Nc Court Dates By Defendant Name
New NC budget likely headed to court over separation of powers
North Carolina’s newly-enacted budget hasn’t even become law yet, but it’s already facing a potential legal challenge from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Cooper said Thursday he’s likely to take Republican lawmakers to court over a budget provision that strips him of his appointments to the state and local boards that oversee the state’s 57 community colleges.
“We are obviously planning a lawsuit in that,” Cooper told WRAL News Thursday. “I think, clearly, what they’ve done not only is unconstitutional, but I think it will hurt the economy of North Carolina and the operation of its government.”
Last week, when Cooper announced he would allow the budget to become law without his signature, he said it “blatantly violates the constitution,” and predicted “many of its provisions will face legal action.”
Republican leaders of the state House and Senate didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Under current law, the governor appoints 10 members of the state board of community colleges. Six of them are required to represent diverse geographic regions. The legislature appoints eight members. The budget gives those ten appointments to state lawmakers for a total of nine each for the House and Senate, with no requirement for geographically diverse representation.
Local boards of trustees for community colleges are currently made up of four members appointed by the governor, four appointed by the local board of education, and four by the county commissioners, plus the president of the student body as a non-voting member. The budget takes away the governor’s and local school boards’ appointments, giving them to state lawmakers instead. It also makes the student representative seat optional, depending on the board’s wishes.
Cooper said the courts have already ruled in a long list of cases that the state constitution calls for a separation of powers between the legislative branch, which makes the laws, and the executive branches, which implements the laws.
“We have the best [community college] system in the country,” Cooper said. “It has put us number one in the country in business. Yet they come in, I guess because of their ego and their quest for power, to take all of the appointments and take them away from the governor.”
Cooper also predicted the loss of local school boards’ appointments to local community college boards would hurt cooperation between the two.
“Why would you want to disrupt a system that’s working well just for your own power grab?” Cooper asked.
The change to community college governance is just one of many proposals passed by GOP lawmakers this session to lessen the governor’s powers. Other proposals would take away the governor’s authority to appoint election officials, education leaders, and environmental and utility watchdog panels.
For the past decade, the state Supreme Court has largely repelled similar efforts in the interest of the separation of powers. However, in 2023, after a six-year stint in the minority, Republicans once again took control of the court. Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby has signaled in his rulings he would be open to reconsidering some of those earlier decisions.
WRAL News reporter Liz McLaughlin contributed to this report.
