Difference between revisions of "US/NC/gov"

Revision as of 02:30, 17 December 2014

About

2013

In 2013, the newly-elected Republican majority took power, and promptly began packing the state into a handbasket for its planned shipment to hell.

Following up on their earlier attempts to legislate certain effects of global warming out of existence (or at least out of public awareness)^[1]^[2]^[3], Republican Governor Pat McCrory immediately started exploring ways to sell the idea of further environmental pollution as an economic benefit^[4], especially for coastal communities^[5].

In April, Republicans submitted bills:

to allow NC state courts to override federal law in matters of prayer, once again violating the US constitution. (NC is already in violation by virtue of its religious requirement for political office.)
to reduce voting by college students

The Senate also voted to block Medicaid expansion (which would have brought in additional federal funds for healthcare) and repealed the Racial Justice Act, and Governor McCrory proposed a plan to privatize Medicaid.

the basket

2013-01-05 McCrory has promises to keep

Appointments:
- Cabinet:
  - Art Pope is now in charge of the state budget^[6]
  - Kieran Shanahan, found guilty of assaulting a neighbor's children, now leads the Department of Public Safety.^[6]
  - John Skvarla, a science skeptic and former employer of Art Pope, takes over the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.^[6]
  - Tony Tata, fired as superintendent of the state's largest public school system (Wake County) following a transportation fiasco, is now in charge of the Department of Transportation.^[6]
- other:
  - Buddy Collins, who doesn't believe anyone needs protection from bullying, is now on the state Board of Education^[7]

actions

key: =negative | =positive

2013-03-03 H247 bill to level the healthcare playing field and remove special treatment from Blue Cross Blue Shield^[8]
2013-03-13 H298/S365 bill repealing the state's requirement that power companies use subsidized renewable energy
- 2013-04-03 House bill that would repeal renewable energy requirement passes committee
- 2013-04-04 ALEC-Sponsored Bill To Repeal North Carolina's Renewable Energy Standard Narrowly Passes Out Of Committee
2013-03-14 S337 bill to eliminate education & criminal requirements for charter school teachers^[8]
2013-03-21 S394 bill which would repeal a renewable energy tax credit that has been in place for 30 years
- 2013-04-03 Renewable energy standards and tax credits could be repealed
2013-03-27
- S473 bill to simplify hospital billing practices^[8]
- S516 bill to eliminate caps on classroom size in K-4th^[8]
- H451 bill to reduce early voting^[8] - part of the GOP war on voting
  - according to Bob Geary (IndyWeek), this would:
    - cut early voting from two weeks to one
    - eliminate same-day registration
    - abolish straight-ticket voting
    - ban voting on Sunday, a move meant to quash the "Souls to the Polls" drives in African-American churches
    - makes absentee ballots so absurdly easy that it invites distribution of ballots with choices already filled in
- H452 bill to allocate $34m for school safety, including 10m for counselors (and none for weaponry)^[8]
- H465 bill to prevent undocumented immigrants from carrying firearms^[8]
  - Apparently Republicans do think it's okay to restrict firearms -- if your papers aren't in order.
2013-03-28
- S518 bill to extend the separation period for a divorce from one year to two years, and require counseling for each person^[8]
  - 2013-04-09 More Of That "Small Government" in North Carolina "Because nothing says "small government" like demanding to know whether you've had sex with your spouse in order to determine when you can get a divorce."
- H480 bill to "fast-track" environmental projects^[8]
- H484 bill to make sustainable energy permitting rules more vague^[8]
2013-04-01 H494 House joint resolution to allow state to override US on matters of prayer:
- 2013-04-02 N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow) (Indy)
- 2013-04-03
  - Proposal would allow state religion in North Carolina "A bill filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide."
  - First Amendment doesn't apply here: N.C. lawmakers push bill for state religion
- 2013-04-04 Sponsor of NC religion resolution apologizes: it won't be voted on; dead issue.
- 2013-04-05 NC Bill Could Establish State Religion
2013-04-02 S648 "Ag Gag" bill to prevent whistleblowing against cruelty to animals by any business [1]
proposal to privatize state Medicaid:
- 2013-04-03:
2013-04-02 S666/S667 bill to reduce college student voting:
- 2013-04-03
  - North Carolina Republicans seek to suppress the college vote - part of the GOP war on voting [2]
  - Senate bill seeks to curb college vote
    - discussion
    - 2013-04-08 NC Tries to Suppress the Student Vote
- 2013-04-30 photo: "student activists Bryan Perlmutter and Molly McDonough got arrested in solidarity with the NAACP at the NC statehouse in protest of North Carolina's SB 667"
2013-04-22 North Carolina Lawmaker Forces Radio Show Off The Air After Hosts Criticized His Policies: "The Central Carolina Community College has stopped airing "The Rant," a weekly radio political program, after North Carolina State Rep. Mike C. Stone (R) objected to its commentary."
vote to block Medicaid expansion:
- 2013-04-04 NC Senate Republicans vote to block Medicaid expansion, exchanges (N&O)
vote to repeal Racial Justice Act:
- 2013-04-03:
  - NC Senate OKs repeal of Racial Justice Act (N&O)
  - NC Racial Justice Act repeal approved by Senate (SFgate)
- 2013-04-04:
  - N.C. Senate moves to resume executions, repeal Racial Justice Act (FayObs)
  - N.C. Senate repeals Racial Justice Act

