While On Trip To Greensboro, McCrory Signs Bill That City Opposed

Gov. Pat McCrory visited Greensboro Wednesday and while in Guilford County signed into law a bill that the city voted to oppose.

Among the things that House Bill 318 does is limit the use on non-government-issued IDs.

Earlier this year, the City of Greensboro agreed to accept IDs issued by the non-profit FaithAction International House. That effort ended as the bill - also known as the Protect North Carolina Workers Act - moved through the legislature.

This month, the City Council voted to oppose the measure. The move was largely symbolic and didn't have an impact on the bill.

McCrory says community IDs are unreliable and vulerable to fraud or forgery.

Critics - including advocates who gathered to protest the passage of the bill Wednesday - say the new law unfairly targets poor people and immigrants.

David Fracaro, FaithAction's executive director, says the group's IDs helped people who had trouble getting state-issued ones, including the homeless, the elderly and recent immigrants. He says without them, some people won't be able to get their water turned on or get legal protections such as restraining orders.

“Whether we're coming from a place of faith or just moral outrage, we're about building a safer, better, healthier more inclusive community for all people," he says. "And this bill stands very much in opposition to that.”

Fracaro says the group will continue issuing the IDs. He says some businesses and non-profits will still accept them.