Weekly Recap: Catch up on the news you missed from 6/11-6/17
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a sports gambling bill and Republican lawmakers advanced measures to change the makeup of elections boards.
Back in action with a weekly recap. Here are the top things you need to know from the week that was in North Carolina politics:
đłď¸Republicans call for major elections board changes
North Carolina Republicans on Monday put forward a bill that would greatly change the composition of state and local boards of elections.
Senate Bill 749, which cleared its first committee vote on Thursday, would increase the number of members on the State Board of Elections from five to eight. The proposal would have four members chosen by Republican state lawmakers and four members chosen by Democratic state lawmakers, creating an even 4-4 split. Currently, the NCSBE has a 3-2 Democratic advantage.
The measure would also change the makeup of county boards, reducing the number of members in each of North Carolinaâs 100 counties from five to four. The boards would have a 2-2 split politically, with two appointees chosen by GOP state lawmakers and two chosen by Democratic state lawmakers.
Currently, four county board members are appointed by the State Board of Elections and one is appointed by the governor. At the state level, the governor presently chooses from a list of names offered by the two major state party chairs, with Democrats getting three picks and Republicans getting two picks.
In 2018, North Carolina voters overwhelmingly rejected an effort by Republican lawmakers to split the State Board of Elections evenly along party lines.
Republicans say this yearâs effort is a fresh bill. Unlike the proposed constitutional amendment, this bill would become law once it takes effect and wouldnât need voter approval.
While Republicans say this yearâs bill would promote bipartisanship, Democrats argue it is unconstitutional, would create gridlock and is an effort by Republicans to sway elections in their favor.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has previously ruled in favor of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in cases where Republicans sought to strip Cooper of his ability to appoint members on boards.
But GOP Senate leader Phil Berger on Monday told reporters he believes the bill passes constitutional muster because it would evenly split the political makeup of elections boards.
âWe donât think that the issue that would be brought forward with this legislation has been decided by the court,â Berger said.
The measure could also spark gridlock, as members of evenly-split and county and state elections boards would need at least one member of an opposing party to cross party lines in order for many actions to be done, including consideration of new elections, candidate residency challenges and administrative policy changes.
âThe last thing our democracy needs is for our elections to be run by people who want to rig them for partisan gain,â Cooper said in a statement shortly after the billâs introduction.
The bill next goes to the Senate Rules Committee. It would then have a floor vote on the Senate before advancing to the House. According to Berger, House GOP leaders support changing the state elections board composition but havenât yet gotten behind changing the composition of county boards.
âžď¸đSports gambling bill signed into lawđđ
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday signed a bill allowing people who are at least 21 years old to place mobile sports bets through an approved list of operators as early as Jan. 8, 2024â the same day as the next college football championship game. In-person betting at eight authorized sports books will also be permitted.
At the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, the home of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team and one of the venues planning to allow for in-person wagers, Cooper approved House Bill 347. The measure allows for wagers on professional sports, college sports, electronic sports, Olympic events and horse racing.
A similar effort to legalize mobile sports betting passed in the Senate in 2021, but was one vote shy of clearing the House last year.
An Elon University Poll released on Wednesday found overwhelming public support for legalized sports betting, with 66% of respondents supportive of the North Carolina General Assemblyâs efforts and 34% opposed. The survey of registered North Carolina voters reported a credibility interval of 3 percentage points. A credibility interval is similar to a margin of error.
With Cooperâs signature, the North Carolina Lottery Commission is now tasked with issuing up to 12 interactive sports wagering licenses, which would be valid for five years. Prospective operators would need to pay a $1 million application fee, $1 million renewal fee and $1 million fee for transferring a license.
The eight venues that will be allowed to operate permanent or temporary in-person sports books include PNC Arena in Raleigh, WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Bank of America Stadium and Spectrum Center in Charlotte, Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro and Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte.
The Lottery Commission will also oversee the issuance of service provider, sports wagering supplier and advance deposit wager licenses.
Approved interactive sports wagering operators would be subject to an 18% tax on gross wagering revenues, which would generate an estimated $345 million in revenue by the end of June 2028, according to budget forecasts from the legislature's fiscal researchers.
The analysts also project the state would collect approximately $20.6 million in license fees over the next two fiscal years and see a one-time cost of $1.8 million to implement the bill and an additional recurring cost of more than $2.2 million annually thereafter.
