Look Ahead: What will happen next week in North Carolina politics?
State lawmakers are planning to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of an abortion bill, the Senate will unveil its budget proposal and Rep. Mark Walker will announce whether he's running for governor.
It was a fairly slow news week in North Carolina, so rather than look back at the week that was, let’s take a look ahead at what’s on the horizon:
Abortion bill override
Republican lawmakers this week are planning to enact a bill banning abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. The proposal was vetoed on Saturday by Gov. Roy Cooper following a week-long pressure campaign against four GOP lawmakers he accuses of misleading voters last year about their position on abortion.
So where do things stand now?
Senate Bill 20 will go to the Senate for an override vote as early as Tuesday, followed by a House override vote. After that, the bill would largely take immediate effect.
Under Senate rules, the chamber’s rules chairman must inform the chamber’s top Democrat at least 24 hours in advance of a possible override vote. When an override vote goes to the chamber floor, each lawmaker can debate the motion to override Cooper’s veto for up to 10 minutes, thus allowing Democrats to control the floor for at least 3 hours and 20 minutes.
The Senate vote is seen as a foregone conclusion, as the one Republican in the chamber that Cooper has tried to get to reverse course, Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County, has maintained his support for the abortion bill.
There is an ever so slight degree of uncertainty in the House, where Cooper is targeting three GOP lawmakers— Reps. John Bradford and Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County and Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover County.
Under new rules for this session, House Speaker Tim Moore can call up near instant override votes and no longer needs to give 24 hours of advance warning.
Moore also has the ability to refuse to recognize members from speaking, thus allowing for speedy votes with limited debate if he so chooses.
The top House Republican has said he has the votes to override Cooper with all 72 Republicans voting in favor it. Bradford and Cotham supported the abortion bill on the floor, while Davis was absent during the voting session.
The earliest the bill could become law would be Tuesday, provided the Senate overrides Cooper, followed by the House on the same day.
But during a May 4 floor session, Moore alluded to a greater likelihood of a Wednesday override vote.
“The soonest day we would have votes before the body would be Tuesday, May 16th,” Moore said on the chamber floor. “More than likely, I would expect that it would be Wednesday the 17th."
Senate budget proposal release
At 3 p.m. on Monday, Senate leader Phil Berger is scheduled to unveil the highlights of his chamber’s budget plan, a counterproposal to the House’s budget.
House Bill 259 is scheduled to have its first vote on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. in the Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. The measure is set to then go through the Finance Committee at 1 p.m. and Pensions and Retirement and Aging Committee at 2 p.m.
After the budget passes out of the Senate floor, the House would then most likely refuse to accept the changes the Senate plan makes. A conference committee composed of leaders in each chamber would then be tasked with working out differences between the House and Senate over the next several weeks.
If Cooper vetoes the bill, it would likely have the votes to be overridden by the GOP supermajority. Also dangling over Cooper: Medicaid expansion is contingent on a budget being enacted, thus giving him minimal leverage at the budget negotiation table.
Governor Walker?
Former Greensboro-area U.S. Rep. Mark Walker is scheduled to hold an event in Kernersville at 10 a.m. on Saturday to announce his decision on a 2024 governor’s run.
The event is scheduled at Triad Baptist Christian Academy. If he enters as expected, he would join State Treasurer Dale Folwell and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the Republican primary field.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein is on a glide path to securing his party’s nomination.