Press Releases and Newsletters
Eyeing a new map (Citizens Times)
The current lineup in the North Carolina’s House delegation is seven Democrats and six Republicans. But for the first time in more than 100 years the GOP has control of both legislative chambers in Raleigh. And that will enable the GOP to write the congressional redistricting plan. It’s very likely that the Republicans’ objective will be to write a plan that is designed to enable them to capture at least two and possibly three of the seats Democrats now hold.
Here’s how it could be achieved. Step one would be to strengthen the hold of freshman Republican Renee Ellmers on her district south of Raleigh. She defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Etheridge by a whisker. The key to helping her solidify control of the district is obvious.
North Carolina has two majority-minority districts, Mel Watt’s 12th District and G.K. Butterfield’s 1st District. These districts, of which there are dozens throughout the nation, are required by the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act. They are frequently the result of racial gerrymandering. Butterfield’s district is far short of the number of people it needs to contain the required number of 710,000 residents. Step two would be to shift minority residents from Ellmer’s district to Butterfield’s.
Just east of Charlotte are two adjoining districts currently represented by Democrats Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre. Kissell was re-elected with 53 percent of the vote, and McIntyre won with 54 percent. Step three would make two adjustments to these districts that would jeopardize Kissell. First, Democratic strongholds from his district would be added to McIntyre’s district to the east, and then they would be replaced with Republican precincts from Sue Myrick’s strongly Republican district just to the west of Kissell’s district.
The 13th District (parts of Raleigh and Greensboro) is represented by Democrat Brad Miller. He was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote. His district has about 20,000 too many residents, and about a quarter of the district’s residents are African-American. Furthermore, the district adjoins Butterfield’s majority-minority district. Step four would transfer African-American precincts from Miller’s district to Butterfield’s, which will put Miller in jeopardy.
Finally, there’s Heath Shuler’s 11th District here in the mountains. He was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote. Shuler amasses most of his winning margin in Asheville and Buncombe County. Just east of the Buncombe County line lies Rutherford County, which is part of Republican Patrick McHenry’s overwhelmingly Republican 10th District. Step five would extend the 10th into Buncombe County and Asheville. Without those precincts, Shuler can’t win. In addition, McHenry’s district is so heavily Republican that this adjustment could be accomplished without endangering him. Finally, the population base of the 11th will need to be increased. This could be achieved by making further adjustments to McHenry’s district as well as the districts of Virginia Foxx and Brad Miller.
And there you have it. Freshman Renee Ellmers is protected, and Democrats Kissell, Miller, and Shuler are put on life support.The bottom line is this: After more than 100 years in the wilderness, the GOP will have exacted some measure of retribution. It’s called politics.
LeRoy Goldman worked for the federal government from 1964-2001. Readers can reach him at [email protected]
1:58 PM, Mar. 9, 2011
Opinion 2010 results should reshape NC map (Citizen Times)
The House of Representatives doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for many years. Although there are numerous factors that account for the paralysis that grips it, the one that stands out is gerrymandering.
Today, that pernicious process has crippled the House of Representatives. The Democrats and the Republicans have successfully gerrymandered about 350 of the 435 House seats. That means that in those districts only one party has a viable chance of winning. And it’s not just that only one party can win in those districts, it’s also the fact that many of those districts are the breeding ground for the election of uncompromising extremists from both parties.
Why is that so? Think about it. In such a district the only competitive election is the primary election. In primary elections voter turnout is almost always depressed. Who votes in those primary elections — the party faithful, the highly motivated, and the zealots. And for whom do they vote? The vote for and elect a person who shares their frequently extreme ideological views.
And when these extremists get to the House what is the rational thing for them to do in order to assure that they win reelection two years hence? The answer is obvious. They are motivated to stay out at the extreme, to not compromise, to condemn any idea or legislative measure that is not ideologically pure. By behaving this way they protect their right flank, if they are Republicans, or their left flank, if they are Democrats. By preventing a meaningful challenge in their next primary election, they become congressmen (women) for life.
