Sharon McDonald: Rucho’s ruse

The May 21 news article “Energy bill vote is questioned” should greatly concern anyone who expects proceedings in the North Carolina General Assembly to be carried out according to established rules. To expect a complete lack of bias on the part of our elected representatives is, of course, unrealistic. But they should at least follow the rules!

The only logical reason for Senate finance chairman Sen. Bob Rucho not to count the votes on House Bill 332, which freezes the amount that utility companies must buy from renewable energy sources, is because he knew the bill would not pass.

However, Rucho wanted the bill to pass, so he ignored the request for an individual tally, which Senate rules stipulate he should have granted. He also ignored the loud “no” vote contingent, as well as complaints from senators, even Republican senators, about his handling of the vote.

Really, can anyone say that the North Carolina Senate acted as a democratic body in this case? And how many more such cases will there be, including some that we may never hear about?

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Sharon McDonald: Rucho’s ruse."