RALEIGH, N.C.— As of now, Josh Stein is the governor of North Carolina. He says that new laws passed by Republicans that limit the governor’s ability to select officials are “partisan power grabs that go against what North Carolina voters chose at the ballot box.”
On Friday, the Democratic governor sued House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger in Wake County court. He wanted to get rid of parts of a broad bill that took away his power to name people to a commission that regulates companies that provide services like electricity, natural gas, and others. The overall bill was passed by the General Assembly, which was controlled by Republicans, in December, over the veto of Gov. Roy Cooper.
Stein said in a news release released Monday by his office that his easy win as governor in November shows that the people want him to keep his power.
He said, “I filed this lawsuit to make sure that their vote is respected, to bring balance back to our state’s government, and to put our Constitution ahead of power grabs.”
The case also wants to get rid of changes to the state Building Code Council appointments that were made after a veto override in September.
Cooper and Stein had filed two similar lawsuits in December against other parts of the omnibus bill that took away their power to choose members of the State Board of Elections and the head of the state Highway Patrol. Cooper, who was also a Democrat, sued several GOP leaders over threats to his power during his eight years as governor. The results were mixed.
In his latest case, Stein is trying to have the law that limits who he can choose to fill open seats on the 15-member Court of Appeals and the seven-member state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.
In the state constitution, it says that the governor fills judicial vacancies. The lawsuit said that this wording shows that the state’s founders “intended the Governor to hold exclusive, unfettered authority to fill appellate judicial vacancies.”
The new rule tells the governor to choose an appellate court judge from three people put forward by the political party of the judge or justice who is leaving. A governor who is already in office has filled other openings with people from a different party than the judge who was leaving.
The Utilities Commission will soon have five members instead of its current seven. Without the law from December, the retooled committee would have had three members chosen by the governor and two chosen by the General Assembly. As of this summer, though, the law from December would give one of the governor’s three appointments to the state treasurer, who is presently Brad Briner, a Republican.
The lawsuit said that the law violates the constitutional separation of powers doctrine because it doesn’t give the governor enough control over a panel to make sure that “the laws be faithfully executed.” The law also takes away the governor’s power to choose the chairman of the commission.
Stein challenges changes to the Building Code Council with similar points of view. Even though the governor would choose seven of the 13 board members, Stein’s lawyers say that he won’t have enough control over the group because acts and changes to the code can’t happen without the agreement of nine board members.
Monday, an email sent to Hall and Berger’s lawyers asking for comment on the case wasn’t answered right away. Republicans have said that the assembly has always been the most powerful of the three branches, and that the governor doesn’t have all the power in the executive branch.
Other lawsuits about shifting power that were made by Cooper, Stein, or both are still being heard. Monday, a judge decided that the lawsuits against the changes to the State Board of Elections and the head of the Highway Patrol would be heard by groups of three trial judges. This coming week, the state Court of Appeals will hear points in a case brought by Cooper that questions the make-up of seven state boards and commissions in a 2023 law.
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