Every ten years, after the new census is completed, the process of redrawing the congressional district lines begins anew. North Carolina is one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation. In 2001 the Democrats, who then controlled the state legislature in Raleigh, squeezed every inch of partisan advantage possible into the configuration of the state’s 13 congressional districts. Thus, as we came to the election last November the Democrats controlled eight of the state’s thirteen districts.
Moreover, after all the votes were counted last November, only one of those eight Democrats had been defeated, Bob Etheridge in the 2nd district, a twisted loop of a district south of Raleigh.
And so, while the GOP was making enormous gains in the House all across the nation last November, North Carolina changed hardly at all, except for one thing and it is a harbinger of what’s just over the horizon.
For the first time since the 19th century, the GOP captured control of both chambers of the state legislature in Raleigh. And now the Republicans will redraw the Congressional district lines based upon the new census data. Moreover, Governor Purdue, a Democrat, does not have the authority to veto the map the GOP will create.
The worm is about to turn. Monday’s column will give that a look.
LeRoy Goldman worked for the federal government from 1964-2001.
1:45 PM, Mar. 11, 2011
Written by LeRoy Goldman
Economic Forecast (THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER)
The state’s economy will continue going through an anemic recovery this year, according to UNC-Charlotte economist John Connaughton’s latest economic forecast. Connaughton expects the state’s economy to grow 2.7 percent this year compared to 2010. That’s down from the 3.2 percent growth he predicted late last year. Still, it’s better than the 1.3 percent expansion the N.C. economy likely experienced in 2010, Connaughton said. “We have been able to struggle through 2010 without a double dip (into recession), but the sluggish economic growth during the past year really hasn’t felt much like a recovery,” he said.
Eight of the state’s 11 economic sectors experienced growth last year, with agriculture, mining, services and retail posting the biggest gains, Connaughton said. But companies statewide added just 10,500 net jobs, an increase of 0.3 percent over 2009. That’s not nearly enough to make up the more than 282,000 lost in the recession, he said. This year, Connaughton expects output to increase in eight sectors and employment to grow in seven of the state’s 10 nonagricultural sectors. N.C. companies will likely add 46,200 jobs in 2011, an increase of 1.2 percent over the December 2010 employment level. But Connaughton predicts the unemployment rate to remain inflated, ending the year at 9.5 percent.(THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/16/11).
Fibrant hires lobbyist (Salisbury Post)
The city has hired a high-profile lobbyist to fight a proposed law that would restrict municipal broadband networks like Fibrant.
Unsatisfied with the latest draft of the legislation, which they say will harm the city, Salisbury City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire the city’s first lobbyist, Tom Fetzer of Fetzer Strategic Partners in Raleigh, at $5,000 per month.
Council committed to use Fetzer, the outgoing N.C. Republican Party chairman and a former mayor of Raleigh, for one month and could retain him throughout the legislative session, which ends in July.
City officials continue to object to House Bill 129, “Level Playing Field/Local Government Competition,” saying they were promised Salisbury would be spared and demanding full exemption.
A bill sponsor says legislators have worked hard to accommodate Salisbury and are waiting for the city to provide more information.
The most recent draft of the bill, sent to the city at noon Tuesday, still would harm Salisbury’s ability to operate Fibrant and pay back $30 million the city borrowed to build the telecommunications network, officials said.
Salisbury is one of a handful of communities in the state that has a municipal broadband network up and running. The city wants exemption from any rules or laws that didn’t exist when Fibrant started.
“It’s a fairness issue,” Mayor Susan Kluttz said.
The proposed law, backed by Time Warner Cable, would level the playing field by removing advantages cities have over private companies, according to the cable lobby.
The bill was recommended favorably by the Public Utilities Committee and is scheduled to go before the Finance Committee Thursday.
Bill co-sponsor N.C. Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie, who also serves as chairwoman of the Finance Committee, has said she intends to carve out Salisbury and hold the city harmless.
Mayor Susan Kluttz said Howard pledged she would not bring the bill to committee until all parties were in agreement.
