Legislature fails to override Cooper vetoes, as Reopen NC protests continue
In yet another attempt to scale back North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s coronavirus executive order that has kept some businesses shuttered, the General Assembly voted on two bills Wednesday to open gyms and skating rinks in the state.
Both votes, one in the state House and one in the state Senate, failed to override Cooper’s vetoes of the bills.
The House also voted on whether to override Cooper’s veto of two other bills. One would allow those with concealed carry permits to carry guns in private schools where people meet for worship. The other would have prevented the governor or local governments from prohibiting fireworks displays and parades to celebrate the Fourth of July. The House failed to override Cooper’s veto of either.
In addition to the failed vote Wednesday to override Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 599, which would have authorized the reopening of bowling alleys and skating rinks, senators failed to override a veto of a bill that would require the governor obtain agreement from the majority Republican Council of State to declare a state of emergency.
A successful override vote in either the House or Senate requires the support of three-fifths of lawmakers present and voting. There was majority support for all the overrides but not the supermajorities required to overturn Cooper’s decision.
Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue said in a news release Wednesday ahead of the vote that legislators needed to let Cooper’s vetoes stand.
“We are in a dangerous position with these Reopen NC bills. As state leaders, we cannot cave to the critics, and now is not the time to try to score political points,” Blue said in the release. “Life and death decisions are being made by the General Assembly today. Several other states reopened their economies too soon and are now dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases.”
Protesters visit legislature, demand impeachment
Earlier in the morning, about 25 protesters associated with the group ReopenNC, which has opposed Cooper’s orders, came to the legislature to call on lawmakers to impeach the Democratic governor.
Ashley Smith, the group’s leader, said the Republican-led legislature should remove Cooper from office before this year’s election.
“The only hope to save our state from a Democratic Socialist takeover is the General Assembly,” Smith said.
Later in the day, Smith approached N.C. Speaker of the House Tim Moore, a Cleveland County Republican who did not appear inclined to move forward on the group’s impeachment demand.
“We’re just a few months from an election,” Moore told Smith. “The benefit is in November, the voters will get to decide.”
Smith responded that she feared “we’re not going to see a constitutional election” in November, but Moore rejected that.
Republican President Donald Trump has frequently made false claims about widespread voter fraud — most recently focusing on mail-in ballots — but there is no proof for those claims. Moore told Smith that although he wishes the state’s voter ID law hadn’t been struck down in court, North Carolina still has strong laws protecting elections.
Smith continued pushing back, saying Cooper’s actions are unconstitutional. Moore said he does disagree with some of what Cooper has done and thinks the governor should be working with Republicans at the legislature to help businesses reopen sooner.
“Nobody’s saying, ‘Throw the doors open and be irresponsible,’” Moore said.
But, he added, he wouldn’t necessarily say that Cooper’s actions have been unconstitutional, even if he disagrees with them.
There have been numerous lawsuits against various parts of Cooper’s coronavirus-related executive orders. Cooper has won most of them so far, with judges generally upholding his actions.
And Moore does think some of Cooper’s coronavirus orders were helpful.
“I support some of the things he did, particularly on the front end” earlier this spring, Moore said.
Cooper is running against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who Smith supports. Several of the other protesters at the rally were wearing political shirts and hats supporting Forest and Trump.
Following a brief news conference outside they crowded into a hallway in the basement of the Legislative Building, near the parking lot that elected officials use, hoping to stop some on their way inside.
While waiting they spoke about various topics, in particular how they feel Black Lives Matter protesters have been treated better than they have.
Smith expressed a similar opinion during the news conference about her complaints with Cooper, talking about how she was arrested during a protest at the governor’s mansion in April.
“I was arrested for daring to step on a sidewalk, yet Cooper rolled out the red carpet for Marxist antifa groups,” she said, referring to Black Lives Matter protests.
However, despite Smith’s claim about politically motivated police responses, police have arrested Black Lives Matter protesters outside the governor’s mansion, too — the same location where she was arrested — including 11 arrests last week.
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 July 8, 2020 at 1:41 PM.
