Legislative Update: Two days, two vetoes

On Thursday, May 28, Governor Pat McCrory vetoed Senate Bill 2 just hours after it landed on his desk. The bill, if it became law, would allow employees of magistrate and register of deeds offices to avoid issuing marriage licenses and/or presiding over marriages of same-sex couples if it conflicted with their own religious beliefs.

McCrory’s veto message stated: “I recognize for many North Carolinians, including myself, opinions on same-sex marriage come from sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman. However, we are a nation and a state of laws. Whether it is the president, governor, major, a law enforcement officer, or magistrate, no public official who voluntarily swears to support and defend the Constitution and to discharge all duties of their office should be exempt from upholding that oath; therefore, I veto Senate Bill 2.”

To override the veto, legislators would have to have a three-fifths majority in each chamber supporting the legislation. In the House, it would take 72 affirmative votes which may be obtainable since the vote for passage was 67 for, 43 against and 10 absent. On the Senate side, the goal would be much likelier. The Senate passed the bill 32-16 with 2 absent.

Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, is one of the primary sponsors and voted in favor. Rep. Paul Tine, U-Dare, did not cast a vote because of an excused absence. Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan, voted for the legislation.

Click here to read the Govenor’s veto letter 

On Friday, McCrory again got out his pen to veto the controversial “ag-gag” bill – House Bill 405 — which seeks to make many instances of whistle-blowing by employees into a criminal offense.

Click here to read the Govenor’s veto letter 

Aimed initially at journalists and others obtaining jobs in agriculture in order to report problems within the industry, the language would have applied to all businesses including nursing homes, hospitals and schools.

In his veto message, McCrory said he shared the concerns of the state’s businesses on how to discourage “bad actors” who seek employment to do undercover investigating. But, he wrote, the bill doesn’t protect or give clear guidance to honest employees who uncover criminal activity.

He noted that he supports the bill’s purpose and asked the General Assembly to reconsider the bill to add protection for employees who report illegal activities directly and confidentially to the proper authorities.

That won’t satisfy journalists who then could be engaging in criminal activity if they reported criminal  findings to the public.

The bill sailed handily through both chambers, so even without rewriting the legislation, the veto could most probably be overturned.

Cook, Tine and Steinburg voted for the legislation

This session has produced its own “motorcycle” bill. HB465, titled “Women and Children’s Protection Act of 2015,” is aimed at strengthening laws related to domestic violence and sexual crimes.

But it also includes language that adds more restrictions to abortions, including increasing the wait time from 24 to 72 hours. And it adds to what doctors must record and report about individual abortions to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, including providing an ultrasound picture.

Attempts in the Senate to divide the two issues for a vote failed, which means that voting for the added protections for women and children also passes the abortion provisions. It has passed its second reading and the third is set for Monday. The bill will then be sent back to the House for concurrence.

Tine voted against the measure. Steinburg and Cook for it.

HB 795, the rewriting of much of the state’s environmental protection laws – SEPA, is now heading for conference committee after the House refused to accept the Senate’s amended version. The bill seeks to remove or weaken many of the environmental protections in place, including expanding acceptable land disturbing activities, fewer environmental impact assessments, and less consideration of cumulative impacts. Many of the existing laws originally were passed under the watch of Republican Gov. Jim Martin.

Cook, Tine and Steinburg voted for the bill.

SB 160, the shallow draft dredging bill of interest to particularly the coastal region and those using Oregon Inlet, has passed the Senate and is now in the House.

(Sandy Semans is a retired newspaper editor and reporter who now works as a free-lance writer.  She lives in Stumpy Point. Her update on the goings-on in this session of the General Assembly will appear weekly in The Island Free Press, usually on Friday.)

PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED 2015 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

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