All in Politics

As students return to school, North Carolina to remain paused in Phase 2

Governor Roy Cooper today announced that North Carolina will remain paused in Safer At Home Phase 2 for another 5 weeks as students and staff return to schools, colleges and universities and the state doubles down on efforts to decrease COVID-19 numbers.

“Other states that lifted restrictions quickly have had to go backward as their hospital capacity ran dangerously low and their cases jumped higher. We will not make that mistake in North Carolina,” said Governor Cooper.

Gov. Cooper files motion to dismiss Town of La Grange lawsuit

On May 8 the Town of La Grange filed a lawsuit against Gov. Cooper in Superior Court requesting a declaratory judgment that one of his Executive Orders violated N.C.G.S. 159B-22. The Town asserts the order unlawfully interferes with the ability of utility service providers to exercise their own discretion and judgment in collecting charges for utility services provided to their customers. Governor Roy Cooper submitted a brief in opposition to the Town’s motion for a preliminary injunction and in support of his motion to dismiss the amended complaint.

Governor Cooper vetoes 2nd Amendment Protection Act

Raleigh, N.C. – Most North Carolina churches can choose to allow handguns on their private property today. Due to a loophole in the law, churches who also operate private schools get lumped into the definition of a “school” even on weekends, and they lose that right. House Bill 652 applied to non public schools only and provided a technical correction clarifying that a church caught in this situation could allow handguns on their property during non school hours, if they chose to do so. Governor Cooper vetoed this legislation on July 2nd.

Gov. Cooper signs bill allowing N.C. teens to get provisional licenses without road test

Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 158 into law on Friday, June 19. The bill allows the North Carolina DMV to temporarily waive the road test requirement for a Level 2 limited provisional license. Elliana Sylvia, who lives in Kinston and started a petition in April to temporarily waive the road test requirement, got her Level 2 license on Monday, June 22. 

Enforcing Governor Cooper's Executive Order mandating face coverings

In an executive order announced on Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper extended Phase 2 of reopening North Carolina until July 17 and made face coverings mandatory in public. The mask requirements take effect Friday, June 26 at 5 p.m. In a recent Facebook post, Jones County Sheriff Danny Heath stated, “NO, I will not be enforcing the wearing of face masks! Be careful and responsible and make your own decision.”

NC News: Lt. Gov. Forest to sue Gov. Cooper over the Emergency Management Act

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (R), also a candidate for Governor, issued a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and a statement today notifying him that “as a member of the Council of State, I will be suing his administration for violating the Emergency Management Act.” In his letter, he references several Executive Orders enacted by the governor without consent of a majority of the Council of State. “The North Carolina Constitution does not create a unitary executive, but rather disburses executive power throughout the Council of State.”