Judges Weigh Whether To Temporarily Stop Confirmation Law
A North Carolina court has listened to arguments about whether it should halt temporarily a new law that subjects Gov. Roy Cooper's Cabinet members to state Senate confirmation.
Three Superior Court judges didn't immediately rule late Tuesday after hearing from attorneys for the Democratic governor and the Republican legislative leaders about the confirmation law.
Cooper already sued over the law last month but asked the judicial panel to step in now because a Senate committee scheduled time Wednesday to ask questions of Cooper's choice to run the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Bill To Ease Class-Size Limits Passes Committee
Backers of legislation to scale back maximum class-size restrictions set to take effect this fall say the proposal would give school districts more flexibility and avoid the possible elimination of special programs like art and physical education.
A House education committee voted Tuesday for legislation that would ease the planned maximum-student requirement in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.
Bill To Reduce UNC Governing Board OK'd By Panel
Membership on the University of North Carolina system's governing board would be reduced by 25 percent in legislation receiving bipartisan support from a House committee.
The panel voted Tuesday to decrease the UNC Board of Governors from the current 32 positions to 28 this summer, then to 24 in mid-2019. The House and Senate each elect eight members every two years, but going forward would choose six. The legislation now heads to the House floor.
Cooper Says There's More Urgency To Repeal House Bill 2
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper says more than ever "there's an urgency" to eliminate House Bill 2 because the NCAA will soon begin making decisions on where to hold college sports championships for the next five years, and North Carolina could miss out because of the law.
Cooper told reporters Tuesday that Republican lawmakers must let colleagues in the next few weeks vote to repeal the law limiting LGBT rights or there will be more economic damage.
The NCAA pulled several championships from North Carolina this academic year due to HB2.
Wade Defends Greensboro Redistricting Plan
State Senator Trudy Wade defended herself against criticism of the Greensboro redistricting plan introduced two years ago.
Wade was responding to testimony given in a bench trial in U.S. District Court, where a lawsuit against the state-imposed electoral system is being heard.
Earlier this week, government witnesses told Judge Catherine Eagles that Wade was responsible for a plan they say racially gerrymandered Greensboro districts and brought sweeping changes to the city council makeup and how members are elected.
Wade told the News and Record of Greensboro that the plan was in fact offered by the state House, and is better than what is currently in place.
Wade also disputed accusations the local officials had been blindsided by the proposal, saying that she broached the topic in December of 2014.
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, we incorrectly reported that Senator Wade had testified in the federal trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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