State lawmakers may delay overriding governor's vetoes
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- North Carolina lawmakers were expected to return to the Legislative Building in Raleigh Thursday to vote on overriding four of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's vetoes. But a key House member said the votes on overriding the vetoes could be delayed until next month.
The General Assembly is returning from a five-week hiatus but numerous lawmakers will still be on vacation or busy with unrelated business.
Rep. David Lewis of Harnett County, chairman of the House Rules Committee, said he anticipates the override veto votes will be considered during the next session, which is scheduled for Sept. 6.
Instead, Lewis said, legislators on Thursday could vote on one or two bills that House and Senate negotiators failed to finalize before the work session ended. One would address an array of regulatory changes. Another one addresses the rules for Cleveland County local school board races.
Some lawmakers will stay until Friday to talk more about redrawing General Assembly districts. Federal judges have determined 28 districts had been illegally gerrymandered based on racial bias. They've ordered new maps by September 1.
State lawmakers have already passed overrides on five of the Governor's previous vetoes.
One vetoed measure directed state environmental regulators to allow landfills to spray liquid collected under landfills into the air with a fine mist. Cooper said lawmakers should be leaving those decisions to scientists.
Click here to read House Bill 576
The governor also was worried a bill designed to make nonprofits' "casino nights" officially legitimate could provide a foothold for the video poker industry to be revived in the state.
Click here to read House Bill 511
Cooper said another vetoed bill sought to punish the media. It allowed Guilford County governments and attorneys to stop posting paid legal notices in newspapers and put them on government websites instead. The fourth vetoed measure addresses credit insurance that borrowers can buy on small, high-interest loans.
Click here to read House Bill 205
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