“If she goes on to the Finance Committee, then she’s going back on her word,” Kluttz said.
Howard has not returned repeated phone calls from the Post in the past week.
Assistant City Manager Doug Paris said Howard is asking the city to agree to restrictions “that we know would harm us.”
But another legislator said sponsors have given Salisbury all the exemptions they can.
The city is exempt from paying taxes, as well as other financial burdens that would impede its future broadband business, N.C. Rep. Marilyn Avila, R-Wake, said Tuesday night.
“But we can’t say you don’t have to comply with federal communication laws,” Avila said. “We can’t exempt them with that.”
Sponsors also will not exempt Salisbury from parts of the bill that ban cities from discriminating against cable companies, such as refusing access to rights of way or increasing pole attachment fees, she said.
And sponsors are still waiting to hear from Salisbury about some parts of the bill, Avila said.
She said she sent an e-mail last week asking Salisbury to stake out where the city wants to sell Fibrant.
“I was waiting to hear from them about what territory they wanted,” she said.
Since she hadn’t heard from the city, Avila kept language in the bill that would allow Salisbury to sell Fibrant only within the city limits.
Avila said she is willing to change the city’s jurisdictional boundaries to include adjacent towns, such as Spencer, but not the entire county.
“That won’t happen,” she said.
The city objects to the limited jurisdiction. Officials also object to a provision they say would restrict the city’s ability to refinance Fibrant at a lower interest rate, or finance an expansion in case of annexation.
Avila said sponsors took the financing issue into account. The proposed law would not prevent Salisbury from financing an upgrade or maintenance of Fibrant, she said.
Initially, cities thought they had to seek voter approval for general obligation bonds to fund improvements and expansions of their networks, but that was a misunderstanding, she said.
“They do not need a vote from the citizens,” Avila said.
However, the new law would require voter approval before cities could build or buy a municipal broadband network.
Salisbury borrowed $30 million without voter approval but with the blessing of the N.C. Local Government Commission.
City officials object to a provision in the legislation that would place Fibrant and other community networks under the N.C. Public Utilities Commission. The bill, which requires cities to abide by laws governing the private sector, also would make Salisbury vulnerable to lawsuits from the private sector, said Paris, the assistant city manager.
Cable companies sued the city of Lafayette, La. using a similar law, he said. Although the Louisiana State Supreme Court eventually sided with the city, the case dragged on for two years, Paris said.
Salisbury City Council met for about 90 minutes Tuesday in closed session with City Attorney Rivers Lawther and communications attorney Jim Baller, who called in from Washington, D.C.
Baller specializes in fiber to the home networks like Fibrant.
He went over the proposed legislation section by section and gave examples of other cities around the country that have experienced detrimental effects of similar laws, Kluttz said.
More than half the states have passed laws restricting municipal broadband networks.
“We went into this in good faith,” Kluttz said. “For state legislators to change those rules now would be very unfair to us.”
If the bill passed as written today, Salisbury could operate Fibrant and repay its debt, said Avila.
“I’m not out to ruin the town,” she said.
Compared to similar laws proposed in the past, Avila said she has worked out far more compromises and has spent hours meeting with officials from Salisbury and other cities with broadband.
This is the fourth year the cable lobby has backed a bill restricting municipal broadband.
“The kinds of compromises we are trying to work out for the city are moving it forward by a significant amount,” she said. “I’m trying to get people to come to the table in good faith to talk to me.”
If Finance Committee gives the bill a nod Thursday, it could move the following week to the House floor, where Avila said she has the votes. With two Democratic co-sponsors, N.C. Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, and N.C. Rep. William Wainwright, D-Craven/Lenoir, Avila said the legislation has broad support.
Kluttz said she hoped the Finance Committee will not recommend the bill.
“They should understand the significance of this to Salisbury and not support something that would hurt Salisbury,” she said.
