(The Center Square) – Fiscal recovery aid of $227 million for Hurricane Helene is in legislation passed by both chambers of the General Assembly and headed to the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper.
The money, however, was merely a headline grabber while authority of state leaders was changed in the details of more than 100 pages.
Labeling each as an installment, lawmakers on Oct. 9 approved $273 million and on Oct. 25 Cooper signed for another $604 million, plus $40 million for disaster relief toward Tropical Storm Debby, what was known as Potential Tropical Cyclone 8, and a tornado that touched down in Nash County.
Total Helene relief from state lawmakers is $1.1 billion ($1,104,000,000 to be exact); total disaster aid including other storms adds $40 million.
In the Senate, the vote was 30-19 with no Republicans against and no Democrats approving. In the House, the vote was 63-46 with no Democrats approving and Republican Reps. Mike Clampitt of Swain County, Karl Gillespie of Macon County and Mark Pless of Haywood County voting nay. All three are from mountain counties.
Critics are howling because Republican leadership shepherded into the bill changes in authority for the governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction.
“It’s no secret that our State Board of Elections has been plagued by political interference from the governor’s office,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. “For years Republicans have tried to bring true bipartisanship to the state board by giving Republicans and Democrats equal representation, but Democrats have fought us every step of the way. Now, we are moving forward with a solution that will place the State Board under the Office of the State Auditor, and rid election administration of the blatant partisan politics that have destroyed the state board’s credibility and impartiality.”
This year, the state board has been sued eight times since July 22.
Courts already blocked lawmakers’ attempts to have the General Assembly appoint State Board of Elections seats, and the bill now sends them to the state auditor. By law, the party of the governor gets three of the five seats.
Additionally, the attorney general is prevented from litigating positions against the General Assembly. That’s been a trouble spot for Republicans, who surged to majorities in both chambers in the 2010 midterms for the first time since Reconstruction 140 years earlier, yet have run up against Democrats in the governor’s office and attorney general’s office with one four-year gubernatorial exception.
Long court battles and suppression of the will of the people voting have been among the results.
For example, showing photo identification to vote was overwhelmingly approved by voters as an amendment in 2018 but not fully enacted until this year. Or, during the COVID-19 era, executive orders issued by the governor were opposed by a majority of lawmakers resulting in legislation bringing in more involvement by the Council of State as a whole.
Entitled Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes, Senate Bill 382 also would remove the state education superintendent’s authority to appeal decisions of the charter schools review board; the Center for Safer Schools changes go into the authority of the State Bureau of Investigation rather than the Department of Public Instruction; and the Office of Learning Research is established.
Private schools receiving vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarships program will be evaluated by the Office of Learning Research.
Democrats won the offices of governor, attorney general and education superintendent this month.
“Republicans are rigging the rules to benefit their own party, silencing voters, and undermining fair elections,” said Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake.
