Latest news with #SenateBill382
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC state auditor launching investigation into Charlotte City Council's reported settlement to CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings
RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The state auditor is launching an investigation of the reported six-figure settlement made between the Charlotte City Council and Police Chief Johnny Jennings. In a letter written Tuesday to Mayor Vi Lyles, Auditor Dave Boliek says that the people of Charlotte – and his office — have a right to know the details. Reports say the city paid Jennings a six-figure settlement months after former council member Tariq Bokhari allegedly threatened to 'ruin his career.' 'Constituent requests and recent reporting involving the Charlotte City Council have raised serious concerns regarding the potential disbursement of public dollars outside of the public view,' the letter reads. Following the alleged settlement, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police has prepared to make a no-confidence vote against Jennings, and local Republicans asked Lyles to step down. 'While answers to some of the more pressing questions could be provided through quick release of information from your office – which I strongly encourage – there remains a list of unknowns regarding the potential settlement or payout to the Police Chief,' Boliek continues. 'On behalf of the citizens of North Carolina and the … people who call Charlotte home, the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor will be investigating this matter.' Boliek suggests the settlement may have been between $100,000 to $300,000. He says the office is seeking the following information: How much money was paid in the potential settlement Whether a payment exists Where the money came from 'Even if the payment was worth one penny, it should be disclosed to the public in a timely and transparent matter,' Boliek said. 'There is no tax dollar free from public scrutiny.' All council members — minus newly selected member Edwin Peacock — and City Manager Marcus Jones are also recipients of the letter. Boliek, a Republican elected last November, recently announced five new members to the State Board of Elections, a power he gained last month via the controversial Senate Bill 382. It was previously held by the governor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Governor Stein blasts court decision on appointment power
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein blasted a court ruling that stripped some of his appointment powers during an interview with Queen City News Thursday morning. 'There's really absolutely no justification other than crass partisan motivation for them to intervene at this point,' said Stein. Late Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina ruled that Senate Bill 382 could be enacted. The legislation, passed by the General Assembly last year, gave the state auditor, a Republican, the power to appoint members to the state Board of Elections, a power traditionally held by the governor. By Thursday afternoon, Republicans had assumed a 3-2 control over the board. Stein argued it would assist the GOP in their efforts to overturn the result of a state supreme court race that Stein believes was decided many months ago. North Carolina's Republican Party argued the board had become too partisan under Democratic control. 'The actions of the current board majority placed partisanship and politics over performance. Under Auditor Boliek, North Carolinians will have confidence our votes are counted with accuracy, consistency, and integrity,' said Matt Mercer, spokesperson for the NC GOP. Stein intends to appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina. On the topic of Helene recovery, Stein is also waiting to hear back from the White House after he appealed a rejection by FEMA to continue cost sharing 100 percent of the damage caused by the hurricane. He contends the amount of damage seen puts Helene on par with Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. 'This clearly fits that same degree, that same level of storm damage. I've asked the President to overrule FEMA, and I'm hopeful that he will do so,' said Stein. At the state level, North Carolina has also rolled out a new $55 million grant program to help local governments support small businesses. Stein says grant money could be used to repair broadband connections, sidewalks, and even sewer and water infrastructure. Grants can be as much as $1 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC court clears way for GOP auditor to take election powers from Gov. Stein
The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Wednesday cleared the way for a law stripping election oversight power away from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to go into effect, reversing the order of a lower court which had ruled it unconstitutional. State Auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican, is now poised to gain control over the State Board of Elections on Thursday, likely flipping the powerful board's partisan majority for the first time since 2017. The court's decision, which was delivered by a unanimous but unnamed three-judge panel, upholds election changes passed in Senate Bill 382, a law Republican legislators enacted in the final days of their veto-proof supermajority in the General Assembly. While the court did not fully rule on the merits of the case, they issued a stay blocking the lower court's order, which in practical terms will allow the law to take effect. The court did not hold arguments in the case and issued its decision just five days after Republican leaders asked for a stay. Stein immediately appealed the ruling to the North Carolina Supreme Court, asking justices to intervene quickly and halt the decision before Boliek is able to replace election board members — ending their terms two years early. The power shift upends the practice in place for over a century in which the governor alone has had the power to appoint members of election boards. That arrangement also allows the governor to appoint a 3-2 majority of members from their own party. In a statement, Stein suggested the ruling was a 'threat to our democracy' and that Republicans would use their new influence over elections to assist Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin in overturning his narrow loss in the 2024 state Supreme Court race. 'I fear that this decision is the latest step in the partisan effort to steal a seat on the Supreme Court,' he said. 'No emergency exists that can justify the Court of Appeals' decision to interject itself at this point. The only plausible explanation is to permit the Republican State Auditor to appoint a new State Board of Elections that will try to overturn the results of the Supreme Court race.' The state Republican Party said in a statement that the power shift would help make sure elections are 'fair, free, honest, and transparent.' 'The actions of the current board majority placed partisanship and politics over performance,' the NCGOP statement says. 'Under Auditor Boliek, North Carolinians will have confidence our votes are counted with accuracy, consistency, and integrity.' Republican state lawmakers have tried multiple times to shift this process in their favor since Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won election in 2016. All of their previous attempts were either blocked by courts or rejected by voters when proposed as a constitutional amendment. But rather than giving the appointment power to themselves, as lawmakers have attempted to do in the past, SB 382 shifts it to the auditor, a move they argue keeps the power within the executive branch and therefore does not violate the state constitution. It is an entirely unique setup, with no other state auditor in the entire country having similar powers over elections. In a 2-1 ruling earlier this month, a Republican and Democratic judge in Wake County Superior Court agreed with Stein that the power shift was unconstitutional. 'The Constitution prevents the legislature from unreasonably disturbing the vesting of 'the executive power' in the governor or the governor's obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed,' the majority opinion, authored by Judges Edwin Wilson and Lori Hamilton, said.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
