RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly returned to Raleigh on Wednesday for its traditional budget-adjustment work session, but lawmakers aren’t getting out of the blocks quickly.

The House and Senate gaveled in and out sparsely attended floor sessions at midday Wednesday. Republican leaders in both chambers say committee meetings and recorded votes won’t occur until next week.

The delay isn’t surprising given that dozens of incumbents have been back home competing in Tuesday’s primaries. Lawmakers began introducing bills Wednesday.

The chief job for lawmakers is to approve changes to the second year of the already enacted two-year budget. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper made recommendations last week.

House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters Wednesday that he expected the session to last five or six weeks. That’s in line with Senate leader Phil Berger’s recent comments that he and Moore were aiming to adjourn the session around July 1, which is when the new fiscal year begins.

Other legislation pending from 2021 likely to be debated now include bills that would make medical marijuana and sports wagering legal. Moore said he didn’t expect marijuana legislation, which has yet to clear the Senate, to be considered in the House until 2023.

Convict sentenced for trafficking animal tranquilizer

CHARLOTTE — A man convicted last year of trafficking a drug used to tranquilize animals has been sentenced to eight years in prison, a federal prosecutor said.

Miguel Angel Gonzalez-Perez, 54, also was sentenced on Wednesday to three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute carfentanil and aiding and abetting, U.S. Attorney Dena J. King said in a news release. He pleaded guilty in November.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, carfentanil is a synthetic opioid generally used as a tranquilizing agent for elephants and other large mammals. It’s about 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, the news release says.

Officials said the presence of carfentanil in illegal U.S. drug markets causes concern because its strength can lead to increased overdoses and overdose-related deaths, and it threatens those who may come in contact with it through accidental exposure.

Court documents and courtroom statements show that on May 1, 2020, law enforcement in Gaston County stopped a car Gonzalez-Perez was driving and found more than 2 kilograms of carfentanil hidden in a shoebox. Court records show Gonzalez-Perez went to Atlanta to get the carfentanil and was heading to western North Carolina when he was stopped.

School bus manufacturer to add 280 jobs

HIGH POINT — A North Carolina school bus manufacturer says it’s adding 280 jobs at one of its plants to answer demand for one of its models.

Thomas Built Buses said it will start an additional shift at its Saf-T-Liner C2 plant in High Point. President and CEO Kevin Bangston said there has been “robust demand” for the company’s Type C products, and he added the move will help with the ramp-up of its electric school bus production.

The company is looking to fill multiple manufacturing positions, including assembly technicians, materials technicians and machine operators.

All new, additional shift employees will work exclusively on both the Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus and Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus, according to a news release from the company.

Thomas Built Buses is a subsidiary of Daimler Truck North America LLC.

Ex-Fort Bragg worker gets 3 years for taking bribes

WILMINGTON — A man who worked at Fort Bragg was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison for bribery and money laundering related to government contracts, according to a federal prosecutor.

U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said in a news release that Calvin Alfonza Jordan, who pleaded guilty to receiving bribes, was a procurement agent assigned to the Operations and Maintenance Division, Directorate of Public Works at Fort Bragg. The directorate is responsible for design, construction, maintenance and operation of utility systems on post, along with providing centralized management of Army family housing.

Court documents showed that from 2011 into 2019, Jordan used his position as a procurement agent to receive bribes of roughly $200 per order from various vendors contracting with the directorate in return for increasing the number of federal contracts given the vendor.

Prosecutors estimate Jordan received $773,600 in illegal bribes.

Two other men have been indicted in the case.