Bill filed in NC House to rein in Governor's emergency powers | Eastern NC Now

 

 

The abuse of NC's Emergency Management Act by Governor Roy Cooper during the pandmic has led to introduction of a bill in the NC House to rein in the governor's emergency powers.  It is entitled the Emergency Powers Accountability Act (HB 264) and its lead sponsor is Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort).  Other chief sponsors are Reps. John Bell, Destin Hall, and Tim Moffitt.

 

The bill provides that a governor may issue an emergency executive order only for a period of 7 days without concurrence of the Council of State, and can only issue estentions for 30 day periods and only with Council of State concurrence. To avoid the end run that Cooper did this time around the Council of State by abusing another section of the statute for purposes it was not intended, the bill also brings that section under the Council of State concurrence provisions.