{"id":439,"date":"2026-06-16T10:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:15:32","slug":"north-carolina-democrats-propose-changes-to-block-gop-power-transfers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=439","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Democrats propose changes to block GOP power transfers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina introduced a trio of constitutional amendments this week aimed at protecting traditional powers of the state\u2019s governor and reforming oversight of its court system.<\/p>\n

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The effort was prompted in part by ProPublica\u2019s reporting, including an investigation that found that over nearly a decade, Republican lawmakers had pushed through law after law shrinking the powers of North Carolina\u2019s governor, always a Democrat during that time.<\/p>\n

At a press conference on Wednesday, the bills\u2019 sponsors readily acknowledged that the initiatives are unlikely to pass, at least in the current legislative session: Republicans hold majorities in North Carolina\u2019s House and Senate.<\/p>\n

But in proposing the measures as changes to the state constitution, the group of eight Democrats said their goal was to make them less vulnerable to the persistent partisan warfare that has engulfed the narrowly divided swing state.<\/p>\n

Republicans \u201cwon\u2019t always be in the majority,\u201d said Rep. Phil Rubin, the primary sponsor of one bill. \u201cAnd when they\u2019re not, they\u2019re going to suddenly think these are great rules. So let\u2019s do them now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican leaders in the House, Senate and court system did not respond to requests for comment on the bills.<\/p>\n

Experts have long maintained that Republican power grabs have thwarted the will of North Carolina voters, removing the Democratic governor\u2019s control or partial control over numerous boards, entities and executive prerogatives and leaving him the nation\u2019s weakest. (Republican officials have defended the shifts, pointing out that voters also elected a GOP legislative majority.)<\/p>\n

Rubin\u2019s measure would bar the legislature from stripping away additional gubernatorial powers, as well as block majority leaders from what he called \u201cgovernment by ambush\u201d \u2014 springing major legislation on the minority and public without notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cProPublica\u2019s reporting shows the perils of not having this law,\u201d Rubin said. Voters should have \u201cthe opportunity to secure their constitution, demand absolute transparency in lawmaking and ensure that people, not backroom deals, have the final say.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two other constitutional amendments unveiled this week target aspects of the judicial system.<\/p>\n

The first, authored by House Rep. Marcia Morey, would make disciplinary hearings and sanctions by the courts\u2019 internal watchdog, the Judicial Standards Commission, public.<\/p>\n

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GOP rules currently cloak the commission\u2019s work in secrecy. Behind closed doors, ProPublica revealed, the majority-Republican state Supreme Court quashed the commission\u2019s recommendations that two Republican judges who\u2019d admitted to committing egregious conduct violations be publicly reprimanded. (Spokespeople for the North Carolina Supreme Court and the Judicial Standards Commission declined to comment or respond to a detailed list of questions about the matter.)<\/p>\n

Morey\u2019s bill would also change who appoints the commission\u2019s members, a step she called critical to preventing the \u201cweaponization\u201d of its work.<\/p>\n

Currently, Republican legislative leaders and Paul Newby, the state\u2019s conservative chief justice, appoint a majority of the commission\u2019s members. As ProPublica has reported, in 2023 Newby encouraged the commission to investigate a Black Democratic justice who\u2019d criticized his decision to effectively shut down a racial equity commission. (Newby, as well as spokespeople for the court and the Judicial Standards Commission, declined to comment for the story.)<\/p>\n

Morey\u2019s measure would divide commission appointments equally among the chief justice, the governor and the North Carolina State Bar. \u201cWho makes decisions about discipline and who appoints the decision-makers,\u201d she said, are critical to making the system \u201cfair and effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Deb Butler, would disqualify state Supreme Court justices from hearing cases in which family members are parties. Justice Phil Berger Jr. has caused controversy by ruling in multiple cases in which his father, the leader of the state Senate, is a defendant in his legislative capacity. (Berger referred recusal requests on these cases to the Republican majority on the Supreme Court, which ruled he could participate.)<\/p>\n

Butler\u2019s measure would also compel justices to disclose more information about large stock transactions, outside sources of income and sponsored travel. A ProPublica investigation found Newby didn\u2019t disclose a trip to a luxurious Hawaiian resort, paid for by a conservative judicial education program. Newby and court spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about his decision not to disclose the trip.<\/p>\n

Butler described her bill as an effort to restore public trust. \u201cPeople deserve complete confidence in the integrity of their court,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the unlikely event that the bills pass, the public would then have the chance to vote on them in November. If not, the sponsors said, they\u2019d revive them in the next session, by which time even some Republican strategists think that a blue wave may have flipped the North Carolina House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to following through on these bills to ensure fairness and impartiality in our courts and legislature,\u201d Morey said. \u201cThis should be the norm, not the partisan bias we have now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The legislation aims to protect traditional powers of the state\u2019s governor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[399,707,237],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-democratic-party","tag-north-carolina","tag-propublica"],"yoast_head":"\nNorth Carolina Democrats propose changes to block GOP power transfers - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Carolina Democrats propose changes to block GOP power transfers - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The legislation aims to protect traditional powers of the state\u2019s governor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=439\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T10:15:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"North Carolina Democrats propose changes to block GOP power transfers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T10:15:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439\"},\"wordCount\":867,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/305ea9c8afec49bac20cb64f1714c999.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Democratic Party\",\"North Carolina\",\"ProPublica\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439\",\"name\":\"North Carolina Democrats propose changes to block GOP power transfers - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/305ea9c8afec49bac20cb64f1714c999.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T10:15:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=439#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/305ea9c8afec49bac20cb64f1714c999.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/305ea9c8afec49bac20cb64f1714c999.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1128,\"caption\":\"WINSTON-SALEM, NC - SEPTEMBER 22: The Atlantic Coast conference flag, state of North Carolina flag, and United States flag fly during the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Wake Forest Demon Deacons game on September 22, 2018 at BB&T Field in Wake Forrest, NC. 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