Rather than providing swift and meaningful aid to Western North Carolina (WNC), the Republican supermajority is prioritizing their own political agenda. Senate Bill (S.B.) 382 strips power from the governor and attorney general, sets an unrealistic deadline for mail-in and provisional ballots, and unconstitutionally removes checks and balances in our court system.
Governor Cooper vetoed the legislation, calling it a “sham,” and pointed out the legislation “does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh.”
Tell your legislators to reject this political stunt and provide more aid to WNC!
Removing Checks and Balances
The first noteworthy change shifts power to appoint the State Board of Elections and the county boards from the Governor (newly elected Josh Stein) to the State Auditor (newly elected Dave Boliek). Why the auditor? He’s a member of the pro-polluter leaders’ party who they believe can be counted on to do as they tell him. They assume the state supreme court will allow the power grab as constitutional because the auditor is a theoretically independently elected member of the executive branch of state government.
Additionally, this legislation prohibits the newly elected Attorney General (environmental champion Jeff Jackson) from taking part in any litigation that is “contrary or inconsistent” with the position of the General Assembly (the pro-polluter-led state legislature).
Finally, S.B. 382 removes two elected Superior Court seats in Wake and Forsyth counties and creates two special Superior Court Judge positions appointed by the pro-polluter leadership. This removes yet another important separation of powers that our constitution lays out in order to prevent the abuse of power.
Restricting Voting Rights
This bill also restricts voting rights by reducing the time during which voters have to request an absentee-by-mail ballot by an entire week. It also reduces the time they have to fix mistakes after they are discovered by the local election board (such as a missing second signature) from 10 days to 2.5 days. Finally, the bill also reduces the time to “cure” provisional ballots (for example, by taking a qualifying voter photo ID to the local elections board office) by the same period of time.
“Sham” Legislation
“This legislation is a sham,” said Governor 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.”
Gov. Cooper continued: “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.”
Outcomes for Our Environment
As an environmental organization, we are especially concerned about the changes this bill makes to the appointment of the Utilities Commission. This bill reduces the appointment power of the Governor from three to two, and gives that appointment to the State Treasurer. Similar to the auditor, newly-elected Treasurer Brad Briner is a member of the pro-polluter party. This power grab shifts control of the NC Utilities Commission away from the Governor.
This bill also removes the power of the Governor to appoint the chairperson, giving that power to the commission itself. This stripping of power lets the pro-polluter majority have more sway over a commission that already finds itself beholden to corporate polluters.
Circumventing Process
Republican leaders wrote the bill in secret and released it one hour before beginning debate. Then, they brought it forward in a way that would not allow for changes. Three Republican officials from WNC voted against the bill, but have not specified their reasoning.
“If they truly have the courage of their convictions,” said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations, “they should present a stand alone bill for consideration rather than holding Western North Carolina hostage. Republicans already have their claims ready to say Democrats voted against Hurricane relief, when in fact Democrats want more aid and are voting against the power-seeking aspects of the bill.
“Our organization will continue to stand up against attacks on our democracy because we need a healthy democracy to protect our environment. We will continue to advocate for folks seeking recovery aid from climate disasters, and we will continue to advocate for climate action on the state level.”
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