(RALEIGH) -- The North Carolina General Assembly returns to Raleigh on Wednesday as work begins on a short session with a primary focus of adjusting the the current two-year budget plan, but other hot button issues could be addressed.  Lingering issues such as gambling, annexation rules and drilling for natural gas could also be taken up.

The legislature must eventually approve or ban the controversial method of extracting natural gas from shale rock, called fracking. Rep. Mitch Gillespie has said that he intends to file a bill that follows recommendations in a study on the gas drilling practice that was released by the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"We do have a deposit of natural gas which will get North Carolina into the energy production field, so to speak, and we need to tap that resource," said Gillespie.

The DENR report said that fracking can be performed safely in North Carolina if lawmakers adopt the right precautions. There have been passionate public hearings held in North Carolina in recent months where citizens have taken a strong stand against fracking.  Opponents voice concerns over the impact fracking could have on ground water and some say it could even cause earthquakes.