N.C. voters wanted change in state government, and they got it.
Successive elections gave Republicans power in the General Assembly, then supermajorities and a GOP governor. Nearly halfway through the 2013 session, the image of what complete Republican control of the legislative process becomes clearer.
Leadership or meddling?
Democrats have said attempts to totally reshape state boards and commissions, and get involved in local affairs, amount to an unprecedented “power grab.”
“We’re not always in lockstep on things, but I think every member of our caucus has been just horrified by the aggressive power grabs this supermajority has, sort of, pursued,” said Ford Porter, spokesman for the Senate Democratic Caucus. “We’ve seen an agenda that is totally against communities. It is about dictating policy from
The argument over redistricting, typically happening every 10 years, has been resurrected. The Senate passed a bill in April that redraws the voting districts for the Wake County Board of Education. Opponents believe the measure is meant to gerrymander Republicans into control over education in the traditionally Democratic county.
Supporters of the plan say the board is beset with problems and state action is necessary to fix those problems.
A bill to set up a nonpartisan panel to redraw Congressional and legislative districts every 10 years received a chilly reception among some Senate leaders. It twice passed the House with bipartisan support.
Quoted in the Charlotte Observer, Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson and chairman of the Rules Committee, said he is not on board with the proposal.
“We’ve waited 140 years to have this (redistricting power),” Apodaca said. “I’m not ready to give away what we fought so hard to get.”
Backers of the bill say no such thing will happen, and changing the management structure will save
Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, introduced a bill that takes away
In a Bloomberg Businessweek piece May 2 that made the rounds among the state’s political class, UNC professor David Swindell said the forays into local government aren’t necessarily political measures against Democrats, but “amount to an unprecedented attack on the state’s cities, which happen to be home to many of the state’s Democrats.”
Different chambers, different approaches
Sen. Louis Pate, R-Wayne, is part of the Senate GOP leadership as deputy president pro tem. He said that, jokingly, being part of the leadership this session has been like a house on fire. He explained that getting legislation through the Senate is a tough process — legislators can’t zing through bills on a whim and send them on to the House of Representatives.
“If things are controversial, they don’t pass that easily, even in committee,” Pate said. “So, all along the way there are all sort of pitfalls where a bill could be kept up, and an amendment could really gut the bill, change the intent of the bill altogether. And, you have to be wary of that.”
Regardless, a perception among political observers developed around the belief the Senate is running hard to the right, while the House is taking a more center-right tack.
“I would say the Senate leadership is probably more conservative than the House leadership,” said Francis De Luca, president of the conservative Civitas Institute. “And I don’t mean any particular person, I mean across the board.”
De Luca noted that because of having fewer members, the Senate Republican Caucus can afford to take the direction it has, while the House Republican Caucus must work with the priorities of more than 70 representatives.
He also disputed the notion that the GOP supermajorities are using their power to make revolutionary changes in state government.
“The truth is they’ve been very tentative at using the supermajority to force anything through that they didn’t feel was an immediate need,” De Luca said. “And I would use the unemployment reforms as a case in point. I think even that had some bipartisan support.
“But it’s hard to point to anything they’ve rammed through since (Gov. Pat) McCrory’s been governor that’s been a huge, game-changing thing.”
Bipartisanship is something pointed out by House Republicans.
“If there’s a bill the caucus supports, it’ll probably move,” said Jordan Shaw, spokesman for Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg. “But, I do think it’s important to point out most of the bills that we act on in the House are bipartisan-supported bills. The bills that get a lot of the press coverage are controversial, but 80-90 percent of what we do here is not controversial at all.”
He later added, “Regardless of margin, we are still making every effort to work with members of the Democrat caucus.”
Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, noted the controversial voter ID bill received Democratic votes before it was sent to the Senate.
“We want to get legislation that not only can we support, but we try our best to get legislation where it’s bipartisan,”
Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir, agreed that the vast majority of votes are bipartisan, but noted nothing gets done without Republican support.
“No question about it — they are in complete control,” Graham said. “And they are directing the state. They are in charge.”
He continued, “Anything they want to do, and any day they want to do it, they have the power to make it happen.”
Going forward, Pate said the Senate will be taking efforts to reform the state tax code to eliminate loopholes and bring down overall tax rates. Shaw said the House will also be tackling tax and regulatory reform.
U.S. Senate ambitions
An emerging thought in Democratic circles has it that legislation is being influenced by the perceived ambitions of Tillis and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.
Calling it “speculation from the peanut gallery,” Porter said Berger forced Tillis to the center.
“We have leaders of both houses who might want to pursue a certain Senate seat, and Sen. Berger has certainly staked out the far right, and where’s left for Speaker Tillis to go but toward the middle,” Porter said.
Tillis has said he will not run for speaker again, and Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, said the speaker is running for U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s seat, before apologizing and walking back his statement.
Democratic consultant Gary Pearce, writing for The News & Observer, speculated the Koch brothers-aligned group Americans for Prosperity would back Berger in a primary — bringing considerable money to the race — and called Tills, “that increasingly squishy moderate.”
Most Republicans are refraining from public comment on a possible matchup as the political landscape reorganizes. Shaw has said Tillis has not yet made a decision on running for Hagan’s seat.
Future dynamic
As the session progresses, the main point of contention within the supermajorities could mimic the House and Senate differences — measured versus aggressive attempts to bring change and reform to state government.
“I think there are some people within the Republican Party who see, and hope, that they will have power for a long time, and they’re being a little more gradual about it,” said Rob Schofield, director of research and policy development for progressive group N.C. Policy Watch.
He added, “Indeed, it appears that’s the way Art Pope, who is the funder of a lot of this and is on the inside as the governor’s budget director, is approaching it.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.