Current:Home > StocksNorth Carolina Republicans finalize legislation curbing appointment powers held by governor-InfoLens
North Carolina Republicans finalize legislation curbing appointment powers held by governor
View Date:2024-12-23 15:30:20
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican legislative leaders finalized on Wednesday their efforts to curb the appointment powers of the governor on several boards and commissions, extending a years-long struggle with Democrat Roy Cooper over who controls key panels within state government.
Compromise legislation worked out by House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and others would take away from the governor the ability to pick many spots on panels that among others set electricity rates and environmental regulations and approve road-building projects.
The General Assembly, its leaders or other statewide elected officials would get to make many of those choices instead under the bill.
The GOP-dominated House and Senate approved separately their consensus measure on party-line votes, sending it to Cooper, who likely will veto it. Cooper and his allies have called versions of the bill earlier this year unconstitutional power grabs.
Republicans hold narrow veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
“I know that this is a bill that we’re all not going to agree on,” GOP Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County, one of the bill’s negotiators. He called the appointment shift “a better way to do it because of the diversity in this body and across the state.”
There are eight panels in the bill that are being changed in which currently Cooper’s picks or those of future governors compose all or a majority of the panel’s seats.
Only one of those eight — the Utilities Commission — would leave a majority of seats with the governor. But instead of picking all seven seats, the governor would over time get to choose just three seats for a reconstituted five-member commission.
And the legislature or its chamber leaders would have a majority of positions on the Board of Transportation and the Economic Investment Committee, which award monetary incentives to companies that agree to invest and create jobs in the state.
Republican legislative leaders argue a rebalance of power is necessary to ensure differing viewpoints beyond those preferred by the governor. Democrats cite state court rulings going back 40 years addressing the separation of powers as evidence that the bill would be unconstitutional.
“Consolidating power in this body is a bad, bad, bad idea,” said House Minority Leader Robert Reives of Chatham County said during debate. “We’ve got to support what government is supposed to be about. And I struggle to believe that continuing to consolidate power in this body is best for North Carolina.”
Hall argued the bill is lawful, but other Republican colleagues have previously acknowledged that more litigation may be ahead to hash out the issue.
The final measure omits a provision in the House’s version that would have increased the number of voting members the General Assembly elects to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors from 24 to 28.
But it does give the General Assembly two additional seats on the trustee boards of UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. The General Assembly would now appoint six of 15 trustee positions for each campus, with eight others still picked by the Board of Governors. The fifteenth trustee is the campus student government president.
veryGood! (2911)
Related
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight odds will shift the longer the heavyweight bout goes
- Joe Rogan has responded to the protests against Spotify over his podcast
- Cheryl Burke Reveals Her Thoughts on Dating Again After Matthew Lawrence Split
- TikToker Dylan Mulvaney Reveals What She's Looking for in a Romantic Partner
- The Daily Money: Inflation is still a thing
- 9 people trying to enter U.S. from Canada rescued from sub-freezing bog
- Boeing and Airbus urge a delay in 5G wireless service over safety concerns
- Police solve 1964 rape and murder of girl with help of DNA and a student
- Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
- Judge allows Federal Trade Commission's latest suit against Facebook to move forward
Ranking
- Lane Kiffin puts heat on CFP bracket after Ole Miss pounds Georgia. So, who's left out?
- A look at King Charles III's car collection, valued at $15 million
- U.S. government personnel evacuated from Sudan amid violence, embassy shuttered
- Starting in 2024, U.S. students will take the SAT entirely online
- Golden Bachelorette: Joan Vassos Gets Engaged During Season Finale
- Bachelor Nation's Hannah Godwin Teases Secret Location for Wedding to Dylan Barbour
- FAA toughens oversight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says judicial system overhaul is an internal matter
Recommendation
-
2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
-
Sephora 24-Hour Flash Sale: Take 50% Off Korres, Nudestix, Belif, and More
-
Elizabeth Holmes spent 7 days defending herself against fraud. Will the jury buy it?
-
Mindy Kaling's Head-Scratching Oscars Outfit Change Will Make You Do a Double Take
-
Gun groups sue to overturn Maine’s new three-day waiting period to buy firearms
-
Twitter photo-removal policy aimed at improving privacy sparks concerns over misuse
-
Kelly Clarkson Shares Her Kids’ Heartbreaking Reaction to Brandon Blackstock Divorce
-
The Biggest Bombshells From Paris Hilton's New Memoir