Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/05/22

Criminal Justice

• Multiple new North Carolina laws went into effect on December 1. These laws include:

• HB 674, which requires DNA sample collection from those convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in domestic violence and assault cases, and

• HB 615, which allows judges to temporarily renew domestic violence protection orders.

Fair Representation

• Oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case Moore v. Harper, an appeal of a gerrymandering ruling in North Carolina, will take place on Wednesday, December 7. Critics say the case could have a potentially catastrophic national impact if a majority of the justices side with Republicans in the NCGA, who argue that state legislatures’ decisions about election rules can’t be overruled by state courts (the so-called independent state legislature doctrine). In a quote to the News & Observer, Kathay Feng of Common Cause describes Moore v. Harper as “the case of the century.”

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 11/29/22

Governance

• On Friday, November 18, local elections boards certified two close NC House races, confirming that Republicans will hold 71 of 120 seats in the NC House – exactly one short of a supermajority. Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams won by 629 votes (2.28%) in House District 73 in Cabarrus County, while Republican Timothy Reeder beat Brian Farkas, the Democratic incumbent for House District 9 in Pitt County, by only 354 votes (1.18%).

Voting Rights

• After months of delay, the NC Court of Appeals followed NC Supreme Court instructions to send back the case governing the voter ID constitutional amendment to the Wake County Superior Court in order to answer some questions about the case. The Court of Appeals finally moved on sending the case to the trial court after lawyers for the NAACP petitioned the NC Supreme Court to ask the Court of Appeals to take action.

Neighbors on Call’s NC ELECTION and Policy Update for 11/14/22

ELECTION UPDATE

• In Tuesday’s elections,

• Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly fell one seat short of a veto-proof supermajority. While they gained exactly the number of seats needed for a supermajority in the NC Senate, their projected gains in the NC House (with not all elections officially called) give them 71 seats – one less than a supermajority. The extremely narrow margin by which vetoes from Governor Cooper must now be sustained means that Republicans in the NCGA may try to push for previously out-of-reach movement on controversial issues such as restricting abortion rights.

• NoC-supported candidates Sen. Sydney Batch (Wake) and Rep. Terence Everitt (Wake) retained their seats and Mary Wills Bode flipped a state Senate seat (Wake). However, Rep. Ricky Hurtado lost his bid for reelection in Alamance County by 658 votes.

• Republicans gained two seats in the North Carolina Supreme Court, giving them a 5-2 majority. With the 4-3 majority Democrats held previously, they were able to block partisan gerrymanders and order education funding to fulfill the Leandro plan, but the new Republican majority puts these issues – along with many others – in question.

• Beyond the NC Supreme Court races, Republicans also won all four statewide Court of Appeals races on the ballot.

• All results are posted on the NC SBE Election Results Dashboard.

Education

• On Thursday the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) voted 9-7 to support a plan to change teacher compensation in North Carolina to a performance-based, rather than experience-based, model. This represents an initial step in a recommendation process for eventual changes in law that would be implemented by the NCGA and State Board of Education. The vote was controversial, with critics expressing concerns that the new model would place too much emphasis on standardized tests and devalue experienced teachers’ expertise.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/05/22

Criminal Justice

• Multiple new North Carolina laws went into effect on December 1. These laws include:

• HB 674, which requires DNA sample collection from those convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in domestic violence and assault cases, and

• HB 615, which allows judges to temporarily renew domestic violence protection orders.

Fair Representation

• Oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case Moore v. Harper, an appeal of a gerrymandering ruling in North Carolina, will take place on Wednesday, December 7. Critics say the case could have a potentially catastrophic national impact if a majority of the justices side with Republicans in the NCGA, who argue that state legislatures’ decisions about election rules can’t be overruled by state courts (the so-called independent state legislature doctrine). In a quote to the News & Observer, Kathay Feng of Common Cause describes Moore v. Harper as “the case of the century.”

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 11/29/22

Governance

• On Friday, November 18, local elections boards certified two close NC House races, confirming that Republicans will hold 71 of 120 seats in the NC House – exactly one short of a supermajority. Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams won by 629 votes (2.28%) in House District 73 in Cabarrus County, while Republican Timothy Reeder beat Brian Farkas, the Democratic incumbent for House District 9 in Pitt County, by only 354 votes (1.18%).

Voting Rights

• After months of delay, the NC Court of Appeals followed NC Supreme Court instructions to send back the case governing the voter ID constitutional amendment to the Wake County Superior Court in order to answer some questions about the case. The Court of Appeals finally moved on sending the case to the trial court after lawyers for the NAACP petitioned the NC Supreme Court to ask the Court of Appeals to take action.

