Lieutenant Governor Forest Urges General Assembly to Sustain Governor McCrory's Veto of Reclaim NC Act | Eastern North Carolina Now

For Immediate Release:

    Raleigh, NC     Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest has urged the General Assembly to sustain Governor Pat McCrory's veto of the Reclaim NC Act. The bill would expand the seasonal worker E-Verify exemption from 90 days to nearly nine months. That means seasonal workers working for up to 9 months would not have to go through the E-Verify system which confirms an employee and job applicant's citizenship and legal status.

    Governor McCrory vetoed House Bill 786 because it could allow unauthorized workers to take away jobs from legal, North Carolina residents. It's also unfair to North Carolina employers who contribute to the economic vitality of their communities by hiring permanent, legal workers.

    Lieutenant Governor Forest's statement follows:

    I support the governor's veto of House Bill 786. The General Assembly wrote this law and they have the power and the numbers to override the veto.

    But I respectfully ask that they not do so. The governor sees the same thing I see in the bill, a loophole that will be exploited by some unscrupulous employers to reclassify non-agricultural workers as "seasonal" for the purposes of evading the E-Verify law. If we allow this loophole to stand, we are consenting to employers hiring illegal aliens in place of the North Carolina citizens we were sent here to represent.

    The General Assembly could accept the veto and correct the loophole in the next session. At the end of the day, the voting citizens of North Carolina will be the judge of us all. If this loophole stands, it happened on our watch and we are responsible.

    As Republicans we stand for the Rule of Law. It is who we are and what we believe. If we allow the Rule of Law to be circumvented in such an open fashion, we will be held accountable by the general public... and we should. As president of the Senate, I do not have a vote, unless there is a tie. If I could vote, I would vote to uphold the governor's veto.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
      govpress@nc.gov