(The Town Square) – On Monday, when the North Carolina General Assembly met again, the Senate overrode three vetoes and set up two more for the House of Representatives to finish.
No Central Bank Digital Currency Payments to State, a bill by Reps. Mark Brody of Union County and Harry Warren of Rowan County, was the most important.
It says that the federal government can’t pay or test with the state government. Digital money is only available in electronic form; computers are used for transactions and keeping track of money.
It is also known as House Bill 690 and is law right away. There were no Republicans in either chamber who were against the override (the votes were 27–17 in the Senate and 73–41 in the House).
The only Democrats who were for it were Reps. Shelly Willingham (D–Edgecombe) and Michael Wray (D–Northampton). It was passed by a vote of 109–4 in the House and 39–5 in the Senate in June.
Tenancy in Common/E-Notary/Small Claims Changes (HB556) and Titles for Off-Road Vehicles/Low Speed Vehicles Inspection (HB155) are also now laws.
Some parts of the first bill become law right away, while others don’t become law until October 1. Some parts of the second bill become law on July 1, 2019, while the bulk of it becomes law right away.
Voting on these two issues was a lot like voting on the digital currency ban. It was 36–6 in the Senate and 74–39 in the House in June for HB556. On Monday, it was 27–17 in the Senate and 74–40 in the House. In June, HB155 had 33-16 votes in the Senate and 92-12 votes in the House. On Monday, it had 27-17 votes in the Senate and 73-41 votes in the House.
This bill (HB556) includes suggestions for notary public laws and rental laws from the North Carolina Bar Association and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall’s office. There is also language that says counties and cities can’t make rules that say landlords can’t refuse to rent to people whose income to pay rent comes from federal housing aid.
The ATV and utility vehicle law makes it possible to drive these vehicles on more streets and highways.
The first thing that senators did to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto on Senate Bill 445 and 2024 Building Code Regulatory Reform was to move the bills forward. Each is scheduled for a vote in the House on Wednesday.
A vote on the ballot in 1995 gave the governor the power to veto. North Carolina was the last state in the country to give its governor this power. With at least 30 votes in the Senate and 72 votes in the House, the General Assembly can overturn it.
Cooper has issued 27 vetoes so far this two-year session, but all of them have been overturned 25 times.
Cooper has been in office for eight years and has issued 102 vetoes. In the same amount of time, Republican supermajorities have overridden 48 of them. The Republican leadership has failed all 13 times they have had less than three-fifths of the votes needed.
In the 20 years before Cooper took office on January 1, 2017, there were only 16 successful veto overrides. There were no vetoes in either of the two two-year meetings after the law was passed.