Fierce Patriots

Conservative Political News

  • Subscribe

<![CDATA[Roy Cooper]]>

North Carolina Governor Declares ‘State of Emergency’ Over School Choice Bill

by Leave a Comment

This week, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a “state of emergency” and has threatened to veto a school choice bill recently passed by the General Assembly.

According to Cooper, “We can’t let the legislature tear our public schools down.”

So, is Cooper’s assessment of the “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future” Act accurate?

In a word, no.

In reality, school choice would not necessarily harm the existing public school system in North Carolina. If anything, injecting school choice into the Tar Heel State would likely result in public schools bettering themselves due to increased competition.

Under the current system, North Carolina spends on average about $12,000 per student, which is funneled directly to the public schools.

Under the proposed bill, education funding would be rerouted to North Carolina families, so that they can choose the school that best deserves their education dollars.

For several decades, North Carolina’s public schools have had little competition while automatically receiving large sums of money directly from the state government. This has led to a sclerotic state, in which North Carolina’s public schools lack basic accountability for the quality of education (or lack thereof) that they are providing.

For example, only 25 percent of eighth graders in the state are “proficient” in mathematics; only 26 percent are “proficient” in reading.

Unfortunately, this has disproportionately affected North Carolina’s most vulnerable populations, primarily lower-income families. This is the case simply because most North Carolinians cannot afford to send their children to private schools even when their local public schools are failing to meet basic education standards.

An easy remedy to this woeful situation is to offer these families the opportunity to send their children to any school, public or private, that best meets their needs.

Ironically, Gov. Cooper has chosen to send his kids to private schools, utilizing his ability to exercise school choice purely because he has the financial means to do so. At the same time, Cooper is actively opposing the “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future” bill, which would grant the same education choice to all North Carolina families, regardless of household income.

Cooper’s opposition is predicated on the myth that school choice is a zero-sum game whereby public schools will be harmed by the “inevitable” drop in attendance. This is not necessarily “inevitable,” because if public schools were sufficiently educating students, parents would not have to seek other options.

Such is why school choice is a win-win for both the schools themselves and the children who attend them. However, school choice is not a win for public teacher unions and education bureaucrats, who have not been held accountable.

For far too long, public school teachers and education professionals have become complacent and comfortable under the status quo system, which lacks incentives for education innovation and serves as a job protection racket.

Fortunately, the General Assembly has made it clear that it intends to override Cooper’s veto, ensuring that more North Carolina families will have access to school choice.

What’s more, education choice is one of the few issues that is wildly popular among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; all races, and all income levels.

It seems that it would behoove Cooper to switch his stance on the pending bill, considering that his constituents overwhelmingly support education choice.

If Cooper is not careful, he could face an actual state of emergency come the next election.

Kate Venis ([email protected]) is an editorial intern with The Heartland Institute. Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

Petulant Child Roy Cooper Declares ‘State of Emergency’ Over Republican Veto Plan

by Leave a Comment

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper gave a briefing on Monday, declaring a “state of emergency” in the Tarheel State. Did the area get ravaged by some natural disaster that we all missed?

The answer is no. Rather, Cooper is declaring a “state of emergency” because Republicans are about to override his veto of a school choice bill as well as other vetos of GOP legislative priorities. Apparently, parents being able to choose where they send their kids to school is a clear and present danger.

(Related: Heartbreak for NC Dems as GOP Legislature Overrides Gov’s Veto on Abortion Bill)

These are the rantings of a petulant child, unable to accept that parents have finally woken up to what a racket public education is.

Cooper claims that money will now go to “unaccountable private schools,” but just how accountable are public schools? How accountable are public school teachers that hide behind powerful teachers’ unions? Because all I see is abject failure rewarded with more and more money.

Parents deserve the right to take their tax dollars where they want when it comes to educating their children. That includes private schools, including religiously-based ones. The idea that public schools are providing some top-shelf product that your local Catholic school can’t match is laughable. Public education has been failing students for decades, and shoveling more money into the bottomless pit is not the answer.

