Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed two more bills passed during the General Assembly’s lame duck session that sought to package highly controversial law changes with other noncontroversial and even essential legislation.
The first, which was explained earlier this week by Policy Watch reporter Melissa Boughton, would dramatically increase the secrecy of state Board of Elections investigations. The second, as was explained yesterday by education policy expert Kris Nordstrom, includes counter-productive changes to state education law — including facilitating the establishment of so-called municipal charter schools.
This is from the Governor’s press release:
Today, Governor Cooper vetoed House Bill 1029, Bipartisan State Board Changes.
Gov. Cooper shared the following veto message:
“North Carolinians demand that elections should be conducted in an honest, fair, and accurate manner. The responsibility of investigators and prosecutors to find and eliminate wrongdoing in our elections is essential to maintaining integrity in our most sacred democratic process. This bill makes it harder to root out corruption in elections and campaign finance. While it does finally return the Board of Elections to a constitutional structure, Part IV shields politicians and others who violate campaign finance laws. These new provisions operate to obscure the truth rather than shine a light on it. The rushed introduction and passage of this bill allowed lawmakers little time to weigh the downsides of Part IV and, upon reflection, study, and hearing from election law experts, the downside can be devastating to the cause of fighting election fraud.
“Therefore, I veto the bill.”
Gov. Cooper also vetoed Senate Bill 469, Technical Corrections, and shared the following veto message:
“Ending stormwater and water quality protections threaten the safety of our communities. Additionally, municipal charter schools set a dangerous precedent that could lead to taxpayer funded re-segregation.
“Therefore, I veto the bill.”
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