N.C. Treasurer names conservative climate skeptic to state Utilities Commission
Image: NC Utilities Commission - This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Donald van der Vaart—the state's former environment secretary and a climate skeptic who was shortlisted for EPA administrator during the first Trump administration—has been appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Republican Treasurer Brad Briner. Van der Vaart started his career in state government as a 20-year employee in the Division of Air Quality and was promoted to secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in 2015. He was a proponent of offshore drilling and fracking. The Utilities Commission regulates the rates and services of utilities like Duke Energy and companies that provide gas, electricity and drinking water. In that role, the commission oversees the state's transition to renewable energy and is also responsible for ensuring the safety of natural gas pipelines. 'North Carolinians need a strong voice on the North Carolina Utilities Commission,' Briner said in a press release. 'Don provides that voice, and his expertise and leadership will ensure that the citizens of North Carolina have access to low-cost, reliable energy.' The appointment still must be approved by the state House and Senate. Many environmental advocates oppose the appointment. Dan Crawford, director of government relations for the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, called van der Vaart's appointment 'short sighted and a violation of the public trust. This appointment flies in the face of science and clean energy progress. It's like letting an arsonist guard the fire station.' Van der Vaart would earn roughly $150,000 as a utilities commissioner. 'I am deeply honored by Treasurer Briner's confidence in me,' van der Vaart said in the press release. 'I look forward to working to ensure that North Carolina's energy future remains reliable, affordable, and ever cleaner—safeguarding both our prosperity and our environment.' The treasurer did not have appointment power to the Utilities Commission until December, when the state legislature passed Senate Bill 382. The measure was ostensibly a disaster relief bill for communities devastated by Hurricane Helene, but also contained unrelated provisions that conservative lawmakers favored. Then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the bill, but the Republican-controlled legislature overrode it. Before SB 382, the governor appointed the majority of the Utilities Commission—three seats. After the bill became law, one of those appointments went to the state treasurer. The bill also shrunk the membership from seven to five, starting in July: two appointments by the governor, one by the state treasurer and one each to the House and Senate leadership. The treasurer and legislative leaders are all Republicans, meaning the GOP will have control of the new five-member commission. Earlier this month Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat elected in November, petitioned a Wake County court for a temporary restraining order to thwart the treasurer's appointment power, arguing it violates the state Constitution. The filing names House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Pro Temp Phil Berger as defendants. A spokesperson for the governor's office told Inside Climate News that 'the parties are currently trying to work out a briefing schedule to get this dispute resolved as expeditiously as possible so that the Governor can continue the work that voters elected him to do.' When Cooper was elected governor in 2016, van der Vaart could have lost his job as a political appointee. Instead, van der Vaart used his statutory authority to demote himself to a middle management position in the Division of Air Quality. He held that post for a year until he co-authored a lengthy opinion piece in a national environmental law journal calling for the elimination of a key air quality rule, an opinion that contradicted the stance of the agency. Shortly after then-DEQ Secretary Michael Regan placed van der Vaart on administrative leave, he resigned. When Donald Trump won election in 2016, van der Vaart wrote him a congratulatory letter that earned him consideration for EPA administrator. In part, the letter read: 'We must put an end to the idea that more regulation is always good, and instead allow state and local experts to improve the environment.' The top EPA post went instead to Scott Pruitt, who named van der Vaart to the EPA's Science Advisory Board. In a 2018 opinion piece for The Hill, van der Vaart wrote that some environmental groups were 'serving as proxies for the Russians,' and to protect the environment Trump should investigate those allegations. Van der Vaart returned to state government in 2019 when Berger, the State Senate leader, appointed him to the Environmental Management Commission. The EMC makes environmental rules that DEQ must follow. His ascent continued when the chief justice of the state Supreme Court named him the chief administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Hearings. The quasi-judicial agency presides over contested cases of administrative law. He has commonly assigned himself cases involving DEQ and has often ruled against the agency. If van der Vaart joins the Utilities Commission, he would resign his judgeship.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Goode language on education funding goes to governor's desk
Language authored by State Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, that would create a local oversight board to ensure transparency and accountability in managing county resources for potential school improvements now heads to the governor's desk for final review. House Enrolled Act 1515 would allow Vigo County the option to transfer funding to the Vigo County School Corp. to help meet the district's needs. 'The language in HEA 1515 is similar to Senate Bill 382, which I authored and passed the Senate earlier this year, but did not continue through the legislative process,' Goode said. 'Vigo County is home to a great public school system, and I am happy to help local officials and the district come together to make much-needed improvements within our schools without raising property taxes.' The oversight board would be made up of members appointed by local government offices as well as the business community. 'As a proud graduate of Terre Haute's public school system, I am excited to see the work that could be done within our community thanks to the funding options this legislation provides,' Goode said. 'I'd like to thank the community leaders who worked on this language and helped me get it to the finish line.' Goode encourages residents of Senate District 38 to contact him with any questions or comments they may have. Goode can be reached by filling out a 'Contact Me' form online at or by phone at 800-382-9467.