The governor is also upset about a proposed budget that “only” raises teachers’ pay by 4.5 percent. Cooper wanted a whopping 18 percent raise over two years. Ask yourself, are you going to get an 18 percent raise over the next two years for doing the same job you’ve always done? That’s not to disparage the profession of teaching, but the idea that we are going to hike teachers’ pay by nearly 10 percent every year is not fiscally sustainable. It’s also a slap in the face to taxpayers that sucked it up throughout the COVID-19 pandemic while many teachers refused to go to work. That’s a wound that hasn’t fully healed yet.

Further, the governor expressed his outrage over a plan to lower the state’s income tax. You know, because getting to keep more of your own money is always a bad thing as far as Democrats are concerned. Left-wing news outlets immediately proclaimed that the plan would reduce the state’s revenue by 20 percent, but I’d be willing to bet that doesn’t come to pass. That’s the scare tactic that is always used anytime Republicans cut taxes. Inevitably, over a multi-year period, revenue ends up growing due to increased economic activity.

Now, is Cooper’s declaration of a “state of emergency” over all that stuff an actual executive order? As best as I can tell, it’s not and carries no legal weight. Rather, it’s more rhetorical nonsense from the left, trying to stir up fear and loathing. I’m begging red states to stop electing these supposed “moderate” Democrats. This is always the result because there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat. Bad governance will always follow.

Heartbreak for NC Dems As GOP Supermajority Overrides Gov’s Veto on Abortion Bill

by Leave a Comment

In early April, North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham made national headlines and infuriated her fellow Democrats when she announced she was switching to the Republican party, officially handing the House GOP the power to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s numerous vetoes in the process.

The big question on the minds of the Usual Suspects in the media and on the pro-abortion left in the aftermath was how would Cotham vote on abortion-related legislation, which she had mostly sided with Democrats on in past votes.

She answered her critics a month later, voting in favor of a bill that shortened the time frame for women seeking abortions from the original 20-week limit to 12, with exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal conditions, and the mother’s health.

And on Tuesday, just a few days after term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper – surrounded by radical pro-abortion activists – made a very public show of vetoing the bill after putting pressure on four Republicans in the House including Cotham to sustain it, Cotham along with the three other Republicans Cooper tried to shame voted with every other Republican to override his veto.

Coupled with the North Carolina Senate overriding it earlier in the day, this meant that SB20 – the “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act” – became law.

Cotham explained her support for the bill in a statement:

“I insisted that any abortion legislation include meaningful support and protections to mothers and children to give them the best chance at a good life. This bill provides hundreds of millions of dollars in support for paid parental leave, maternal healthcare, foster care, contraception, and community college tuition and job placement supports to ensure that women and their children have choices, protections and pathways to success. Finally, this bill provides important protections to mothers and children by keeping weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers and ensuring sexual child predators have lifetime GPS monitoring and tracking.

“Some call me a hypocrite since I voted for this bill. They presume to know my story. As I said at the time, I had an ectopic pregnancy that sadly ended in miscarriage, not an elective abortion. In fact, Senate Bill 20 affirms the life-saving care I received in that dire situation. It was very important to me that this legislation protects all women going through a miscarriage or other complications – and it most certainly does.”

Along with Cooper, the Biden White House was not amused, declaring the bill “dangerous” and “out of touch with the majority of North Carolinians” and claiming without evidence that it “will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need.”

Now would be a good time to post a “how it started/how it’s going” update for NC Democrats.

Here’s how NC Senate Dems yucked it up for the camera three years ago when Republicans were unsuccessful in overriding a Cooper veto of the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act“:

And now, check out the below photos of Cotham trolling far-left protesters as they were escorted out of the House gallery on the day of the veto override:

You love to see it. You truly do.

Flashback: Why a North Carolina Democrat’s Party Switch Is an Even Bigger Deal Than You Might Think

Huge win for gun owners in NC as lawmakers override veto of pistol purchase permit repeal

by Leave a Comment

North Carolina’s pistol purchase permit law, put in place during the Jim Crow era more than 100 years ago, will soon be a relic of history thanks to the legislature’s override of Gov. Jim Cooper’s veto of the repeal legislation.