Neighbors on Call’s NC ELECTION and Policy Update for 11/14/22

ELECTION UPDATE

• In Tuesday’s elections,

• Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly fell one seat short of a veto-proof supermajority. While they gained exactly the number of seats needed for a supermajority in the NC Senate, their projected gains in the NC House (with not all elections officially called) give them 71 seats – one less than a supermajority. The extremely narrow margin by which vetoes from Governor Cooper must now be sustained means that Republicans in the NCGA may try to push for previously out-of-reach movement on controversial issues such as restricting abortion rights.

• NoC-supported candidates Sen. Sydney Batch (Wake) and Rep. Terence Everitt (Wake) retained their seats and Mary Wills Bode flipped a state Senate seat (Wake). However, Rep. Ricky Hurtado lost his bid for reelection in Alamance County by 658 votes.

• Republicans gained two seats in the North Carolina Supreme Court, giving them a 5-2 majority. With the 4-3 majority Democrats held previously, they were able to block partisan gerrymanders and order education funding to fulfill the Leandro plan, but the new Republican majority puts these issues – along with many others – in question.

• Beyond the NC Supreme Court races, Republicans also won all four statewide Court of Appeals races on the ballot.

• All results are posted on the NC SBE Election Results Dashboard.

Education

• On Thursday the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) voted 9-7 to support a plan to change teacher compensation in North Carolina to a performance-based, rather than experience-based, model. This represents an initial step in a recommendation process for eventual changes in law that would be implemented by the NCGA and State Board of Education. The vote was controversial, with critics expressing concerns that the new model would place too much emphasis on standardized tests and devalue experienced teachers’ expertise.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/05/22

Criminal Justice

• Multiple new North Carolina laws went into effect on December 1. These laws include:

• HB 674, which requires DNA sample collection from those convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in domestic violence and assault cases, and

• HB 615, which allows judges to temporarily renew domestic violence protection orders.

Fair Representation

• Oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case Moore v. Harper, an appeal of a gerrymandering ruling in North Carolina, will take place on Wednesday, December 7. Critics say the case could have a potentially catastrophic national impact if a majority of the justices side with Republicans in the NCGA, who argue that state legislatures’ decisions about election rules can’t be overruled by state courts (the so-called independent state legislature doctrine). In a quote to the News & Observer, Kathay Feng of Common Cause describes Moore v. Harper as “the case of the century.”

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 11/29/22

Governance

• On Friday, November 18, local elections boards certified two close NC House races, confirming that Republicans will hold 71 of 120 seats in the NC House – exactly one short of a supermajority. Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams won by 629 votes (2.28%) in House District 73 in Cabarrus County, while Republican Timothy Reeder beat Brian Farkas, the Democratic incumbent for House District 9 in Pitt County, by only 354 votes (1.18%).

Voting Rights

• After months of delay, the NC Court of Appeals followed NC Supreme Court instructions to send back the case governing the voter ID constitutional amendment to the Wake County Superior Court in order to answer some questions about the case. The Court of Appeals finally moved on sending the case to the trial court after lawyers for the NAACP petitioned the NC Supreme Court to ask the Court of Appeals to take action.

Neighbors on Call’s NC ELECTION and Policy Update for 11/14/22

ELECTION UPDATE

• In Tuesday’s elections,

• Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly fell one seat short of a veto-proof supermajority. While they gained exactly the number of seats needed for a supermajority in the NC Senate, their projected gains in the NC House (with not all elections officially called) give them 71 seats – one less than a supermajority. The extremely narrow margin by which vetoes from Governor Cooper must now be sustained means that Republicans in the NCGA may try to push for previously out-of-reach movement on controversial issues such as restricting abortion rights.

• NoC-supported candidates Sen. Sydney Batch (Wake) and Rep. Terence Everitt (Wake) retained their seats and Mary Wills Bode flipped a state Senate seat (Wake). However, Rep. Ricky Hurtado lost his bid for reelection in Alamance County by 658 votes.

• Republicans gained two seats in the North Carolina Supreme Court, giving them a 5-2 majority. With the 4-3 majority Democrats held previously, they were able to block partisan gerrymanders and order education funding to fulfill the Leandro plan, but the new Republican majority puts these issues – along with many others – in question.

• Beyond the NC Supreme Court races, Republicans also won all four statewide Court of Appeals races on the ballot.

• All results are posted on the NC SBE Election Results Dashboard.

Education

• On Thursday the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) voted 9-7 to support a plan to change teacher compensation in North Carolina to a performance-based, rather than experience-based, model. This represents an initial step in a recommendation process for eventual changes in law that would be implemented by the NCGA and State Board of Education. The vote was controversial, with critics expressing concerns that the new model would place too much emphasis on standardized tests and devalue experienced teachers’ expertise.