NC Senate overrides more of Gov. Cooper’s vetoes. What the newly enacted laws do.
The N.C. Senate overrode five of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes Monday, enacting several new laws dealing with off-road vehicles, tenancy regulations and digital currency.
State lawmakers have now overridden 25 vetoes since Republicans obtained a supermajority in the House and Senate last year.
Three of the vetoes overridden Monday were already voted on by the House, meaning they now become law. The other two will have to go to the House for veto-override votes before they could be enacted.
▪ One of the newly enacted laws, House Bill 155, deals with titles for off-road vehicles. It lets the Division of Motor Vehicles issue title certificates for all-terrain and utility vehicles and allows off-site safety inspections of low-speed vehicles.
▪ Another of the new laws, HB 556, amends tenancy rules. Among other things, it prohibits local governments from passing any ordinance that would forbid landlords from refusing to rent to tenants whose income includes funding from a federal, housing-assistance program.
When he vetoed the bill in July, Cooper wrote “This bill would make it harder for low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities to find affordable rental housing by preventing local governments from protecting against rent discrimination based on lawful income.”
▪ The last of the new laws, HB 690, prohibits any state agency from accepting a payment using central bank digital currency. It also forbids agencies from participating in any potential tests of such currency by a branch of the Federal Reserve.
HB 690 initially passed with broad bipartisan support in both chambers, but Democrats voted against overriding it on Friday.
When he vetoed the bill in July, Cooper wrote “This legislation is premature, vague and reactionary and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven’t even been made yet. Instead of this bill, the legislature should have passed a budget to provide more funding for cybersecurity threats that actually exist now.”
The Senate overrode two more bills on Friday that now go to the House.
One deals with the recording of court-filed documents. The other reforms many regulations surrounding building codes.
The state House is scheduled to vote Wednesday, but it is not clear whether the chamber will take up veto overrides.
