Republican NC lawmakers move to strip power from newly elected Democrats, including governor

Republican state lawmakers could soon strip power from Gov.-elect Josh Stein and other newly elected Democratic state officials, including by shifting oversight of elections from the governor’s appointees to the new Republican state auditor.

The wide-ranging overhaul of executive branch power appears to be tied to the latest bill addressing recovery needs from Helene, the storm that devastated western North Carolina in September. The bill is expected to be released Tuesday hours ahead of a possible House vote later in the day, leaving little time for public input on the 130-page bill.

An initial version of the bill circulating Tuesday morning calls for the state auditor to appoint members of the State Board of Elections starting next year. That will be Republican Dave Boliek, who defeated incumbent State Auditor Jessica Holmes after the Democrats’ Council of State fundraising didn’t provide any of its $29 million fundraising to Holmes’ campaign. Boliek would appoint three Republicans and two Democrats to the board starting in May.

Currently, the State Board of Elections is appointed by the governor, who picks three members of their party and two members of the minority party. A previous attempt by the legislature to shift the partisan makeup of the board remains on hold pending a lawsuit.

Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, criticized the measure on Twitter/X, saying the bill contains little for the communities impacted by Helene. It would shift $227 million from the state’s rainy day fund to a fund for Helene recovery, but the bill won’t spend that money until a future legislative session.

The change to elections oversight isn’t the only dig at Stein and other Democrats who won statewide races this month. The draft new version of Senate Bill 382 would also:

• Require the governor to fill judicial vacancies from a list of recommendations provided by the political party of the departing judge, including N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. That would prevent Stein from picking a Democrat to replace a Republican judge who resigns or dies in office.
• Create new restrictions on the attorney general’s power to participate in lawsuits, namely those where action by the legislature is being challenged in court; Democrat Jeff Jackson won that office to succeed Stein, who at times declined to defend actions by the legislature he considered to be unconstitutional.
• Strip the lieutenant governor of the power to chair committees on energy issues. It would eliminate the state’s Energy Policy Council, which has been chaired by the lieutenant governor. And it would prevent the position from chairing a legislative committee on “energy crisis management,” a committee that only forms during the declaration of an energy crisis. Democrat Rachel Hunt will take over an already weak position of lieutenant governor after the GOP held that office for three terms.
• Make the State Highway Patrol an independent agency separate from the Department of Public Safety, which is part of the governor’s administration. The governor would still appoint the agency’s leader for a five-year term, subject to confirmation by the legislature.
• Prevent the governor from appointing a majority on the N.C. Utilities Commission by giving one of the governor’s current appointments to the state treasurer. The commission regulates public utilities like Duke Energy, and water and sewer systems.
• As Democrat Mo Green takes over from Republican Catherine Truitt as superintendent of public instruction, the office would lose the power to appeal decisions made by the board overseeing charter schools, and oversight of the Center for Safer Schools would be transferred to the State Bureau of Investigation.

In addition to the power shifts, the bill also makes some other budgetary and policy changes, including:

• An extra $50 million in funding for the Rebuild NC program, which says it’s running out of money to finish housing repairs and rebuilding from damage in hurricanes Matthew and Florence more than six years ago.
• An additional $33.8 million to extend grants to childcare centers to make up for the loss of federal funds — money that the centers say they need to avoid closures.

The legislature is opening a brief lame-duck session Tuesday in which it's also expected to override several vetoes. Those include a massive increase in funding for private school vouchers and a requirement for sheriffs to cooperate with ICE immigration detainers. The Senate will hold its voting session on Wednesday.

House Republicans are also meeting Tuesday to elect their leadership for the coming year, including a new speaker to replace Tim Moore, who was elected to Congress. They'd scheduled a press conference at noon Tuesday to announce those leadership picks, but delayed it and ultimately canceled it as the closed-door caucus meeting dragged on longer than expected.

The cancelation of the press conference eliminated an opportunity for reporters to ask questions about the power shift proposals before the House session commenced. A spokeswoman for Moore said that bill could still be tweaked before it goes to a floor vote.