The North Carolina Senate did its job in overriding the veto on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning the state House followed suit on a vote of 71-46. Republicans have a supermajority in the Senate but are one vote shy of a veto-proof majority in the House. Three House Democrats had originally voted in favor of SB 41 however, and Rep. Shelly Willingham had publicly stated that he would not be changing his votes on any bill that Cooper vetoed. It looks like Willingham kept his word, but he may have found a way to do so without officially voting against Cooper’s wishes.

Wednesday’s House vote tally showed three Democrats failed to vote on the override, creating enough of a margin to meet the constitutional requirement.

Republicans needed at least one Democratic member to join them, or as few as two Democrats not to vote.

In addition to repealing the Jim Crow-era gun control law, SB 41 also makes a slight modification to the state’s concealed carry laws, repealing a provision that barred concealed carry holders from lawfully carrying in churches with educational facilities attached to them, even if school is not in session.

NC House Speaker Tim Moore released the following statement:

“This legislation preserves the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians by repealing the outdated pistol permit system. It also allows all churches and other place of religious worship to protect their parishioners and launches a statewide firearm safe storage awareness initiative.

“These have been long-standing goals of Second Amendment advocates in our state, and we have finally brought this legislation over the finish line.”

This is truly a big step forward for North Carolina’s gun laws, and it’s great to see this terrible law undone by the legislature rather than having to wait for the courts to throw out the law on constitutional grounds. Of course, the now-repealed statute still has its defenders, including North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who was quick to weigh in.

“Today’s move by the General Assembly to repeal our pistol permit law has made our communities less safe. Now, dangerous people – like violent criminals and domestic abusers – will be able to more easily get their hands on guns.

“Too many worry that their kids may not come home from school. Gun violence is a terrifying threat, and eliminating background checks will make the job of law enforcement officers more difficult. While our legislators failed us, I’ll continue to do everything in my power to keep people in our state safe.”

Oh please. Criminals aren’t walking in to their local sheriff’s office to apply for a permit to purchase a handgun as it is, and they will continue to acquire their firearms on the black market, through theft, or through friends or family as they’ve always done. And as Grassroots NC’s Paul Valone pointed out earlier this week, North Carolina sheriffs admitted almost a decade ago that the pistol purchase permitting system was actually protecting some prohibited persons thanks to the quirks of the law.

Because the permits are valid for 5 years and can be used to bypass the usual NICS background check when buying a gun from a federally licensed dealer, it is possible for someone to legally get a permit, then commit a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, potentially even serving jail time before using the un-trackable paper permit to avoid a gun purchase background check.

Said the NCSA report:

“The NICS … reports included 165 or 23.5% of permits being subject to revocation in Camden County and 35,488 or 38% of permits being subject to revocation in Mecklenburg County. Several sheriffs’ offices had over 40% of their permits reported subject to revocation in the NICS report.” [Emphasis added]

Also:

“The DOJ/ITD and SBI/DCI staff have batch processed 95 sheriffs’ offices files to NICS and NICS returned 195,937 permits as subject to revocation due to an event or condition that occurred subsequent to the issuance of the permit that would have disqualified the individual from receiving a pistol purchase permit at application.” [Emphasis added]

The problem with NICS estimates is that one criminal may hold multiple permits. (Because each paper permit is valid for only one purchase and is turned in at the point of sale, many applicants apply for multiple permits.) NCSA also ran extant permits through a different system, the “Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services” (CJLEADS), which found 2,969 permit-holders in Mecklenburg County subject to revocation.

This is one reason why the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association wasn’t opposed to repealing the pistol purchase permit law. Most sheriffs know how useless the law is in practice, even if some sheriffs (especially those in deep-blue parts of the state) desperately wanted to maintain the authority to subjectively deny someone their ability to purchase a handgun.

The repeal is now officially in effect, as are the new rules for concealed carry in churches with educational facilities, and I’m guessing that gun stores are going to be busy today; not because violent criminals and domestic abusers are suddenly able to get a gun (they’re not), but because peaceable gun owners are rightfully celebrating the end of a century-long infringement on their fundamental right to bear arms in self-defense. Congratulations to North Carolina Second Amendment supporters, and thank you for all of your activism and engagement on this issue over the past few years. Your hard work has paid off, and your right to keep and bear arms is more secure as a result.