Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/8/21

Governance

• On Monday Governor Cooper vetoed a bill that would have limited the governor’s emergency powers. The bill was the latest effort by Republicans to curtail the governor’s ability to issue emergency orders, and Cooper vetoed it hours before it would have become law without his signature. Republicans in the General Assembly have been critical of Cooper’s emergency actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have repeatedly pushed for similar legislation.

Fair Representation

• On Thursday the NC House and Senate approved new maps for North Carolina’s state legislative and congressional districts, all of which heavily favor Republicans. In the new congressional map, Republicans would be expected to win 10 out of the 14 districts, and an additional district would be highly competitive between the parties. The new NC House map, which likewise creates more safe Republican districts, could enable Republicans to retake a supermajority in the House. Voters and advocacy groups had already sued over the failure to consider racial data in the creation of the new maps, and an additional legal challenge based on the partisan nature of the congressional map was brought Friday in state court by the same group of voters who had previously successfully sued over the state’s partisan gerrymander in 2019.

Economic Policy

• On Thursday the NC House Commerce committee approved a bill that would legalize sports gambling in North Carolina. SB 688, which would allow sports gambling among people 21 years of age and over and license and tax sports gambling vendors, passed the NC Senate three months ago, but it is unclear whether the bill has enough support in the House to pass.

Education Policy

• This week a group of Republican state legislators sent a letter to UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz objecting to a diversity, equity, and inclusion training program recently held by UNC’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. The letter described the contents of the training as “indoctrination” and asked a series of questions about the program’s cost and about the chancellor’s intentions and beliefs regarding this and similar trainings. The letter falls into a pattern of increased conservative opposition across the country to the way race is taught in schools and universities, framing all grievances regarding educational curricula and diversity training under the umbrella of “critical race theory.”

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/1/21

Governance

• NC Republican lawmakers in both legislative chambers unanimously approved a bill that would require the governor to get approval from a majority of the 10-member Council of State for any emergency actions that last more than 7 days. HB 264, the latest effort by Republicans to limit the governor’s emergency powers, faces a likely veto.
  

Fair Representation

• On Friday, NC Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Dist. 47) filed two bills designating official redistricting maps, one for the NC Senate and the other for the 14 US House seats. The official map for NC House seats is expected to be available early this week, and the NC House could offer an alternative congressional map as well. All of the proposed maps would give Republicans a significant partisan advantage in elections over the next decade if voting patterns in the state remain the same. Redistricting committees from both legislative chambers plan to meet Monday to discuss any final changes to the maps before passing on the proposals to the full state House and Senate for final approval. Gov. Cooper has no authority to veto the proposed maps if they pass the Republican-controlled legislature.
  

• On Friday, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) filed suit in Wake County Superior Court on behalf of the state NAACP, Common Cause NC and several individual voters seeking to block the implementation of any new redistricting maps that were drawn without consideration of racial data. SCSJ attorney Allison Riggs said that racially polarized voting must be assessed before drawing districts in order to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. Earlier, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project had described at least four congressional redistricting maps proposed by NC Senate Republicans as highly partisan based on the Project’s mathematical models, and NC Senate Democrats had already said legal challenges to these maps were inevitable and would result in the state wasting millions of dollars defending the maps.

Education Policy

• NC Superior Court Judge David Lee extended until Nov. 8 the deadline for state legislators to indicate how they will fund the long-delayed Leando Comprehensive Remedial Plan for equitable public education. The deadline was extended to allow more time for plaintiffs in the case to give him a proposal for actions the court should take if the state does not meet the plan’s requirements.

Economic and Health Care Policy

• Following a Friday meeting, Governor Cooper and state legislative leaders said a compromise budget is nearing completion. Increased funding for broadband internet expansion and capital projects look likely. Differences remain regarding education, healthcare, and corporate tax cuts. Republican House leaders continue to insist they do not have the votes to support Medicaid expansion as part of the budget, although it could be discussed as a separate bill. Once the governor and legislative leaders end their negotiations, the state House and Senate will finalize and vote on a compromise budget bill and send it to the governor. Cooper has said he would veto the bill if he could not support the budget but remains very positive that a veto will not be necessary.

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 10/18/21

Education Policy

• Ahead of a Monday, October 18, deadline for NC legislators to clarify how they will fully fund the Leandro plan for equitable public education, House Democrats joined education advocates last week in calling on Republican legislative leaders to fully invest in the plan. The court-ordered plan calls for $427 million in new education funding this year, and the October 18 deadline was set by Superior Court Judge David Lee in response to legislative inaction in implementing the plan.

Update as of this writing: Keung Hui at The News and Observer reported on Twitter that Judge David Lee is giving Leandro plaintiffs until Nov. 1 to submit a proposed order for requiring the NC General Assembly to fund the plan.

Environmental Policy

• On Wednesday Governor Cooper signed into law HB 951, the energy bill that calls for electricity producers in North Carolina to cut carbon dioxide emissions 70% by 2030 and nearly 100% by 2050. The bill, which is the result of months of negotiation between Cooper and Republican leaders in the NC General Assembly, also allows for multi-year rate setting, a provision Duke Energy has long sought. Though the bill had broad support in the NCGA, some environmental groups expressed concerns that the carbon reduction provisions are written such that they may not be easily enforceable.

Health Care Policy

On Friday Governor Cooper signed into law SB 191, the “No Patient Left Alone Act.”The bill, written in response to early COVID-19 restrictions, will prevent health care facilities from banning patient visitors. Facilities affected by the law include hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice care facilities. The bill had previously unanimously passed the NC General Assembly.