If the Finance Committee recommends the bill, Kluttz said she’s pinning her hopes on the N.C. Senate, where a replica of House Bill 129 awaits.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 12:00 AM
By Emily Ford
The Broadband Battle Continues (The Insider)
RALEIGH — At some point, legislators — Republicans and Democrats — might want to wake up to the fact that an ongoing battle over high-speed Internet has nothing to do with party, political ideology, or being pro- or anti-business.
It has everything to do with the urban-rural divide in North Carolina.
Any legislator from a rural community who favors a bill that would restrict municipal-owned Internet systems is voting against his or her constituents and against the ability of his or her community to recruit and retain business.The bill has already been given the OK by one House committee, and will soon be taken up by a second. The fight over municipal-owned broadband isn’t new. It’s been going on since 2005, when cable companies sued to try to stop cities and towns from building their own Internet systems.
With no success in the courts, the companies, led by Time-Warner Cable, turned their attention to the General Assembly, hoping legislators will put up a few roadblocks to the municipal-owned systems.The cable providers are threatened by the fact that the town of Wilson has created an Internet system six times faster than local cable service. They worry that other towns and rural communities that have spotty Internet service, or whose Internet access is solely by satellite, will follow suit.
Last year, the House blocked efforts by Senate Democrats to impose a moratorium on municipal-owned Internet systems. A Senate-backed effort to require voter approval for the systems failed as well.
In many ways, the issues involved aren’t very different from when investor-owned electricity providers were unwilling to bring service to small town and rural North Carolina early in the 20th century. By the 1930s, the federal and state government were taking steps to encourage rural electrification and the formation of electric co-ops, including providing loans needed for the construction of the systems.
One of the first electric co-ops in the country was formed by Edgecombe County farmers. Perhaps North Carolina legislators ought to contemplate what the state might look like today if their predecessors had quashed the aspirations of those farmers, rather than giving them tax breaks.The legislation now making its way through the House doesn’t involve a moratorium or a referendum. Instead, it puts up a variety of roadblocks to the systems, including requirements that towns pay fees to county and state government in lieu of the taxes lost had a private Internet company been providing the service. Local taxes also couldn’t be used to subsidize operation of the systems; fees charged to users would have to pay for them.
Those requirements wouldn’t fall on communities considered “unserved” by private Internet providers, but private providers would have a say in that designation. If the legislation succeeds, rural residents won’t suffer only because of fewer personal Internet options. They’ll see fewer job opportunities because a critical aspect of business infrastructure is lacking.
Rural legislators who vote to do that to their constituents don’t deserve the office.
By Scott Mooneyham
March 14, 2010
Incense and Bath Salts (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A measure that outlaws synthetic stimulants and drugs gaining popularity among young people is on its way to Gov. Beverly Perdue’s desk. The Senate on Tuesday approved House changes to a bill to add mephedrone and what’s called MDPV to the list of banned stimulants in the state’s controlled substance laws. It also would outlaw packets of herbal incense – often called “Spice” or “K2” – that contain a synthetic compound similar to the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The two stimulants can be found in “bath salts.” Officials have said synthetic stimulants in “bath salts” can cause a variety of symptoms, including chest pains, hallucinations and delusions. Mephedrone produces effects that can be similar to cocaine and ecstasy. Proposed crimes can range from misdemeanors for possession to felonies for trafficking.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 3/15/11).
Cities Fear They May Get Stuck With Pothole Repair, Other Costs (WSOC)
CONCORD, N .C. — One town in the Charlotte area that’s already in a budget crunch is taking action to keep the state from transferring responsibility for patching potholes and paying for other road maintenance — an idea that would put additional pressure on the town to raise taxes.
Concord officials drafted a resolution telling their local legislators that they are opposed to any effort to make cities and counties pick up those costs, which have in the past been paid by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
“Whether it’s federal tax dollars, state tax dollars or local tax dollars, it’s still coming out of people’s pocket,” said Kirby Patterson, a Concord resident.
The idea has been shot down several years in a row by state lawmakers.
