CHAPEL HILL, NC – The North Carolina General Assembly kicked off a new legislative session in Raleigh earlier this month. While legislators say the session will mostly be focused on writing the state budget, the Governor’s veto looms large for Democrats, and has already generated controversy.
Representative Allen Buansi, who represents Chapel Hill and Carrboro, says that it’s important to hold the Governor’s veto, especially on some controversial issues.
“We need to make sure we do everything we can to protect the governor’s veto,” said Buansi. “We expect that there would be legislation proposed further restricting abortion access, legislation proposed that targets LGBTQ community.”
The House adopted a temporary rule that would allow the Speaker of the House to call a veto override vote at any time. Representative Jon Hardister, the Republican Whip, says that this rule is meant to streamline veto overrides and won’t change the current.
“Pretty often there would be two, three or four bills on the calendar for veto override every single calendar that came out, which meant that the speaker had to tell the clerk of the House, put that on the calendar,” said Hardister. “It was just on there day after day, which meant the speaker can bring up a veto override at any moment.”
While Hardister says that the Speaker of the House will honor any promise made to Democrats to not hold veto votes, Buansi says the rule undermines the state’s democracy.
“I think it really undermines public trust; public transparency,” said Buansi. “That someone on the floor has to be cognizant to not even go to the restroom while we’re in session is really not a fair thing to voters, regardless of your party.”
The General Assembly will meet again Wednesday to continue their discussions on issues like the budget, abortion, and Medicaid expansion.