
RALEIGH, N.C. (ACME NEWS) — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Governor-elect Josh Stein have filed a lawsuit over Senate Bill 382, a controversial bill that addresses Hurricane Helene relief funding while also makes significant changes to state government powers.
The bill, titled the Disaster Relief-3/Budget/Various Law Changes, moves $227 million from state reserves to the North Carolina Emergency Relief Fund to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery.
Most of the bill however focuses on changes to state government powers. The bill moves the state Board of Elections to be under the State Auditor’s Office, reduces the time period voters have to correct provisional ballots from 10 days to just 2 days, and restricts the governor’s ability to make appointments to several state boards and commissions. That includes removing the incoming governor’s role in appointing the Commander of the state’s Highway Patrol.
The new law would restructure the Highway Patrol, making it an independent, cabinet-level department. Under the bill, the Highway Patrol would have a commander serving a fixed five-year term, subject to legislative confirmation. Traditionally, the Highway Patrol has been part of the governor’s Cabinet, with the leader serving at the governor’s discretion.
SB 382 was introduced in late November with little public notice and passed quickly along party lines during a lame-duck session. The bill passed the North Carolina Senate on November 20, and Governor Cooper vetoed it on November 26.
In his veto, Cooper called the bill a “sham,” saying it “does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh.”
Earlier this month, after three Republican representatives from Western North Carolina reversed their opposition, Republicans were able to override Cooper’s veto with their veto-proof supermajority.
Following the veto override, Cooper criticized the bill on X (formerly Twitter), stating it “does little to help, and actually hurts Western North Carolina, by stripping away higher unemployment benefits for people who lost jobs due to the storm.” He called it disgraceful that Republican leaders used Hurricane Helene “as a fig leaf for their power grab.”
On December 12, Stein announced in a press release and on X that he and Cooper were taking legal action to challenge SB 382. In a response on X, the North Carolina GOP accused Stein of playing political games and staging photo ops rather than working for the people. They called the bill “common sense legislation” that benefits Western North Carolina families.
Today, Governor Cooper and I have taken legal action to stop the legislature’s unconstitutional and dangerous power grab. This law threatens public safety, fractures the chain of command during a crisis, and thwarts the will of voters. Our people deserve better than a…
— Josh Stein (@JoshStein_) December 13, 2024
The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, names House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, and Col. Freddy Johnson, commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, as defendants. The lawsuit challenges a provision preventing Stein from appointing his own Highway Patrol commander.
Read the full lawsuit here.
If upheld, the law would allow Col. Johnson, who was appointed by Cooper three years ago, to remain in the position until June 2030—18 months after Stein’s term ends.
Cooper and Stein argue that these measures violate the state constitution by undermining executive authority and breaching the separation of powers. The current and future governors are asking the court to declare parts of the law unconstitutional and block its enforcement.
“This unconstitutional and dangerous power grab threatens public safety and disrupts the chain of command in crises,” Cooper and Stein said in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is part of a broader constitutional battle between the executive branch and the Republican-controlled legislature. Cooper and Stein have indicated that additional legal challenges to other provisions of SB 382 are forthcoming.
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