With considerable experience in the General Assembly – first as speaker of the House, and later presiding over the Senate as lieutenant governor – Carroll exercised a great deal of control over the proceedings of the legislature. One observer quipped "A cockroach couldn't crawl across the Senate floor without an OK from the governor stamped on his back." His reaction to criticism was often severe, prompting his political enemies to derisively refer to him as "Emperor Julian." During the final year of Carroll's term, Lt. Gov. Stovall, who was left as acting governor when Carroll had left the state on business, called a special session of the legislature to enact a tax cut that Carroll opposed but later endorsed. The General Assembly passed the tax cut and began asserting its independence, especially in the Senate, which especially resented Carroll's tight control of previous sessions.