Bill Barring “Sue-and-Settle” Schemes Clears Senate Committee | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is CJ Staff.

    The Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee on Wednesday, April 21, approved Senate Bill 360, which would require legislative leaders to sign off on any deal settling a lawsuit in which the General Assembly is a party.

    The chairmen of the committee, Sens. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus; Warren Daniel, R-Burke; and Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell; are sponsors. The bill heads to Rules.

    The bill, a news release says, comes after Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the Democrat-controlled N.C. State Board of Elections, and Attorney General Josh Stein, secretly negotiated with national Democratic Party lawyer Marc Elias on a "settlement" changing election laws after voting began last year.

    The legislation prevents state agencies from circumventing the lawmaking process and changing laws through settlements with friendly plaintiffs.

    "No agency head should have the ability to change state law on their own or secretly settle a lawsuit with political allies," Newton said in a statement. "This bill intends to put an end to these 'sue-and-settle' schemes. Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell and Attorney General Josh Stein lost the trust of the voters last year when they changed election laws in the middle of an election."