Summary

The North Carolina House passed a controversial bill allocating $227 million for Hurricane Helene relief while including provisions to reduce powers of the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general.

Critics, including Democrats, called it a “power grab,” citing changes like stripping the governor’s control over the State Board of Elections and limiting the attorney general’s ability to challenge state laws or advocate for utility customers.

Republicans defended the bill as necessary, but some GOP lawmakers opposed it.

The bill now heads to the Senate and may face a gubernatorial veto.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      I’m not sure if you’re phrasing this backwards deliberately. But Dems in the House passed the For the People Act while Dems in the Senate (Manchin, most particularly) killed it. A compromise bill was crafted (by Manchin!), but Manchin and Sinema refused to exempt it from the filibuster in a rules vote.

      This was in 2021, of course. Dems had an even better opportunity in 2009, when they were sitting on bigger majorities. But, again, they dawdled and delayed and let guys like Lieberman play footsie with the opposition.

      Efforts to fix the disparity in the Senate by granting DC Statehood (and effectively guaranteeing Dems gain two additional Democrat seats) have also stalled in Congress indefinitely, going all the way back to the 1990s.

      In the meantime, Republicans turn the ratchet rightward by further gerrymandering districts, stacking courts, and expanding the pool of ineligible voters through caging/voter registration purges/etc. They’ve been at this since the early 2000s, and every cycle gives us more lopsided state legislatures. Wisconsin’s GOP can hold a supermajority with as little as 40% of the popular vote, for instance.

      • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        lol ok Manchin and Sinema, two big democrats! Yup! it’s laughable you’d try to paint them as such. your disingenuous trolling is some top tier useless garbage

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          lol ok Manchin and Sinema, two big democrats!

          When Republicans hold office with a slim majority, they’ve got the power to end democracy

          When Democrats hold office with a slim majority, the majority doesn’t count and nobody can do anything.