Josh Stein is arguably the weakest governor in the nation. Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper jokes that if Republican lawmakers strip any more power away, he’ll be naked.
But that doesn’t seem to be a deterrent this session as various bills attempt to shift more authority away from the governor — and other Democratic executives — to the Republican-led General Assembly or executive offices currently held by the GOP.
Already, Stein operates in a “legislature-first state” where the governor has always played second fiddle to the General Assembly.
For that, you can thank the royal governors, whose tight grip on colonial legislatures in the 1700s has left an enduring bad taste, Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer explained.
As governor, Stein holds essentially no power over the state budget other than the obligation to share his vision with Republican lawmakers who are free to promptly discard it in favor of their own.
His veto power is one of the weakest in the country, with no ability to object to specific items in budget bills, redistricting legislation, constitutional amendments or bills that apply to fewer than 15 counties.
He doesn’t even get to appoint his executive team. The attorney general, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction and six other primary executive offices are elected by the people.
Moreover, the governor’s other appointment powers have shrunk throughout the years.
So why keep going? To show “who’s in control,” Bitzer said.
In the red
“Power grab.”
“Voter suppression.”
“You are overturning the will of the people.”
In late November, audience members were forcibly removed from the North Carolina Senate gallery after loudly objecting to Senate Bill 382, a Hurricane Helene relief bill that included a few hundred pages of other legislative changes.
Among them were several shifts of power from elected Democratic executives to the Republican-led legislature or elected GOP executives.
The governor’s Utilities Commission appointment went to the treasurer, Republican Brad Briner.
Stein’s election appointments — all members of the State Board of Elections and the chairs of the 100-county boards of election — were transferred to the state auditor, Republican Dave Boliek.
Stein would need legislative approval to appoint his State Highway Patrol commander and political party input when filling court vacancies.
The superintendent of public instruction, Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green, lost his ability to appeal charter school grants, renewals or amendments, as well as his oversight of the Center for Safer Schools.
The attorney general, Democrat Jeff Jackson, was barred from intervening in Utilities Commission matters or taking a position in court that conflicted with the General Assembly.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 382, calling it a “sham.” The legislature overrode it, and now various aspects of the law are in court.
In any case, the legislation served as a preview of what was to come in the 2025 General Assembly.
Stripping more governor power
A month after Helene hit Western North Carolina, Cooper issued an executive order, citing his emergency powers. The order temporarily raised the amount of weekly unemployment insurance benefits North Carolinians in the federally-declared disaster area could receive.
But since then, things have taken a turn.
Enter House Bill 48, which simultaneously censures Cooper’s move as illegal and upholds his executive order. It states that the General Assembly or U.S. Congress, not the governor, would have to call for any future expansions of unemployment insurance.
Bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Julia Howard, said the governor didn’t have authority to expand benefits, but “in the wisdom of the General Assembly, we felt that the right thing to do is to ratify that executive order.”
Democratic Rep. Deb Butler questioned why Republicans were trying to limit the governor’s ability to make a quick judgment in a crisis situation.
“It’s just another step in a rather calculated effort to undermine the balance of power in this state, and it is something that I just cannot support,” she said.
House Bill 48 made it through the state House and is awaiting committee assignment in the state Senate. A pair of proposed constitutional amendments seeking to limit governor powers haven’t made it quite as far yet.
Other proposed House bills would further erode a governor’s influence.
House Bill 144 would remove the governor’s ability to appoint a majority of the State Board of Education, subject to legislative confirmation. Instead, voters would elect 14 of the board’s 17 members, if a majority of voters approved the amendment.
And House Bill 64 would limit the governor’s clemency power — the ability to grant pardons or reduce sentences. If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would require a majority of the General Assembly to approve the governor’s clemency actions.
‘Being a shield’
North Carolina voters haven’t elected a Republican attorney general since 1896, but they have consistently elected Republicans to the legislature since 2011.
“It just makes partisan sense to limit power from that Democratic official,” Western Carolina’s Cooper said.
Attorneys general are the chief lawyers for states. In North Carolina, they provide legal opinions to the legislature, governor and other public officials. They also may sue or intervene in court on behalf of the state, its agencies or its citizens.
Groups of attorneys general tend to work together to object or support certain presidential actions, depending on which party is in power. For example, Jackson has sued President Donald Trump over four of his executive orders — those banning birthright citizenship, pausing federal grants, granting DOGE access to federal payment systems and cutting medical research funding.
Senate Bill 58 and House Bill 72 would keep Jackson from continuing that trend. It would remove the power to advance any argument in court that would invalidate a presidential executive order — even if the General Assembly also objected to that order, according to legislative staff.
It’s nationalized, short-term power politics, playing out in North Carolina, Bitzer said.
Democratic lawmakers questioned if the bill was “prudent” or whether Republican lawmakers were fully thinking it through. After all, the president won’t always be a Republican and the attorney general may not always be a Democrat.
It might “come back to bite” Republicans later, predicted state Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg.
“The people of North Carolina elected two different people from two different parties to be their leaders,” he said. “Sounds to me like North Carolina would want these types of checks and balances to protect our state sovereignty.”
On Tuesday, state senators voted along party lines to approve Senate Bill 58 and send it to the House.
In the meantime, Jackson continues to go to court over Trump’s executive orders, and, so far, he’s got a good track record.
Jackson took to social media after a federal judge temporarily blocked medical research cuts, which would have harmed major research universities and “threaten(ed) thousands of jobs and innovation across the state.”
“It was a reminder that an important part of this job is being a shield against unlawful federal acts that would undercut our economy and hurt our future,” Jackson said in a post on X. “For the good of our state, that shield should remain in place.”
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