Several environmental activists were in front of the Mecklenburg County Government Center Thursday to speak out on Senate Bill 10. The legislation would fire all current members of many regulatory boards – including the Utilities Commission – and give the governor and lawmakers the power to appoint new members. Gerrick Brenner of Progress North Carolina calls the bill a power grab.
The Government Reorganization and Efficiency Act - which has passed the North Carolina senate and will now be considered by the House – has gotten a lot of attention because it would allow Republican leaders to remake a number of powerful commissions and regulatory bodies. But the Act would also eliminate 12 Special Superior Court Judge positions – which got us wondering what a special superior court judge is. So, we asked WFAE's Julie Rose to find out.
Back in 1831, U.S. Senator William Macy coined the phrase “to the victor go the spoils. In a war or other contest, the winner gets the booty.” In our modern times, “other contests” can be thought of as election contests just as easily.
With the recent legislation by Republicans in the NC State Senate to strip clean a significant number of state commissions and boards, the saying about “elections having consequences” is as important as the spoils going to the victor.
Last weekend, a report in the Raleigh News and Observer caught our attention. State Senator Fletcher Hartsell of Concord had apparently spent nearly $100,000 of his campaign money to pay personal credit card bills over the last two years.
An effort to compensate living victims of North Carolina's now-defunct eugenics program is facing early opposition as lawmakers prepare to meet. Senate President Pro-Tem Phil Berger Wednesday said he doesn't support the plan as it was proposed last year and hasn't brought it up with his Republican colleagues.
Now that the official inaugural festivities have concluded, the real work of governing begins for North Carolina’s Republican state government.
Governor McCrory, Speaker Tillis, and Senate President Pro Tempore Berger are three leaders who seek to bring a distinct change to the state.
Beyond what commentators have observed, North Carolina Republicans could begin a more important transformation of the party for their national aspirations.
