Weekly Recap: Cooper vetoes measure to evenly split elections boards, Medicaid expansion launch and more
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper rejected Senate Bill 749, which seeks to split state and county elections boards evenly along party lines.
A less active week in North Carolina politics, but the prior would be awfully hard to top. Let’s dive in to the news you need to know from the week that was…
Cooper rejects GOP plan to evenly split state, local elections boards
Under Senate Bill 749, state lawmakers would create an all but guaranteed 4-4 partisan split on the State Board of Elections and 2-2 split on the state’s 100 county elections boards before the 2024 election. That would change the makeup of the current 3-2 Democratic majority state elections board and current five-member county boards.
The bill also would move the State Board of Elections from the Department of Administration to the Secretary of State’s Office—an idea current Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall strongly opposes.
In his veto message, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper expressed concern with the potential for some of the state’s more populous counties to only see one early voting site in the event county elections official can’t reach a consensus on early voting location plans. The governor also worried about gridlock.
Since 1985, North Carolina governors have appointed state elections board members from a list given to them by the party chairs of the two political parties having the highest number of registered voters, Democrats and Republicans. No more than three members are allowed to be from the same party, effectively giving the governor’s party majority control of the state board.
Previous efforts by Republicans to strip the governor of his appointment powers have been rejected in state court and by voters.
“Courts have already ruled the ideas in this bill unconstitutional, and voters overwhelmingly said no when the legislature tried to change the constitution," Cooper wrote in a veto message.
But with a new 5-2 conservative state Supreme Court, GOP lawmakers are hoping for a different outcome.
“North Carolinians deserve to have the knowledge and confidence that their state and local boards of elections are operating in the best interest of the voters, not a particular political party,” state Sen. Warren Daniel, a Burke County Republican, said in a statement responding to Cooper’s veto. “Single-party control has led to distrust and skepticism among voters.”
Republicans are expected to override the governor’s veto in a party-line vote. It will then face an all but certain legal challenge from Democratic, voting access groups or a combination of the two.
Medicaid expansion launch date: Dec. 1
Cooper and state Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley announced this past week that Medicaid expansion would be implemented Dec. 1, as Kinsley had previously stated as the next backup date if a budget weren’t enacted by the end of August.
Abortion law pushback
Hours before many parts of North Carolina’s abortion law was set to take effect, U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles on Saturday blocked implementation of two portions of the law.
One of the provisions would have reduced access to drugs for women seeking to terminate a pregnancy at early stages. Another provision would have required victims of rape and incest to go to a hospital for an abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. With Eagles’ order, sexual assault victims and women who have a physical or genetic disorder identified in the fetus that would be life-limiting will be able to get an abortion at various clinics across the state.
In June, Eagles allowed the North Carolina law reducing access to abortion in most cases from 20 weeks to 12 weeks to largely move forward.
“Planned Parenthood South Atlantic remains committed to helping every patient navigate the unjust and inhumane confines of this law, and we encourage anyone in need of abortion care to contact us as soon as possible,” Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic said in a statement.
Redistricting hearings
Lawmakers held three redistricting hearing across the state. The main concern of those who attended: Republican expanding their own political clout in the legislature and U.S. House of Representatives.
What to Watch For:
Cooper has yet to act on 12 bills presently on his desk. He has until 11:59 p.m. Monday to act on 10 bills and 11:59 p.m. Thursday to act on two bills.
Cooper has said he’d let the budget become law without his signature, thus allowing it to take effect on Tuesday.
If you haven’t read my highlights of the budget, these are 14 things you need to know about the $30 billion spending plan.
To give you the SparkNotes version: Big raises for statewide lawmakers, pay increases for teachers and state workers outpaced by inflation, personal income tax cuts that could drop as low to 2.49% in Taxable Year 2029 and beyond, an at least partially subsidized private schooling option for all North Carolina pupils (regardless of income), increased GOP power within the judiciary and an ability for lawmakers to exempt themselves from public records laws and destroy records they don’t want the public to see.
Veto overrides
Republicans have yet to hold override votes on the proposed state and local elections board shakeups and two measures Cooper vetoed last month: Senate Bill 747 and Senate Bill 512.
House Republican Speaker Tim Moore has said he doesn’t expect his chamber to hold any votes until the week of Oct. 9 at the earliest.
GOP lawmakers have successfully overridden 14 Cooper vetoes this session. We could see more in the coming weeks.
5 essential reads
What’s in a Pseudonym? (Jeffrey Billman // The Assembly)
NC House Speaker Moore says he won’t run for state House in 2024, will finish out term (Dawn Vaughan // Raleigh News & Observer)
19 NC laws that go into effect on Oct. 1, 2023 (WCNC)
Canton lands $42 million windfall in state budget (Vicki Hyatt // The Mountaineer)
NC budget will give legislature more power over community colleges, judges (Colin Campbell // WUNC)
Thank you!
I’ll be on the road early this week, but should return with another alert as news develops. Thank you for all your continued support of this newsletter.