just a two-vote majority.
Basnight further consolidated his power late in the session when he won a 2 1/2 year battle to wrest the remaining appointive powers from Lt. Gov. Dennis A. Wicker.
The General Assembly in recent weeks approved a bill transferring - in 1997 - some 158 appointments to about 65 state boards and commissions from the lieutenant governor to the president pro tem of the Senate.
Some are relatively obscure panels but others are powerful posts, particularly in coastal North Carolina affairs - the State Banking Commission, Environmental Management Commission, Natural Heritage Trust Fund Board of Trustees, Seafood Industrial Park Authority and the State Board of Transportation.
Basnight earned the greatest praise for his efforts in May on behalf of the University of North Carolina system to restore a $46 million budget cut proposed by the Republican-led House.
Basnight, whose formal education ended when he graduated from high school, said that his failure to recognize, as a young man, the value of a college education is the greatest regret of his life.
``There's a loss for me by not going to college,'' he said. ``I know I missed a great deal.
``You can succeed, but you'll never be all that you could be with a college education.''
Perhaps because of this realization, Basnight has been one of the university system's greatest defenders during his tenure as Senate leader.
He hit the hustings in 1993, after his first year as president pro tem, in support of a bond referendum for university construction projects.
And this year, he defended the value of a state university degree at a rally at the state capital and in budget negotiations with the House, whose leaders quickly backed down from their proposed cuts after the Basnight-led onslaught of criticism.
For the past six years, legislators from both chambers have filed bills requiring the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University to play in-state rival East Carolina University. In the past, the bills have failed.
But about the time that the ink was drying on the state's continuation budget - which scaled back cuts on the university system - Basnight met with university leaders and gained from them the promise that the long-awaited games would indeed take place.
Basnight downplayed his role in the football negotiations, but not long after the budget was signed, Carolina and State athletic officials announced the long-sought football game would be played.
And Basnight, who had initially intended to stay just a few years at the Senate helm, says he'd like to stay on for a while.
``If we're succeeding and we're doing the right things and my business doesn't find unforeseen problems and the people want me here, I'll be here,'' he said.
``I like it here. I don't want to go anywhere else,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Marc Basnight
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