Concord leaders said they wanted to act before any legislation is introduced in the General Assembly this year. Such a plan could have far-reaching implications for every county in the state. Mecklenburg County, for example, has more than 1,000 miles of state-maintained roads. Concord has 58 miles of roads it could suddenly be required to maintain, including Poplar Tent Road.
“They have a lot more volume and a lot more trucks and so there’s a lot more wear and tear,” said Joseph Wilson, transportation director for Concord.
Wilson said the city would have to buy more equipment and create more full-time positions.
“It would cost a lot and it’s not something we’re really prepared to accept,” Wilson said.
Concord currently maintains 230 miles of roadway at an annual cost of $6 million. It’s partially funded by the gas tax. The rest comes from a general fund. Wilson doesn’t know how much more it would cost the city to take on additional lanes of traffic but says they would definitely need more money than they currently have.
Copyright 2011 by WSOCTV.com.
Posted: 10:46 pm EDT March 14, 2011
Updated: 5:55 am EDT March 15, 2011
Concealed Carry (THE INSIDER)
A bill making it legal for someone with a concealed carry permit to take firearms into parks and restaurants made it out of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, but not before being amended to allow waiters and waitresses to ask anyone who orders a drink if they have a gun. Current concealed carry law does not allow guns to be carried into establishments where alcohol is sold. HB 111 would add an exception to allow concealed carry into restaurants. It would maintain the prohibition against anyone carrying a concealed weapon while consuming alcohol. Restaurants can post notice that concealed weapons are not allowed on their property at all.
Rep. Deborah Ross, D-Wake, said restaurants that allow concealed firearms have an interest in making sure legally armed patrons don’t break the law by drinking alcohol. Ross amended the bill to allow restaurant servers to ask anyone ordering alcohol if they are carrying a firearm. Restaurants may decide to require servers to ask due to concerns about safety and civil liability, she said. “They’re already carding people,” Ross said. Rep. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus, a sponsor of the bill, said Ross’s amendment was unnecessary and asks servers to play at law enforcement.
Paul Stone, president of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, said his group does not support the amendment. “We are 100 percent opposed to any language asking any server to ask any customer whether they are armed,” he said. Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights advocacy group, said Ross is ideologically opposed to guns and is simply trying to derail the bill. “I think Rep. Ross is trying to add a poison pill to the bill, because she knows there is no way she can defeat it otherwise,” he said.
Ross’s amendment picked up enough Republican support to pass, but a another amendment put forward by Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham, did not. Hall unsuccessfully attempted to remove the section of the bill that would allow concealed weapons in state parks and would keep local governments from prohibiting concealed carry in local parks. The bill now heads to the full House for consideration.(, 3/10/11).
Mayor may fight on for others in broadband effort (Salisbury Post)
Mayor Susan Kluttz said she hasn’t decided if she will stop fighting a proposed law that would restrict the ability of cities to get into the broadband business.
House Bill 129, or “Level Playing Field/Local Government Competition,” is being rewritten to exempt Salisbury and a handful of other North Carolina cities that already run municipal broadband networks.
“Other legislators have asked if I will be quiet if we are exempt,” Kluttz said. “I have not made any promises.”
Salisbury launched Fibrant last year after borrowing $30 million. The city did not need voter approval, an option the proposed law would ban for other cities.Kluttz said she received a draft of the rewritten bill late Monday night and sent the new language to Salisbury’s communications attorney in Washington, D.C., who was retained to advise the city on issues involving Fibrant.“This is so critical to our city that we will have to be assured by our attorney that we will not be harmed, or we will not accept it,” she said.
Kluttz was re-elected this month as vice chairwoman for the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, which named as a top priority preserving government’s ability to offer broadband services.Sponsors of House Bill 129 have pledged to protect cities already in the business, including Salisbury and Wilson with fiber-to-the-home networks and Mooresville, Davidson, Morganton and Fayetteville with other types of broadband.
