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Governance
Last week the NC House and NC Senate passed a bill, ostensibly for Hurricane Helene relief, that included multiple measures intended to strip power from the incoming Democratic administration. In response to the election of Josh Stein, Jeff Jackson, and other Democrats to the Council of State, Republicans included measures to remove control from the governor over the State Board of Elections, prevent the attorney general from arguing that state laws are unconstitutional or advocating for customers at the state Utilities Commission, and eliminate commissions led by the lieutenant governor and superintendent of public instruction. Only the first 12 pages of the 131-page bill deal with relief for Hurricane Helene. The bill now goes to Governor Cooper, who will likely veto it. Because three Western NC Republicans joined Democrats in the NC House in opposing the bill, Republicans would not be able to override a veto without some votes changing. (See also NC Newsline’s piece for additional details.)
Republicans in the NCGA elected their leadership this week. On Tuesday NC House Republicans elected Rep. Destin Hall (Caldwell and Watauga counties) as the new speaker of the House. Hall has previously served as the co-chair of the Rules Committee, and his replacement of Rep. Tim Moore after Moore’s fifth term was planned. On Wednesday NC Senate Republicans elected Sen. Phil Berger to an eighth two-year term as Senate president pro tempore.
The NCGA voted this week to override Governor Cooper’s September veto of a bill that would expand private school vouchers and force sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. On Tuesday the NC House voted 72-44 to override the veto, and on Wednesday the NC Senate voted 30-19 to override the veto, making HB 10 law. The bill allocates an additional $463.5 million this year and next to the “Opportunity Scholarship” program of private school vouchers, allowing for vouchers to go to people who were previously waitlisted, including wealthy families. It also requires sheriffs to detain undocumented immigrants if requested to do so by ICE – a measure that could be relevant to implementing the incoming federal government’s mass deportation plans.
Voting Rights
The Republican challenging Allison Riggs’s NC Supreme Court seat, Jefferson Griffin, has challenged over 60,000 ballots, aiming to get them thrown out in a race that he has lost by 625 votes, in the latest tally. The voters he is challenging include overseas voters who have never lived in the United States., those who didn’t include a driver’s license number or last four digits of SSN on their voter registration form, and those that may be ineligible due to felony convictions. The State Board of Elections is overseeing the investigation into the challenged votes. Griffin has also requested a recount.
After NC Senate majority leader Phil Berger baselessly alleged that voting in North Carolina is somehow rigged in favor of Democrats, top elections official Karen Brinson Bell wrote a letter calling for him to retract his statement. Brinson Bell emphasized that false information about election fraud, especially coming from a state official, harms trust in elections and can lead to threats of violence against elections officials.
Economic Policy
Last week the NC House and NC Senate passed a provision, as part of the controversial Hurricane Helene relief bill, to extend funding for child care centers for three additional months. SB 382 allocates over $33 million to keep child care centers that would otherwise close open until March, when the legislature returns for the long session.
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