Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/16/24

Governance

• On Wednesday the NC House voted along party lines to override Governor Cooper’s veto of a bill that strips power from the incoming Democratic administration (SB 382). Protestors packed the gallery, calling for legislators to reject the override, and police forced them out when they loudly chanted “shame” as the votes came in. On Thursday, Cooper and incoming governor Josh Stein filed a lawsuit to block the new law, focusing on a change that would put the Highway Patrol under the control of the NCGA rather than the Department of Public Safety, whose head is appointed by the governor.

  
  

• Moral Mondays return to Raleigh as faith leaders, activists protest ‘legislative coup’: “Leave our democracy the hell alone,” Bishop William Barber thundered to the crowd of a few hundred. –Brandon Kingdollar, NC Newsline

  
  

Voting Rights 

• On Wednesday the NC Board of Elections voted against NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s petitions to throw out over 60,000 votes. Most votes fell 3-2 along party lines. Griffin can still appeal the decision in state court. A partial hand-to-eye recount in the NC Supreme Court race put Justice Allison Riggs an additional 14 votes ahead of Griffin, for a total lead of 748 votes, which was close enough to the results of the machine recount that the Board decided against ordering a total hand-to-eye recount.

  
  

• On Wednesday the NC House voted to put a constitutional amendment requiring photo ID for mail-in voting on the next general election ballot. Current state law already requires photo ID for all types of voting. The House declined to vote on another proposed amendment that would cap state income tax at 5%. Since constitutional amendments are not subject to gubernatorial veto, the amendment proposal will appear on the ballot.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/09/24

Governance

• Last Monday the NC Senate voted to override Governor Cooper’s veto of the power-grabbing “hurricane relief” bill SB382. Cooper called the 131-page bill, which tacks over a hundred pages stripping power from executive branch offices that will be filled by Democrats in 2025 onto a 12-page hurricane relief section, a “sham.” The NC House is expected to vote on a veto override this Wednesday, December 11, and the outcome in that chamber is less certain, since three Republicans from western North Carolina voted against passage of the bill. Protestors filled the Senate gallery during the vote. See Economic Policy and Environmental Policy sections below for more about specific provisions in the bill.

  
  

• NC Senate Democrats elected Wake County Senator Sydney Batch as the new Senate Minority Leader. Batch replaces fellow Wake County Senator Dan Blue, who had held the position for many years but declined to run again this year. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (Wake) was reelected as Minority Whip and Sen. Julie Mayfield (Buncombe) as caucus secretary.

  
  

• Multiple laws passed this year by the Republican-controlled NC General Assembly took effect on December 1. These include a law that requires sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, a law requiring juveniles 16+ who commit certain violent felonies to be tried in adult court, a law that reduces water quality requirements for a pipeline project and limits DEQ review of hog farm permits, and a law that changes building code regulations.

  
  

• On Monday the NC Senate approved two constitutional amendments that, if approved by the NC House, would appear on 2026 ballots. SB 920 would amend the NC Constitution to cap income tax rates at 5%, while SB 921 would add the voter ID requirement for those voting by mail to the state Constitution, even though current state law already requires all voters to present photo ID. Constitutional amendments cannot be vetoed by the governor.

Voting Rights 

• On Monday the State Board of Elections held an all-day meeting where they reviewed some of the specific protests of over 60,000 ballots submitted by Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin, who currently trails Democratic NC Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes. The board dismissed many of his protests for lack of sufficient evidence. On the same day, the board announced a plan to hand recount ballots in the House District 32 race that would determine whether Republicans retain a legislative supermajority and, separately, Griffin called for a second recount in his race against Riggs.

  
  

• On Friday the NC Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit to prevent the State Board of Election from throwing out sets of ballots based on voter categories as requested by Republican NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin. The party states in the lawsuit that dumping these ballots would represent a post-election voter roll edit, thus violating the National Voter Registration Act. Griffin separately asked the State Court of Appeals to force the State Board of Elections to make a decision about the protested sets of votes by 5 PM this Tuesday.

  
  

Economic Policy

• Durham mayor warns state law proposal would take power away from local leaders: Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams expressed his concerns about a provision in a Hurricane Helene relief bill that could limit the city’s power in zoning decisions. – Monica Casey, WRAL

Environmental Policy

• Senate bill includes changes to hog waste management, politics of state utilities commission: Senate Bill 382 aims to boost hog waste-to-energy projects and shift power within the Utilities Commission, sparking debate over environmental justice and renewable energy policies in North Carolina. – Liz McLaughlin, WRAL

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 12/02/24

Governance

• On Tuesday Governor Cooper vetoed a bill that broadly strips power from multiple executive branch offices to which Democrats were elected this cycle. The 131-page bill is nominally a Hurricane Helene relief bill, but the vast majority is devoted to measures like removing appointment power from the governor and limiting the attorney general’s ability to advocate against Republican-passed laws. This week and next the legislature may vote to override Cooper’s veto, though the outcome of such a vote is not uncertain given that three NC House Republicans from western NC voted against the bill last week. You can learn more about the contents of SB 382 in this NC Newsline explainer.

Voting Rights

• On Tuesday the State Board of Elections certified most results of the November 5 election. Only a few races with pending recounts remain uncertified, including the NC Supreme Court race between Justice Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin and an NC House race where Republican Rep. Frank Sossamon currently trails Democrat Bryan Cohn by 233 votes. That NC House race  that could determine whether Republicans retain a supermajority in the state legislature. Griffin also filed a last-minute motion on Tuesday before the certification hearing to disqualify a Democratic member of the SBE from considering his challenge to over 60,000 ballots, claiming that her husband’s work as an attorney with Riggs represents a conflict of interest. Because of this last-minute motion to disqualify, discussion of Griffin’s challenge to the ballots was postponed.