RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislative Republicans moved closer Monday to passing a measure that would erode the powers of the new governor and other Democratic officials, as well as filing constitutional amendments that would overhaul voting and tax policies of the Republican Party could support.
Along party lines, the Republican Party-dominated Senate successfully voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a bill that would, in part, weaken newly elected Gov. Josh Stein, the next attorney general in Jeff Jackson, and other Democrats who were also elected president in November. lieutenant governor and school inspector.
These changes come within a 131-page measure initially approved two weeks ago during a lame-duck session of the General Assembly. Republicans advanced the measure because their current veto-proof majority over Cooper is likely to end after this month if Democrats gain additional seats in the House of Representatives. That gives Stein, who takes office in January, a better chance to use his veto power to successfully block bills he opposes.
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Cooper vetoed the measure last week, calling the bill a “sham” that does little financially to help Hurricane Helene recovery, even though “disaster relief” was included in the bill’s title. He also said provisions that alter the powers of the executive branch are unconstitutional. One provision, effective in the spring, would end the governor’s power to appoint the State Board of Elections and turn it over to the state auditor, who will now be Republican Dave Boliek.
The bill now returns to the House of Representatives, where three Republicans voted against the measure last month. If such a margin remains intact, the attempted override expected next week could be undermined. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger said after Monday’s vote that he was confident House Republicans would get the votes to complete the override. Litigation is also possible in that case.
The Republican Party-controlled Legislature has tried for years to change the composition of the Board of Elections by passing laws that have been blocked by courts, including a law last year that would shift the board’s appointing power from the governor to the General Assembly. Meeting.
Like the first Senate debate on the bill two weeks ago, the room was packed with opponents of the bill who called it a Republican power grab after the electorate picked Democrats for top positions in the Nov. 5 election.
Republicans are “not listening to the voters in North Carolina,” said protester Della Hann, 64, of Southport. “There are checks and balances within government and they must be respected.”
But Berger said in a news release that the provisions “actually balance our three branches of state government so that North Carolina remains on a positive trajectory, free from obstruction by the Democratic Party and liberal activists.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Senate president, ordered the Senate gallery to be cleared last month when attendees clapped one too many times during a debate on the measure. On Monday, Robinson cleared the gallery again after disruptions after Cooper’s veto message was read and just before the vote.
“Everyone has to go,” Robinson said before asking for a ten-minute break. To avoid possible arrests, the demonstrators left the Legislative Building or remained silent outside the gallery.
Senate Republicans later moved to approve in separate bills proposed changes to the North Carolina Constitution regarding photo voter identification and a cap on income taxes.
They each received thirty votes – exactly the number needed for a constitutional referendum. To reach a statewide vote in November 2026, these measures must still pass the House of Representatives and receive 72 votes by the end of the year. Constitutional amendments are not subject to vetoes.
One proposed referendum, if approved by a majority of voters, would change the Constitution to say all voters in North Carolina must show a photo ID before voting. The Constitution currently only specifies that this is required for in-person voting. ID exceptions are now allowed and remain with the amendment. The other referendum would set a rate cap on income taxes at 5%, down from the current 7%.
Personal and corporate tax rates are both currently below 5% in the state, and state laws separate from the Constitution already require people voting by mail to provide a photocopy of a qualifying ID.
Senate Republicans who support the ID issue said it is important to ensure that all forms of voting will be treated equally in the future when it comes to photo IDs, which the Republican Party successfully passed in 2018 , but only came into force last year. And with Republicans passing multiple income tax cuts over the years that have boosted the state’s economy, Cabarrus County’s Republican Sen. Paul Newton said: It’s time again to let voters decide whether to stay lower permanently.
Democrats who oppose a lower tax cap say the state already faces revenue challenges in the face of lower tax rates that will make it harder to meet major spending needs.
