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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
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