RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — After North Carolina lawmakers were ridiculed for their attempts to ignore a state-sponsored science panel that predicted a sharp rise in sea levels, they agreed Tuesday to forbid any state agency to make policies on sea-level change until 2016 and they called for the scientists to do more studies.

Their bill to put the sea level debate on hold now goes to Gov. Beverly Perdue. The governor’s Communication Director Jon Romano said Perdue has not yet received the bill or decided whether she will consider a veto.