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In NC, the governor’s vetoes and the legislature’s override votes are coming in batches
Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto stamp is doing double-duty this month, and bills he rejected are piling up the legislature awaiting override votes. On Friday, Cooper vetoed the Farm Act over its weakened wetlands protections along with a bill that prohibits consideration of environmental, social, and governance factors in state investing, or hiring and evaluating state […]
NC Republicans spring surprise changes to the new abortion law following a legal challenge
Senate Republicans voted to change the new North Carolina law banning most abortions after 12 weeks following a legal challenge by abortion providers. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and a Duke University Ob/Gyn sued last week over inconsistencies in the abortion law and a provision they contend may violate the First Amendment. The law restricting abortion […]
NC Republican proposed voting restrictions fit a red-state pattern
North Carolina is joining a group of Republican-led states that are imposing new restrictions on voting and exerting legislative control over elections boards. Republican senators passed controversial bills that would make it harder for people who vote by mail or sign up to vote during early registration periods and have their ballots count. They seek […]
Planned Parenthood sues over new NC abortion law
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic filed a federal lawsuit Friday over the new North Carolina law limiting abortion, saying its provisions are contradictory, add further harm to rape victims, and may violate the First Amendment. Most of the North Carolina law banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy except in cases of rape, incest, “life-limiting fetal […]
NC Senate Republican elections ideas endanger early voting access, critics say
Voting rights advocates warned that changes Republican senators seek to impose on North Carolina put counties on track to dramatically shrink early voting locations and hours. Under the Republicans’ proposal, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders would make equal appointments to local boards of election and the state Board of Elections. Republicans said the remade elections […]
NC Republicans ready votes on new elections laws that opponents call extreme
Voting rights groups and Democrats oppose North Carolina Republican senators’ proposed changes to election laws, saying they will harm elderly, disabled, and student voters, and voters of color. The Senate has proposed two bills changing voting rules and stripping governors of their power to appoint members of the state Board of Elections, giving that power […]
NC House Republicans want state savings held as gold bullion
North Carolina House Republicans want the state to use some of its savings to buy gold bullion and bury it in Texas. A group of House Republicans filed a bill in mid-April that would have the state use $2 billion from its savings reserve to buy gold bullion. The bill sat idle in the House […]
NC Republican elections proposal would strip the governor of appointment power
North Carolina Senate Republicans propose to remake the state Board of Elections by increasing membership from five members to eight and by taking all appointment power away from the governor and giving it to the legislature. This is the latest of several attempts by legislative Republicans to alter the elections board. Previous GOP attempts were […]
NC Gov. Cooper signs Blue Cross reorganization bill
Non-profit Blue Cross NC is now allowed to act more like a for-profit insurance company. Gov. Roy Cooper signed House bill 346 over the weekend, which allows the state’s dominant health insurer to create a holding company that would work outside the reach of state insurance regulations. The bill won overwhelming bipartisan support in the […]
NC bill would require special elections in some party-switchers’ districts. (Think Tricia Cotham)
The bill might as well be called the No More Cothams Act. Democrats from Mecklenburg County who voted for Rep. Tricia Cotham last year and say she betrayed them when she became a Republican are backing a bill that would force new elections in some party-switchers’ districts. A Senate bill filed this week inspired by […]
“A jumbo jet of a voter suppression bill.” NC Democrats denounce Republicans’ proposed voting restrictions.
Democrats in the North Carolina legislature are rebuking a new Senate bill that would make it harder for voters to cast mail-in ballots that would count toward candidate totals. Legislative Democrats don’t have enough votes to stop new laws if all Republican legislators vote together. They hope news of the potential voting restrictions will inspire […]
How to spend $1 billion to improve North Carolina’s mental health system
The state House has developed a wide-ranging plan to pay for mental health needs with part of the $1.7 billion federal ‘signing bonus’ the state expects to receive for expanding Medicaid. The House plan that passed the Health Committee last week directs about $1 billion toward mental health costs over three years. The list of […]