Revived North Carolina bars bill would reopen gyms at the same time
Sen. Rick Gunn, the Republican who has led reopening bills this legislative session, said Monday that he is updating his bill that would reopen gyms to include the vetoed bars reopening bill.
Gunn said the gyms bill will now include provisions that would also reopen bars, allow restaurants to seat 50% of customers outside as well as 50% inside, and add a failsafe for Gov. Roy Cooper to re-close businesses if a spike in coronavirus cases occurs.
However, the failsafe for the governor would require concurrence from the rest of the Council of State. Cooper, a Democrat, has been criticized by Republican Council of State members about his reopening plans, including Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who is running against him for governor this fall.
“I’m simply tired of wasting time and watching these businesses flounder,” Gunn told reporters at a news conference Monday afternoon. The bill revisions are expected to go through a Senate committee later on Monday and then to a floor vote on Tuesday.
“To me, instead of trying to be reactive… I decided that, you know, somebody’s got to start being proactive,” Gunn said. “I’m doing this for small business because it’s been my lifelong passion.”
Vetoed bar bill
On Friday, Cooper vetoed the bill that would have allowed bars to reopen and restaurants to double capacity.
To override the bar bill veto, the Republican-controlled legislature would need a three-fifths vote of the House and Senate and would require some support from Democrats. However, with Gunn’s new gyms and bars combination bill, that may not be likely.
“State and local government leaders must be able to act quickly during the COVID-19 emergency to prevent a surge in cases that could overwhelm hospitals and harm the public,” Cooper said in a statement when he vetoed the bill Friday. “House Bill 536 would limit the ability of leaders to respond quickly to COVID-19 and hamper the health and safety of every North Carolinian.”
House Bill 536 would have allowed bars to reopen, as restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries were allowed to do under Cooper’s Phase Two plan. A group of almost 200 bar owners have filed a lawsuit against the governor to reopen bars, The News & Observer previously reported.
Phase Two is scheduled to last until at least June 26.
Gyms in Phase 2.5?
Cooper said last week that officials look at data daily and want to look at trends over a period of time before they are “comfortable to turn that dimmer switch up just a little.” He said the bar bill legislation prevented being able to turn the switch back down.
The governor also said last week that there is “a possibility even before we get to Phase Three that we may want to get to a Phase 2.5.”
NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen previously said keeping gyms closed isn’t “a sweat thing, it’s an exertion and breathing issue.”
Donald Bryson, president and CEO of Civitas Institute, a conservative policy organization, thinks gyms should be able to reopen.
“I understand what he was saying about people breathing harder [that could increase COVID-19 transmission risk], but why not come up with new rules?” Bryson said in a phone interview with the N&O on Friday. If people need to wait six feet apart for regular breathing, he said, “why can’t we figure out how to distance for hard breathing?”
“I think that the governor has been wildly inconsistent on reopening, all under the guise of science,” Bryson said.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 1:56 PM.
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