Friends,
Sorry to have been absent on the regular relief effort updates. We have been in session this week and I have been consumed with preparing for the latest relief bill. Unfortunately, I have little good to report. The bill we passed, S382, does very little for WNC but does huge damage to some basic pillars of our democracy.
Here is just a short summary of the highlights, but I will warn you that this description will seem blatantly partisan. And that’s because these changes are blatantly partisan and there is simply no other way to talk about them. They are efforts to retain and expand power at every turn, even at the expense of traditional democratic principles and long-standing traditions.
In terms of Helene relief, the bill moves $277 million from the rainy day fund to the Helene Fund for future appropriation. That means that we have made more money available but, with a small $2 million exception, it will not flow out of state coffers until we pass another bill to actually appropriate it. There also is an additional $25 million appropriated from another fund specifically for debris removal. None of this, as you know, responds to the immediate needs on the ground in WNC. Likely because of this, three Republican House members from WNC voted against the bill.
The bill changes our election laws in a way that prioritizes speed over accuracy in vote counting and ensures that Republicans will likely always have a majority on the state and local election boards.
The bill requires absentee and provisional ballots to be counted by the Friday after the election rather than before the canvass, ten days after the election. You may know that counting these ballots in the days after the election changed the outcome of two elections, sending both to Democrats. And some counties had not finished counting these ballots even by the canvass in this past election, not because they aren’t working but because it’s a slow process. Yet this bill demands that staff and volunteers finish counting in fewer days than they have now — a demand that election officials say simply cannot be met. This continues the pattern of going after anything that seems to favor Democrats, regardless of the cost.
The bill also takes from the Governor the power to appoint the state board of elections and the chair of the local boards and gives it to the state Auditor. As this position is generally held by a Republican, this ensures all the boards will be majority Republican, changing the current process whereby a majority of each board reflects the party of the governor. Again, going after a long-standing practice that favors Democrats because that’s who voters elect.
The bill also reduces the scope of the Lt. Governor’s job, likely because a Democrat was elected, and takes away other authority that the Governor has on several fronts, also likely because of Governer-elect Stein. But some of the biggest changes are in the limitations placed on the Attorney General. Our AG-elect, Jeff Jackson, will not be able to intervene in cases in front of the Utilities Commission, as Josh Stein has done so often to the benefit of consumers. He will not be able to join lawsuits in other states that would undermine North Carolina law. And if the General Assembly is a party to the lawsuit, as they are in every gerrymandering case, the AG cannot argue a position different from that of the General Assembly, and the General Assembly’s attorney has the final say on strategy and settlement. In essence, the bill makes the AG subservient to the NCGA, though the AG is elected independently and represents the people of the state and not just the General Assembly. These provisions appear to be blatantly unconstitutional and will certainly be challenged.
The bill gives the Chief Justice more appointment authority, advancing partisanship and control in the judiciary, and it eliminates the positions of some judges who have ruled against the General Assembly in the past.
On a good note, the bill does allocate another $33.7 million to support our child care centers, giving them a life boat for one more quarter.
Taken together, S382 takes North Carolina further down the road to authoritarianism with the power centered in the General Assembly. These changes are so egregious that they made the New York Times — the article also includes a quote from my floor speech, decrying that I had to vote against relief for WNC. This should concern everyone, regardless of party. Governor Cooper will veto this bill, but we will be back the week after Thanksgiving for an override vote, again, playing out the highly orchestrated dance that comes with a supermajority.
On a lighter note, of course, we all know that we have water in Buncombe County!! Many thanks to the good people of the City’s water resources department and everyone who helped get us to this moment. I will pick back up again with the recovery updates today and in the coming days, and I wish you all the best as we move into the holiday season.
Here are recovery resources as of November 20:
Here are links to the Small Business Recovery Guide:
Here are links to the FEMA Recovery Guide:
