Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 9/27/21

Education Policy

• On Wednesday a group of legislators met with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), the State Board of Education, and the governor’s office to negotiate a Republican bill that would significantly change the governance of the NCHSAA. Though Republican lawmakers and the governor’s office both confirmed that an agreement had been reached, the NCHSAA Commissioner did not confirm this, instead reiterating the association’s opposition to the bill. HB 91, which in earlier versions proposed to dissolve the NCHSAA altogether, would require the NCHSAA to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Board of Education. The House unanimously voted to send the bill to a conference committee on Thursday, where legislators will draft a compromise version.

Economic and Housing Policy

• On Tuesday the NC Senate Transportation Committee passed a bill that would allow driverless delivery vehicles to operate in North Carolina. HB 814, which already passed the NC House with nearly unanimous support, would require such vehicles to limit their speed to 40 mph and pull over if a line of cars forms behind them. If the bill passes, North Carolina would be among the first states to allow driverless delivery vehicles.

Criminal Justice

• On Wednesday a bill pushed by the bail bonds industry was passed by the Senate Finance committee. SB 550 would change the rules for forfeiture of bail in cases when a defendant fails to appear in court, allowing bail bond companies to keep their money if the court does not issue an arrest order for failure to appear or if the state does not provide notice of the forfeiture within 30 days. The bill would also require courts to track charitable bail bond organizations. Advocates for nonprofit bail funds, including the North Carolina ACLU, criticized the bill for targeting such organizations.

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 9/20/21

Governance

• A bill that would require the state’s attorney general to get approval from legislative leaders to settle lawsuits brought against the state received final approval in the NC House and is headed to Governor Cooper. SB 360 was drafted by Republicans, angered by last year’s settlement of a lawsuit that changed deadlines for mailed ballots, who asserted they should have had the chance to review, reject or agree to the new rules. Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) disagreed, pointing out that the attorney general acted within the authority granted to him by the state constitution. Gov. Cooper has 10 days to sign, veto or allow the bill to become law without his signature.
  

Voting Rights

• In a 2-1 decision issued Friday, a panel of three NC Superior Court judges permanently enjoined North Carolina’s 2018 voter ID law, finding that it was passed with discriminatory intent and is therefore unconstitutional. The majority opinion cited analysis showing that “among active voters in the 2016 and 2018 election, African American voters were over twice as likely to lack qualifying ID than white voters. Therefore, the burden of obtaining qualifying ID, including free ID, would fall more heavily on Black voters, who more often lack a form of qualifying ID required under SB 824 and encounter more barriers to obtaining such IDs compared to white voters.” The decision is likely to be appealed. There are two other NC voter ID lawsuits still in litigation. The timeline of and updates of these cases can be found here.

Economic Policy

• A federal district court judge struck down an anti-union provision in the NC Farm Act of 2017, saying it violates various rights guaranteed by the US constitution and cannot be enforced. The provision had invalidated lawsuit settlements in which defendants and plaintiffs agree to recognize union representation of farmworkers as part of the settlement.. After reviewing the findings in a 2017 lawsuit precipitated by the statute, Federal District Court Judge Loretta Biggs issued a permanent injunction against the provision, part of SB 615, the 2017 omnibus bill signed into law by Governor Cooper.

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 9/13/21

Governance

• On Wednesday the NC Senate passed a bill limiting the governor’s emergency powers. HB 264 requires the governor to receive Council of State approval for any executive order issued in a state of emergency within a week of when the executive order is issued, and it limits the duration of orders approved by the Council of State to 45 days. The bill now goes back to the NC House for a final vote, after which it is expected to be vetoed by Governor Cooper, who has vetoed other Republican-driven bills designed to limit his emergency powers.

Education Policy

• On Friday Governor Cooper vetoed HB 324, a controversial bill restricting schools’ and teachers’ ability to teach about U.S. racial history. The bill, which would have prohibited in-class “promotion” of 13 concepts related to race and racism and required teachers to post curricula online in advance, was drafted and supported by Republicans claiming to “[combat] Critical Race Theory” in schools. Cooper’s veto was expected; the bill had previously passed on a party-line vote.

• The judge overseeing the long-running Leandro case set a deadline of October 15 for lawmakers to meet their constitutional obligation to provide a “sound basic education” to North Carolina students. During a court hearing Wednesday, Superior Court Judge David Lee said he was giving legislators “one more last chance,” and that if they do not fully fund a $5.6 billion K-12 school improvement plan by the deadline, he will find a way for the court to address the deficiency. A hearing has been set for October 18 to determine what steps the court might take to do so.

Health Care Policy

• On Friday Governor Cooper signed into law HB 769, “Foster Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The law articulates a series of rights accorded to foster parents. It is not meant to supersede any existing rules or laws, but rather to clearly lay out the rights of North Carolina foster parents in one place. Foster parents and advocates celebrated the passage of the law.

Gun Violence Prevention

• On Thursday four Democrats in the NC House announced their intention to file “discharge petitions” for two gun safety bills next week. A discharge petition is a procedure that members of the minority party can use to attempt to bring a bill that is stuck in committee directly to the House floor for debate. HB 525, filed by Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham), would set rules restricting someone’s access to firearms through Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which could be issued by a court in response to a petition from a family member, current or former partner, law enforcement officer, or health care provider. HB 623, filed by Rep. Julie von Haefen (D-Wake), would set a permit requirement for the purchase of long guns and rifles.

Women’s Rights and Criminal Justice

• On Friday Governor Cooper signed a bill into law that limits shackling of incarcerated pregnant women and new mothers. HB 608, which passed the NC General Assembly unanimously, prohibits law enforcement officers from shackling women in their second and third trimesters, during labor and delivery, and during the six weeks following delivery, with limited exceptions. The law also mandates nutrition standards for incarcerated pregnant women, instruction in parenting skills for new mothers, and the provision of free menstrual products for all incarcerated women.
  

• Gov. Cooper vetoed HB 805, the “anti-rioting” bill. In issuing the veto, the governor said, “People who commit crimes during riots and at other times should be prosecuted and our laws provide for that, but this legislation is unnecessary and is intended to intimidate and deter people from exercising their constitutional rights to peacefully protest.”