“It is our intent to carve out these cities and hold them harmless,” co-sponsor N.C. Rep. Julia Howard (R-Davie) said before the bill passed the Public Utilities Committee last week.Howard serves as chairwoman of the Finance Committee, the bill’s next stop on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Salisbury officials have met with legislators repeatedly to defend Fibrant, which competes with Time Warner Cable and other companies to provide Internet, phone and cable TV service. A stakeholders meeting March 4 lasted most of the day.“We came out extremely relieved that the area we serve will be protected,” Kluttz said. “As far as Salisbury and our surrounding area, we’re safe.”
Salisbury will be able to expand Fibrant beyond the city limits, she said.
This marks the fourth time the cable industry has backed a bill introducing new rules and regulations for municipal broadband. Three previous attempts have failed.Cities that choose to compete against private business should be subject to the same rules, said Marcus Trathen, a lawyer for the N.C. Cable Telecommunications Association.The legislation has 46 sponsors, including Republicans and Democratic leaders, Trathen said.“There is broad, bipartisan support for this bill,” he said in an e-mail to the Post. “The bill is good, solid public policy, and I am certainly hopeful that it will pass this session.”
When cities compete against private businesses, the state needs to ensure the competition is fair and the city, which regulates private industry, doesn’t discriminate, Trathen said. North Carolina is out of step with 26 other states by not fixing this “gaping hole,” he said.Trathen acknowledged sponsors “are very interested in ensuring that the bill does not harm the investment that Salisbury has made.”
Changing the rules now, after Salisbury borrowed $30 million, wouldn’t be fair, Kluttz said.
Vance Holloman, deputy treasurer for the State and Local Government Finance Division of the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, warned that as originally written, the bill would compromise the ability of cities to repay their debt.“We recommend that the local units that have outstanding debt for cable TV systems be exempted from the entire bill,” Holloman wrote in an e-mail to a researcher for the General Assembly.Private and public sectors get into broadband for different reasons, Kluttz said.
“Their bottom line is money, and that’s fine, that’s their purpose,” she said. “Our purpose is public service. Our purpose is to give our citizens a service that we think they deserve.”
Salisbury built Fibrant after cable companies refused to partner with the city or upgrade technology to provide high-speed Internet to everyone in the city, she said.Salisbury needs broadband for education, economic development and public safety, she said.
If cities will compete with private companies, the state needs a standardized system of competition, said N.C. Rep. Marylin Avila (R-Wake), co-sponsor of the bill.
Residents should vote before a city incurs such a large financial responsibility, Avila said. In her study of municipal broadband systems, she said cities invariably must use general funds to support the network.
“When people give you their hard-earned tax dollars, I would prefer they had a say-so,” Avila said.
Financial problems with the MI-Connection Communications System, a broadband network owned by Mooresville and Davidson, are well-documented, Avila said.“And I have questions about how successful Wilson’s program is, and Salisbury is too young to tell,” she said.
Nationwide, the country has a history of municipal broadband systems that end up hurting taxpayers, Avila said. Cities are in debt for so long, they sometimes must limit other municipal services like public safety or water and sewer, she said.Christopher Mitchell disagrees.
The private sector has suffered far more bankruptcies and reorganizations than community networks, said Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
Of the 60 to 70 municipal broadband networks in the country, only five have had problems, he said.
“And most of those were hobbled by state laws like this one,” Mitchell said.
While some argue that cities can’t keep up with private industry, Salisbury and Wilson have the most technologically advanced networks in the state, he said.“Private sector companies are doing a poor job with technology,” he said.
N.C. Rep. Harry Warren (R-Rowan) said he hasn’t made up his mind yet about House Bill 129, which he voted against in the Public Utilities Committee. While he’s pleased that Salisbury will be exempted, part of the bill still bothers him, Warren said.
If cities and private companies are to compete fairly, the law should not limit the city’s jurisdictional boundaries, he said.
Rural areas of the state need access to high-speed broadband, but if it’s left up to the cable companies, Warren said, “broadband won’t reach all areas until it’s profitable for the private sector to take it there.”
Warren compared the need for broadband now to the need for electricity in the 1920s and ’30s, when local governments formed electric co-ops because private companies wouldn’t wire rural America.
