By Jim Nesbitt, Staff Writer 
Published: August 3, 2007

During a brief lull in the frenzied whirl of last-minute bills, resolutions and hurried hallway deals that marked the final day of the legislative session, one of House Speaker Joe Hackney's trusted workhorses looked as if he had pulled one wagon too many.

A tic of tension rippled across his jaw as Rep. Rick Glazier told a staffer which lines he wanted sliced out of a bill, betraying a mind juggling too many bills at once. As the Fayetteville

Democrat huddled with Majority Leader Hugh Holliman in the center aisle of the House chamber, Glazier's eyes flicked restlessly toward the next two or three smiling faces waiting for a moment of his time.

And as he hit the hall between the House and Senate chambers, giving a drive-by assurance to two colleagues, Glazier looked like a man trying to go too many directions at once -- his dark suit rumpled, his tie slightly askew and the circles under his eyes smudged a little darker by fatigue.

Glazier, a soft-spoken 52-year-old law professor, embodied the 113th and last day of North Carolina's 2007 legislative session, its waning hours marked by too much work, too little time and a curious mix of chaos, tedium and discipline.

"Very productive, very hectic, very stressful, but immensely satisfying," Glazier said of his role as a trusted lieutenant in Hackney's inaugural session as speaker.

Glazier's mark could be seen as one of four prime sponsors of a successful bill that sets up a pilot program for voluntary public financing of three statewide offices in the 2008 election -- auditor, insurance commissioner and school superintendent.

Two Wake County legislators -- Grier Martin and Deborah K. Ross -- were also sponsors, but Glazier is credited with playing a pivotal role in assembling a coalition of legislators.

"He's a workhorse, but he's also a one-man brain trust," said Bob Hall, research director for Democracy North Carolina, an election reform watchdog organization. "Some people are thinkers, some are doers -- he's both."

The Senate passed the "voter-owned elections" bill Thursday. Seen as a reaction to the corruption-laced regime of defrocked House Speaker Jim Black, it awaits Gov. Mike Easley's signature.

That was one of about 15 bills on Glazier's plate as the clock ticked down, ranging from a measure to curb schoolyard bullying to legislation requiring public disclosure of hospital infections. With hours to go in the session, he helped Rep. Pricey Harrison draw up a bill calling for a study of creating a statewide database on involuntary commitments so mentally ill people can't purchase handguns.

"He's one of the smartest and most talented lawyers in the legislature, so he handles some of the toughest issues," said Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat.

Glazier was the House floor leader on a Senate bill aimed at closing loopholes in North Carolina's highway speeding laws, a measure that received a rough reception from his colleagues.

Now in his fifth year in the House, Glazier counts Hackney as a mentor. Last year, Glazier sat behind the future speaker in the House chamber; this year, his mentor put him to work.

That fulfills a goal Glazier set when he was first elected to the House. "I wanted to participate in policy and work on things that matter," he said.