How Long Will They Wait? Next in NC Politics
Finally a little good news out of NC politics- a court has struck down most of the hastily passed “emergency” legislation from late last year. I was there in the House and Senate when much of this went on in December (except for the times they locked us out).
The word ‘coup’ gets tossed around a lot lately, but I think it’s fair here. The Republican leaders called an emergency session to vote on relief for Hurricane Matthew victims- 2 MONTHS after the hurricane, it was an “emergency”.
Once the Hurricane Matthew Relief bill passed, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, called yet another special session, in which 28 more bills, varying in audacity, were crammed through in the 11th hour. These were bills that no one outside of the architects’ core supporters had been briefed on or even allowed to read before coming to a floor vote. Against NC law, the subject of the sessions and agendas were not published in advance. Normally, operating procedure is to bury most bills, especially those proposed by Democrats, in committee. This is not altogether a bad thing, but most bills are never allowed to a floor vote at all, even after review and vetting.
In December Pat McCrory didn’t concede defeat in the very close governors race for almost a month, until Dec. 5th. Almost everyone agrees HB2 cost him re-election. A week later, in one of his last acts as governor, McCrory called the Special Emergency Session. The mood within the NCGA was one of fear and anger. No one had any idea what was about to happen and demonstratively, there had been no constituent input. Several times the crowd in the gallery burst out in shock. Not only was the primary design of the session to severely limit Gov. Cooper’s powers from what McCrory enjoyed, but there was also a massive stunt by Phil Berger to use a little-known, procedural mechanism to split the bill on HB2 repeal to force Democrats to vote against it.
I say “stunt” because it was. There was no legitimate effort to fix something- it was intended solely to make Democrats look bad. “This was not the deal!” Sen Jeff Jackson shouted, referring to the behind-closed-doors negotiation that took place the night before wherein Berger’s crowd promised to repeal if Charlotte repealed its non-discrimination ordinance, which they did that morning. Forcing the split bill allowed Berger to claim the narrative “see, we tried to repeal and Democrats voted no, because they don’t really want to repeal HB2” That was the gist of his statement (clearly prepared in advance) that was posted minutes after session. This of course ignores the dozens of repeal bills filed by Democrats that Berger won’t let come to a floor vote.
I am confident that even if the GOP files appeals, the outcome will be upheld by the higher courts. The problem is what they’ll do to retaliate. I suspect we’re going to see cabinet appointees blocked- the one measure they instituted which was upheld by the courts. Even knowing the court will overturn many non-confirmations, the delay and damage done during obstruction is still a “win”. I suspect we’ll see more veto overrides, regardless of subject, as a demonstration of Republican power and unity in the NCGA. We can expect most democratic bills to remain in committee, and fewer bi-partisan bills being submitted- in the short run.
If Democrats win a majority in the next election it will be up to them “to be the better person” and include their Republican counterparts. But I fear several years of constraint may unleash a flurry of progressive agenda laws. While I might even personally be happy about some of them, it also means much could end up in the courts, and NC would remain divided, making the next vote swing back the other way.
Much of this depends on redistricting, however, and we’re hearing it could be 2020 before the districts are redrawn. That would allow THREE election cycles to continue AFTER the districts were ruled unconstitutional. It is outrageous to expect people to operate under next-to-impossible, unfair laws and somehow make a difference. When people are fed up with misrepresentation, they are told “vote them out” in two, four, or six years. No one should have to wait that long for redress, but what happens when they do wait and vote, and because of gerrymandering, get the same outcome and are then told to vote them out in 2,4,6 years AGAIN?
Do we expect people will continue to vote or participate in the system? Or is it not more likely they’ll become apathetic, or even work outside the system? Either scenario will make it easier for the GOP to rationalize greater “security measures” — criminalizing demonstrations as we’ve seen in several states, and limiting the freedoms of the First Amendment, while further consolidating their power. Will redistricting be fair then?
How long will the people wait? I fear any of the possible answers to that question, but I would propose that the three to five representatives who manage to actually do something worthwhile, lasting and non-partisan, have the potential to break this cycle and restore faith in our institutions. I see that “something” being a tech-business-Ag-retail project that would allow representatives to work across party lines without alienating many of their die-hard constituents. I have an idea what that project could be, which is why I’ll be polishing my first NOVATUM Think Tank proposal this week and sending it out to Sen. Chauduri and Rep. Hall. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
