Cooper vetoes bill shifting power on key state boards
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday vetoed a bill that would replace the entire state Board of Transportation and shift appointment powers, giving the legislature more say over boards that make important government decisions.
Senate Bill 512 would reduce or reallocate gubernatorial appointments to eight governing boards, including the Commission for Public Health and the Environmental Management Commission, which sets a number of business regulations. In many cases appointment powers shift to the legislative majority, currently held by Republicans.
Two state Supreme Court decisions over the past decade have denied lawmakers more appointments to administrative boards, saying boards and commissions clearly serve an executive function and should be controlled by the governor. Cooper cited that precedent when he announced the veto.
"It's pretty clear that the constitution gives the governor the duty to execute the laws that are passed by the General Assembly," Cooper said. "And the North Carolina Supreme Court has been very strong over the decades in protecting this. ... And when the governor does not have the majority of appointments on boards and commissions that help to execute these laws, then it hurts the efficient and effective use of taxpayer money."
The state Supreme Court's makeup changed after the 2023 elections, though, from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority. Conservative observers said at the time the new court might be willing to reconsider some of the court’s prior decisions.
Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger told reporters last week that the bill gets around constitutional questions by giving appointments to members of the executive branch who are not the governor, like the state treasurer, agriculture commissioner and insurance commissioner, all of whom are currently Republicans. Berger also said he expects a veto override would succeed if Cooper vetoes the bill and that he expects a legal challenge from the Cooper administration once the overridden bill becomes law.
“The question there becomes whether or not the previous cases mean that the governor has to have the majority [on each board] or if it is, in some respect, that the executive branch having the majority is acceptable,” Berger said.
Berger added that a lawsuit in state court would afford lawmakers “an opportunity to see some clarity, hopefully, as to exactly where the line is, and what the authority of the legislature is in creating and populating boards and commissions, what the authority of the executive branch is.”
For most of the boards involved the bill shifts appointment powers, but it would replace the entire state Board of Transportation, ending current members terms immediately and allowing the governor and General Assembly to name replacements.
“Governor Cooper has taken advantage of his appointment power by choosing members with no regard for the diverse makeup of our state," state Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, said in a statement Thursday. "The legislature is the elected body closest to the people of North Carolina and has the ability to recruit a qualified, diverse roster of appointees. Senate Bill 512 balances appointment power between the legislative and executive branches and brings better representation to North Carolina's boards and commissions."
Melissa Price Kromm, the director of NC Voters for Clean Elections, said the bill is part of a longstanding pattern of lawmakers trying to usurp power delegated by the constitution to the other two branches of government.
“It's really rich that they're trying to take over the appointment process when they still haven't passed the budget, which is their job,” Kromm told WRAL News. “That's like two months late. So why are you taking away power from the governor when you can't even get your job done?”
