A bill to significantly restrict the North Carolina governor’s office could further reduce the power of the incoming Democrats, including Gov.-elect Josh Stein, before they even take office.
The legislation, which has passed the state legislature, would direct some funding to disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene but also limit the authority of offices set to be controlled by Democrats in the new year. The timing is critical, with a current GOP supermajority in the legislature that will be broken up come January.
Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is almost certain to veto the bill, raising the question of whether the GOP supermajority will override his move. But that doesn’t seem like a sure things, as the bill has also drawn some opposition from within Republican ranks.
Here are five things to know about the legislation:
What does the bill say?
The legislation’s topline item is providing a third round of relief for the parts of western North Carolina that Hurricane Helene ravaged in late September. The storm caused record damage in the state, estimated at more than $50 billion, and killed more than 100 people.
The bill allocates $227 million from the state’s savings reserve for the relief fund to respond to the hurricane, but that’s considerably less than the first two rounds provided, and it also addresses several other aspects of the law unrelated to storm relief.
However, critics argue the aid is a smokescreen for the bill’s real purpose, which is to erode the top state executive’s powers.
The most prominent change is taking additional power away from the governor’s office, along with the office of the attorney general. The legislature has already limited the governor’s power earlier this year over its authority to make appointments.
This bill now would take away the governor’s ability to appoint members of the state elections board and give it to the state auditor. It would also limit the attorney general’s authority particularly when handling out-of-state lawsuits, preventing the office from taking a position contrary to any statute that the state legislature passed.
It would also reduce the amount of time for counting absentee ballots, eliminate a requirement that absentee ballots received before an election are counted on Election Day and abolish the state superintendent’s ability to appeal decisions from the Charter Schools Review Board, among other initiatives.
What is its status?
The bill easily passed both houses of the state legislature in mostly party-line votes. It passed in a 63-46 vote in the state House on Tuesday and a 30-19 vote in the state Senate on Wednesday, and is now awaiting action from the governor’s office.
The Senate vote was entirely divided by party, but three House Republicans, all from western North Carolina, broke ranks to vote against the bill. These three votes, and several absences, could be critical to determining whether the legislation becomes law.
Cooper is opposed to the bill, reportedly accusing legislators of trying to use “financial crumbs to cover for massive power grabs.” But one complication for Cooper’s ability to veto is that he was out of state as of Wednesday to present a request in Washington, D.C., for federal aid to help hurricane recovery.
When the governor is out of state, the lieutenant governor serves as acting governor until they return. In this case, that’s Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who lost his own bid to become governor earlier this month.
But whether Robinson has the authority as acting governor to sign a bill into law with the governor out of state is unclear.
Why are Republicans pushing for this?
Critics argue that the bill is a thinly veiled attempt by the state GOP to wrest more control from the incoming Democratic government before it takes over in January.
While Democrats have had the governor’s office for the past eight years with Cooper, his agenda has been significantly limited thanks to Republican majority control of the legislature.
Three-fifths of the legislature must vote to override a veto for it to be successful, and the GOP currently has exactly what it needs to do so by the slimmest margin if the vote goes on party lines. But Democrats had several successes on Election Day, including Stein winning the gubernatorial election.
They also picked up a seat in the state House, breaking the GOP supermajority. Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson (N.C.) won the attorney general election, and Democrat Mo Green won state superintendent.
Meanwhile, Republican Dave Boliek became the first of his party to win state auditor in more than a decade.
The legislation would specifically take power away from the offices Democrats are set to occupy and hand it to incoming Republican officials.
Focus turns to Robinson
The drama surrounding the bill has put a renewed focus on Robinson, who lost to Stein in the gubernatorial race in November amid mounting scandals involving his past rhetoric and online activity.
The question for Robinson, who is currently the No. 2 official in the state, is whether he can and will sign the GOP-passed bill into law, assuming Cooper is still out of state.
Reporters for the Raleigh-based NBC affiliate WRAL reported that Robinson said he does not plan to sign the bill. That decision would avoid a contentious battle that could end up in court.
If Robinson doesn’t try to sign it and Cooper is able to veto it upon his return, attention would then go back to the legislature to see if Republicans have the votes for an override. But those three who voted against it would likely have to flip to support it for the override to have a chance.
What are Republicans and Democrats saying?
GOP supporters of the legislation have argued that it would provide necessary relief to communities in western North Carolina hit hard by the hurricane. They have also noted that more than $900 million in relief funds have already been provided in response to criticism that the bill does not provide enough for those in need.
State Sen. Ralph Hise (R), the Senate deputy president pro tempore, argued that only Congress can cover the total expenses needed to fully handle disaster relief, reportedly saying he is asking them to take it on and “make it a priority to rebuild the state.”
He also said the changes to election-related statutes are to “ensure a timelier resolution of election outcomes.”
Democrats have accused Republicans of playing politics with the funding and using it to cover up an attempt to seize more power.
“It would have been easy to break out the Hurricane Helene portions of this bill from the rest of the bill that takes purely partisan aim at the pillars of our democracy,” said state Sen. Julie Mayfield, according to NC Newsline. “But that is not the decision that was made.”
State Sen. Mary Willis Bode reportedly said Republicans were trying to hurt “the other team’s players in the final minutes of a game they know they’re going to lose.”
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