The revenue the state generates will be distributed annually as follows:
$3.9 million to support athletic departments at 13 colleges and universities ($300,000 each to Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina University and Winston-Salem State University)
$2 million to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to address gambling addiction
$1 million to North Carolina Amateur Sports, a Durham-based nonprofit that provides grants to purchase youth sports equipment or upgrade public facilities
$1 million to the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council to provide grants of up to $5,000 per sports team per county to address travel costs and grants of up to $25,000 to attract nonprofessional sporting events
All remaining proceeds be split as follows: 50% to the stateâs General Fund, 30% to a newly created North Carolina Major Events, Games and Attractions Fund designed to bring in big events to the state and 20% to be evenly distributed among the athletic departments of the 13 aforementioned colleges and universities
đĽPoll: Where NC voters stand on abortion bill
North Carolina voters largely oppose a new bill that stands to greatly limit abortion access, according to an Elon University Poll released on Wednesday.
Asked broadly about whether they support of oppose the recent changes to abortion laws in North Carolina, 45% of the registered voters surveyed opposed the changes while 23% supported themâ a difference of 22 percentage points. One-third of respondents neither supported nor opposed the change.
However, when voters are informed about key provisions in the bill, opposition plummets.
Forty-five percent of registers voters who responded to the survey opposed the provision of the bill that bans most abortions from 20 weeks to 12 weeks, while 36% supported the change. The 9-point gap is far less than the 23-point difference when voters are asked about the bill broadly. One in five respondents neither supported nor opposed the reduction.
The new abortion law will also require women seeking to terminate a pregnancy through medication to take additional steps before a doctor can prescribe abortion-inducing drugs. Voters were nearly evenly split on whether those additional steps should happen, with 39% opposed to the changes, 40% supportive and about 20% neither supportive or opposed.
On the issue of abortion, poll respondents placed greater trust in the stateâs governor than state lawmakers, with 54% trusting Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper more on abortion policy and 46% placing greater trust in the Republican-controlled General Assembly to address the issue.
âĄBill punishing those who damage energy facilities heads to Cooper
In December, two electrical substations in Moore County were attacked, leaving more than 40,000 residents and business owners without power.
On Thursday, the Senate signed off on tweaks the House made to a bill seeking to punish those who engage in similar acts in the future. The measure cleared both chambers unanimously and is expected to be signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Under Senate Bill 58, it would be a Class C felony to knowingly and willfully destroy, injure, or otherwise damage, or attempt to destroy, injure, or otherwise damage, an energy facility. If the conduct results in the death of another, the offense would be punishable as a Class B2 felony.
The bill also imposes a $250,000 penalty for violating the law and allows violators to be sued for the damage they caused.
Biden officially taps Mandy Cohen for CDC director
President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Mandy Cohen, North Carolinaâs top public health official throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as his next director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cohen led North Carolinaâs Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 to 2021, where she helped Gov. Roy Cooper make public health decisions that led to the closure and reopening of certain types of businesses. She also long called for state lawmakers to expand Medicaid, which didnât happen during his tenure but is poised to take effect after the state enacts a budget in the coming weeks.
âDr. Cohen has been recognized by leaders from both parties for her ability find common ground and put complex policy into action,â Biden said in a statement. âI look forward to working with Dr. Cohen as she leads our nationâs finest scientists and public health experts with integrity and transparency.â
Before joining NCDHHS, Cohen was the chief operating officer and chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where she had helped implement policies for Medicare, Medicaid, the Childrenâs Health Insurance Program and the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace.
Cohen is a graduate of Cornell University, received her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine and a masterâs degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2020, Harvard gave her an award for leadership in public health practice for her work navigating North Carolina through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Cohen stepped down from her North Carolina post to serve as executive vice president and chief executive officer of Aledade Care Solutions.
5 essential reads
Abortion providers in North Carolina file federal lawsuit challenging stateâs new restrictions (Hannah Schoenbaum // Associated Press)
Rep. Tricia Cotham contradicts 2015 speech by saying she didn't have an abortion (Steve Harrison // WFAE)
Robinson, despite praise from Trump, isn't ready to endorse former president (Paul Specht // WRAL-TV)
Transgender athlete ban for womenâs sports edges closer to becoming law in NC (Rachel Crumpler and Lucas Thomae // NC Health News)
$8.6 million in grants flow into Canton to help town and its laid-off Pactiv Evergreen workers (Taylor Thompson // WLOS)
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