Politics

House overrides veto of GOP power shift dressed as Helene relief

The state Legislature override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a hurricane relief bill that shifts power to the GOP. [CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS PHOTO]

By Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press, Published: December 12, 2024

The fate of major changes to election appointment power and deadlines, packaged in a Helene relief bill, fell to three Republican lawmakers representing Helene-impacted areas Wednesday as the state House voted on a veto override. 

Senate Bill 382, North Carolina’s third Hurricane Helene relief bill, shifts $227 million from the state’s rainy day fund to the Helene fund. While the bill dedicated this money to future recovery needs, it does not appropriate it for immediate spending. 

The meat of the bill instead deals with power shifts. It bans the incoming Democratic attorney general from taking a position on state laws being challenged in court that differs from the General Assembly’s position. It bans the incoming Democratic superintendent of public instruction from appealing the North Carolina Charter School Review Board’s decisions. 

And it transfers election board appointment power from an incoming Democratic governor to Republican auditor-elect David Boliek. It also shortens deadlines for curing and counting provisional and later-arriving absentee ballots from nine to three days in an attempt to produce quicker election results. 

After initial passage in both chambers, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, calling the legislation a “sham.” In early December, the state Senate overrode his veto along party lines. 

Wednesday, it was the state House’s turn. It eventually overrode the veto, but not after hours of delay complicated by three Republicans representing Helene-impacted areas. 

Republican Reps. Mike Clampitt, Karl Gillespie and Mark Pless originally voted against the bill in November, when their votes were not needed for majority approval. Clampitt represents Jackson, Swain and Transylvania counties, Gillespie represents Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon counties and Pless represents Haywood and Madison counties. 

But the bar was higher for the veto override. Under the state Constitution, three-fifths of each chamber must approve a bill that has been vetoed by the governor for it to become law. Each of their votes was necessary to override the veto.  

While Republican legislative leaders projected confidence, the fate of the relief bill was uncertain until those three representatives cast their votes. 

In the state House, 72 of 120 votes are needed to override a veto. The first time the state House voted on the measure, several members of each party were absent. The final vote was 63 to 46, which would not have passed the three-fifths vote threshold. If everyone were present and voted along party lines, the initial vote would have been exactly 72 to 47, just enough to override a veto. 

That was the case Wednesday, when 72 legislators voted for the override. 

Debate was limited on the bill. Republican Rep. Destin Hall said the legislature was pushed to make election changes due to “abuse of the process by the Board of Elections.”

“In a perfect world, I wish we could have equal numbers of folks to each party on each side of the Board, the way the Federal Elections Commission does it, the way many states across our country do that,” he said. “And we got that passed, and unfortunately, it’s tied up in the courts. And so this body decided to go a different direction.” 

Hall is referring to Cooper v. Berger, a lawsuit filed by Gov. Cooper after the legislature passed Senate Bill 749. That bill also would have removed the governor’s power to appoint members of elections boards, but gave it to the secretary of state instead of the auditor. It would have expanded the State Board to eight members instead of five, with equal party representation. County boards of election would shrink to four members, also with equal party representation. 

Those provisions of SB749 are currently blocked by a North Carolina trial court, while the case continues in the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Democrat Rep. Eric Ager said the bill didn’t “meet the moment” in the aftermath of Helene. 

House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said the legislature should have helped “people get their lives back” Wednesday, but instead focused on politics. 

“So I am sorry to the people of Western North Carolina that we did not take the opportunity that we had today to do the right thing by you,” he said. “To decide that it’s not worth the politics.” 

In recent weeks, Clampitt, Gillespie and Pless mostly stayed quiet on their plans and reasoning. 

Pless said he didn’t like that the relief omnibus was packaged in a conference report, which cannot be amended. 

“It was either take it or leave it,” he told Carolina Public Press Tuesday night. “And that’s kind of why I voted against it, because I disagree with it. Also, they gave us 131 pages to figure out what it was that morning.” 

He also was disappointed the bill did not appropriate relief funds, but rather shifted funds from the state’s rainy day fund to the Helene fund to be appropriated later. 

“We’ve got some folks now that are starting to get some FEMA settlements on bridges and roads, and there’s folks that are getting money to build their houses back, but it’s not enough,” Pless said.

“And I think we could have done a lot better and started funding some of these categories that FEMA has established as worthy so that people could move forward and move faster.”

Tuesday night, Pless said he hadn’t decided how he would vote regarding the override. He said he would listen to debate, but hadn’t seen anything that made him want to support the bill at the time. For the most part, constituents from both parties have asked him not to support the override, he said.

The proposed changes to election board appointments and shortened election deadlines did not factor into his decision, he said.

“I’ve gone back and researched it, and I don’t see anything in the Constitution that says we can’t do this,” he said. “…But I wasn’t too concerned about that to begin with, my focus has been on disaster relief more than anything.”

Gillespie and Clampitt did not respond to requests for comment, and did not share their thoughts publicly before the vote.

In the end, all three voted to override Cooper’s veto. None commented during floor debate.

After the vote, the gallery crowd once again jeered at the lawmakers, yelling, “Shame! Shame! Shame!”

The legislature’s security guards ushered them out, with some resistance.

The ACLU of North Carolina is looking at a potential lawsuit to challenge the new law but has not made any decisions yet, Policy Director Liz Barber said.

Other groups expressed their disappointment after the vote.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called the move a “blatant power grab” by Republican lawmakers to consolidate their party’s power before losing their supermajority next year.

Democratic Governor-elect Josh Stein weighed in on the power being taken from him.

“It is despicable for the Republicans in the General Assembly to use folks’ incredible need for aid to cloak their political pettiness,” he said in a statement. “The legislature needs to step up and do its job. If they do, they will find a good faith partner in me. I’m ready to get to work.”

The North Carolina Association of Educators said the legislation didn’t reflect the needs or desires of North Carolinians.

“It does absolutely nothing to help our schools, educators, children, or the people of Western North Carolina who are still grappling with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” the NCAE statement said. “Worse, it undermines the will of North Carolinians, who made their voices heard this past fall by electing new leadership.”

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