Governor Cooper signed into law S.B. 582, an act (i) to make technical, clarifying, and other modifications to the current operations appropriations act of 2017 and to related legislation and (ii) to make agency technical corrections.
Gov. Cooper shared the following comment:
“While I strongly oppose the continued partisan attacks on the office of the Attorney General, this legislation does include some important provisions. In particular, it lifts the sunset on the film grant program. The film industry creates jobs in North Carolina and we need to do more to bring certainty for the companies that come to our state. In addition, the legislation provides at least a temporary fix to the school principal pay problem. We need a permanent fix to attract and retain great principals.
"Unfortunately, the legislature failed to fix the unfunded class size mandate that will force local schools to make major cuts. This needs to be done immediately.”
In addition, Governor Cooper vetoed S.B. 656, an act to change the definition of a "political party" by reducing the number of signatures required for the formation of a new political party and for unaffiliated candidates to obtain ballot access eligibility; to authorize establishment of political parties recognized in a substantial number of states in the prior presidential election; to change timing of filing of petitions; to reduce the threshold for a substantial plurality to thirty percent; and to eliminate judicial primaries for the 2018 general election.
Gov. Cooper shared the following veto message:
“This legislation abolishes a scheduled election and takes away the right of the people to vote for the judges of their choice. It is the first step toward a constitutional amendment that will rig the system so that the legislature picks everybody's judges in every district instead of letting the people vote for the judges they want. If the legislature doesn't like the fact that judges are ruling many of their laws unconstitutional, they should change their ways instead of their judges.”