Footnotes

↑ 2012-08-03 2011-H819 was passed into law by a supermajority, overriding Governor Purdue's planned veto
↑ 2012-05-30 NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal by Scott Huler
↑ 2012-05-31 North Carolina Bill Would Require Coastal Communities To Ignore Global Warming Science by Joe Romm
↑ 2013-02-19 McCrory eyes revenue from oil and gas drilling, counts chickens before they hatch
↑ 2013-03-11 Panel Reviews New Fracking Waste Water Bill, McCrory's "No" To Charlotte, GOP Split & Voter ID
↑ ^{Jump up to: 6.0} ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 2013-01-11 Cabinet of Controversy: N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory's 5 most dubious appointments
↑ 2013-02+? Equality NC Calls on Gov. McCrory to Reconsider Collins Appointment
↑ ^{Jump up to: 8.0} ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 ^8.4 ^8.5 ^8.6 ^8.7 ^8.8 ^8.9 This week in disappointment: more terrible Republican bills

Links

News

2014/12/16 [L..T] Gov. Pat McCrory, Rep. Mark Sanford get payouts from broker Soon after taking office, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina accepted six-figure stock payouts from an online mortgage broker accused by regulators of deceiving its customers.
2014/12/14 [L..T] Inside The Koch-Backed History Lessons North Carolina Wants To Teach High School Students «Public high school students in North Carolina will be taught from a lesson plans and worksheets prepared by an organization closely tied to the billionaire Koch brothers, if the state's Department of Public Instruction gets its way.»

to file

2012-03-29 Fracking could benefit client of Pat McCrory firm
2013-04-24 Clean and green North Carolina H298
2013-05-07 Progressives promising Monday protests while the General Assembly's in session
2013-05-08 The ripple effect: NAACP's Barber and civil disobedience in Raleigh by Bob Geary
2013-05-13 83 Year Old Spectator Vernon Tyson Arrested at NC General Assembly (video): he calls on church leaders to join the ongoing protest
2013-05-15 This week in disappointment: rolling back the environment, reproductive rights and more
2013-05-19 (Sun) NC General Assembly police defend arrests of demonstrators
2013-05-20 (Mon)
- N.C. Moral Monday #4: Est. 60 arrests at N.C. General Assembly today; nearly 160 so far
- NC demonstration against GOP lawmakers grows
2013-05-22 (Wed)
- Crowd size and arrest totals increase at latest Moral Monday protest
- This week in disappointment: the budget, fracking again
2013-06-27 Tesla wins in North Carolina, paves the way for direct-to-consumer sales: Tesla apparently convinced the legislature to override the North Carolina Automobile Dealers
2013-06-28 North Carolina Just Became The First State To Eliminate Unemployment Benefits
2013-07-10 North Carolina Republicans Quietly Attach Abortion Restrictions To Motorcycle Safety Bill
2013-07-19 Students' voting rights targeted in North Carolina by Steve Benen
2013-07-23 North Carolina On Cusp Of Passing Worst Voter Suppression Bill In The Nation
2013-07-26 Lawmakers give leaders legal standing "In the last hours of session Friday morning, state lawmakers voted to give legislative leaders equal standing with the Attorney General to intervene in constitutional challenges to state laws."
2013-07-28 Educators to march on Capitol in 13th 'Moral Monday' protest "The North Carolina Association of Educators said public education will be front and center at the 13th and final wave of the so-called "Moral Monday" protests, which for the first time will include a march to the State Capitol. "
2013-07-29 Six families challenge NC gay marriage ban
2013-07-30 Power struggle develops over defending NC laws
2013-08-13 92-Year-Old Who Once Faced Literacy Tests Sues North Carolina Over New Wave Of Voter Suppression
2013-08-22 With GOP Gov. McCrory Present, Colin Powell Slams North Carolina Voting Law
2013-08-23 Rachel Maddow Tackles Voter Suppression In Boone, North Carolina
2013-08-28 Jobs for highly-paid McCrory staffers never posted

[2012-HB819-1] 2012-08-03 2011-H819 was passed into law by a supermajority, overriding Governor Purdue's planned veto

[2012-05-30-SA-2] 2012-05-30 NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal by Scott Huler

[2012-05-31-TP-3] 2012-05-31 North Carolina Bill Would Require Coastal Communities To Ignore Global Warming Science by Joe Romm

[2013-02-19-IW-4] 2013-02-19 McCrory eyes revenue from oil and gas drilling, counts chickens before they hatch

[2013-03-11-SG-5] 2013-03-11 Panel Reviews New Fracking Waste Water Bill, McCrory's "No" To Charlotte, GOP Split & Voter ID

[2013-01-11-SS-6] {Jump up to: 6.0} ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 2013-01-11 Cabinet of Controversy: N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory's 5 most dubious appointments

[2013-02-EQNC-7] 2013-02+? Equality NC Calls on Gov. McCrory to Reconsider Collins Appointment

[2013-04-03-IW-8] {Jump up to: 8.0} ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 ^8.4 ^8.5 ^8.6 ^8.7 ^8.8 ^8.9 This week in disappointment: more terrible Republican bills

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@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 <references />
 ==Links==
+{{links/smw}}
+===to file===
 * '''2012-03-29''' [http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/29/1966035/nc-candidate-for-governor-pat.html Fracking could benefit client of Pat McCrory firm]
 * '''2013-04-24''' [http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/clean-and-green-north-carolina/Content?oid=3623862 Clean and green North Carolina] [http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2013&BillID=H298 H298]