Friday, March 11, 2011 12:00 AM
By Emily Ford
[email protected]
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.
Contact your
legislators
Rowan County
Rep. Fred Steen
919-733-5881
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC House of Representatives, 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 305 Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Rep. Harry Warren
919-733-5784
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC House of Representatives, 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 533 Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Sen. Andrew Brock
919-715-0690
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC Senate, 300 N. Salisbury St, Room 623 Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Cabarrus County
Rep. Jeff Barnhart
919-715-2009
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC House of Representatives, 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 304 Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Sen. Fletcher Hartsell
919-733-7223
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC Senate, 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 300-C Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Rep. Linda Johnson
919-733-5861
[email protected]
Mailing address: NC House of Representatives, 300 N. Salisbury St., Room 301-D Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Shenanigans or not on H2 (News and Record)
So… yesterday the state House Republicans could not muster the votes to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of H2, the bill that seeks to exempt North Carolinians from the federal health care law. The vote was 68-51, four short of the three-fifths majority the House needs for a veto override.(Details in today’s e-edition.)
Done deal, right.
Nope.
Along about 11:30 a.m. this morning, House Republicans announce they’re going to take a recess until 1:45 p.m.. Democrats say “Hey, we’ve only got a couple bills on the calendar. Why don’t we knock them out and go home for the weekend.”
“Sorry,” came the reply from Republicans, “We have a long-held joint caucus meeting. It’s unavoidable, really.”
Well, House Minority Leader Joe Hackney asked the House Speaker Thom Tillis if there was anything other than those two bills due to come up during the afternoon. Hackney was assured there was nothing else coming.
Oh, wait a minute.
Sometime after that conversation, Tillis informed Hackney that House Republicans wanted to reconsider the health care bill veto.
Hackney protested, saying he had already released members to go home and take care of business. In fact, he had released enough Democrats that Republicans could have shoved through a veto override today if they wanted.(A quick note on reconsideration: This is legit parliamentary tool. It is most often used to pull back and tweak a bill that was sent along with a drafting error. On more rare occasions, it has been used to revive bills that lost votes while some supporters were out of the chamber. It has never been used by a North Carolina legislative body on a veto.)
Tillis and the Republicans apparently gave Hackney’s protest some thought, and struck a bargain with the Democrats. So shortly after 1:45 p.m., the House voted 112-0 to suspend a particular rule.
Ordinarily, lawmakers must vote to reconsider a bill (read: bring it back from defeat) the day after that defeat happens. The vote Thursday allows that reconsideration vote, with regards to H2, to happen at any point during this legislative session.
Tillis told reporters that reconsideration vote would come next week.
As a matter of procedure, House Majority Leader Skip Stam will ask to change his vote on H2. He’ll then be on “the prevailing side” and would then have the power to move for reconsideration. (Hackney said that vote switch was “a matter of some debate,” but it looks to me like the rules would allow it.) That reconsideration only takes half the voting members plus 1. Then Republicans can stash H2 in a committee and keep it fresh for the rest of the session, just in case the governor hacks off some of her Democratic allies or there’s another day when everybody doesn’t show up.
Keep in mind, Republicans could have done all that (or actually executed the veto override all the way) Thursday.
I asked Hackney if he though Republicans were being honest in their dealings with the Democrats.
“Well, I don’t want to get into things like that,” Hackney said. “At the end of the day, they didn’t do it.”
Tillis said Republicans showed good faith by not ramming through the veto override and that it would be his office policies to keep all vetoed bills alive until the end of session.
“I just think it adds a level of leverage back on our side that strengthens this branch, and I think that’s appropriate,” Tillis said.Tillis also gave a nod to Hackney, who was Speaker for the two sessions before this one, saying that Hackney had extended similar courtesies to Republicans during his four year tenure. There was not always such fair play under previous Speakers, Tillis said, pointing particular to the lottery bill. Many of his members urged him to go ahead push the veto override.
“If we used the politics of the past, before Speaker Hackney, House Bill 2 would be overridden today, and it’s not,” Tillis said.
