Take Action! Contact Your Legislators Today
Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed SB 382, the pro-polluter power grab bill masquerading as “disaster relief.” Citizen contacts to legislators are needed immediately in support of the Cooper veto.
Governor Cooper Vetoes Power Grab
In his veto message, Governor Cooper strips bare the pretense that the legislation has anything to do with real disaster relief. “This legislation is a sham,” says Cooper. “It does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh. This legislation was titled disaster relief but instead violates the constitution by taking appointments away from the next Governor for the Board of Elections, Utilities Commission and Commander of the NC Highway Patrol, letting political parties choose appellate judges and interfering with the Attorney General’s ability to advocate for lower electric bills for consumers. Instead of giving small business grants to disaster counties it strikes a cruel blow by blocking the extension of better unemployment benefits for people who have lost jobs because of natural disasters. Finally, it plays politics by taking away two judges elected by the people and adding two judges appointed by the legislature, taking away authority from the Lieutenant Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction and more.”
Opposition to the Power Grab
NCLCV has jumped into action. “After we elected Josh Stein, Jeff Jackson, and other state officials, the Republican supermajority at the legislature decided to tie hurricane relief to their own political agenda,” said Dan Crawford, NCLCV Director of Governmental Relations. “Senate Bill 382 strips power from the Governor and Attorney General, restricts voting rights, and removes checks and balances in our court system.”
In floor debate on the bill, opposing legislators had more scathing comments. “It is the most cynical step possible to call this a disaster relief bill,” said Rep. Robert Reives (D-Chatham), the NC House Minority Leader. “It’s the biggest abuse of power since I’ve been here, and that’s saying a lot.”
Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) called the switch of appointments power from the NC Governor to the NC State Auditor “both unconstitutional and a pure power grab. The voters and the courts have turned down previous attempts to change the very successful processes [for election administration] we have in place.”
Take Action Today!
Anticipating the veto, the General Assembly’s latest adjournment resolution set up the legislature’s return to Raleigh on Monday, December 2, to consider overriding any vetoes. That means today is the deadline for citizen contacts to legislators calling for the Cooper veto of SB 382 to be sustained.
Even though the Republican leaders pushing this bill have a narrow supermajority in both legislative chambers, a veto override is not certain. SB 382 is such a flagrant sham on disaster relief that three Republican legislators from western NC voted no on the final House vote. If even one of those legislators votes no or fails to appear for the veto override vote, the override will fail.
Please contact your legislators now in defense of voting rights and our democracy! As NCLCV’s Dan Crawford says, “We cannot have a safe, healthy environment without a representative democracy.”
