VOLUME 8 ISSUE 19
|
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2023
Rockets’ red glare Fireworks light up the sky over Clayton during the town’s annual Independence Day celebration. PHOTO VIA TOWN OF CLAYTON
the
State Treasurer wants to overturn retirement benefits case ruling
BRIEF this week
Buc-ees planning NC location in Alamance County Mebane Buc-ees, a Texas-based gas station and cultural phenomenon, has its eyes on a site along Interstates 85 and 40 between Greensboro and Raleigh. The company initially sought to come to western Orange County in 2021 but withdrew those plans following opposition from some residents and the county board of commissioners. According to local news reports, the Mebane Town Council will vote on the proposal once it clears the local planning board sometime this fall. The largest Buc-ee’s in the United States recently opened in Tennessee and the company has 58 locations across the southeast. NSJ STAFF
Older Americans can get RSV vaccine this fall after consulting their doctor, CDC says Atlanta Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first, said U.S. health officials. The newly approved vaccines are expected to be ready in the fall. Those eligible for the RSV vaccine should talk with their doctor to see if it is right for them, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of coldlike symptoms but it can be dangerous for infants and the elderly. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Army combat veteran to take over federal election security role Washington, D.C. Cait Conley, an Army combat veteran with extensive cybersecurity and counterterrorism experience is taking over as one of the nation’s top election security officials, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency announced. Conley previously served as a director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council. She also was the executive director of the Defending Digital Democracy Project, based out of Harvard University’s Belfer Center. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Local governments face $7.6B shortfall in retiree health care benefit costs, per Folwell’s office
retirement years, based upon a contractual promise, is being a good steward for North Carolina,” O’Connell, told ABC 11 in an interview about the case. In 2022, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled 4-2 down party lines that the case involving retirees seeking premium-free retirement benefits could proceed despite a unanimous N.C. Court of Appeals ruling in 2019 that was upheld by an appellate court which said the plaintiffs had failed to prove there was a valid contract. The case originated with actions taken in May 2011 by the General Assembly that allowed the State Health Plan to charge premiums for some health care options covered by the plan. A lawsuit was filed in April of the following year by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverly Lake, who passed away in 2019. That lawsuit became a class-action suit in 2016. In February 2020, the then-Democratically controlled state Supreme Court agreed to take the case. A few months later, in January 2021, the high court announced the disqualification of five of the seven sitting justices due to conflicts of interest, but only one justice ended up recusing — Chief Justice Paul Newby, who was then the highest-rank-
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
Lawmakers continue override streak of Cooper vetoes By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Last week, the North Carolina General Assembly successfully overrode six additional vetoes of legislation issued by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. The overridden vetoes included Senate Bill 582, (North Carolina Farm Act of 2023); Senate Bill 364, (Nondiscrimination and Dignity in State Work); Senate Bill 331 (Consumer Finance Act Amendments), Senate Bill 329 (Retail Installment Sales Act Amendments); Senate Bill 299 (Reimburse Late Audit Costs with Sales Tax Rev.); and House Bill 750 (Address ESG Factors). Both Senate Bills 331 and
229 passed the legislature with unanimous support from both parties, however, during the override votes nearly every Democrat who voted to pass the measures flipped their vote to uphold the governor’s veto. The Senate overrode Cooper’s veto of this year’s Farm Act bill by a vote of 29-17. Sens. Gale Adcock (D-Wake), Sydney Batch (D-Wake), Dan Blue (D-Wake), Mary Willis Bode (D-Wake) Rachel Hunt (D-Mecklenburg), Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth), Kandie Smith (D-Pitt), Joyce Waddell (D-Mecklenburg), and Mike Woodard (D-Durham) had all previously voted in favor of concurrence on the bill but reversed their votes to uphold See COOPER, page A2
US Supreme Court rules in pair of NC-centric cases By Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a pair of cases with big implications for North Carolina in the final week of their term that ended in June. The court announced its ruling in Moore v. Harper on Tuesday, June 27, largely siding against the plaintiffs in the case which included state legislative leaders in a 6-3 decision. “The Elections Clause does not carve out an exception to that fundamental principle. When state legislatures prescribe the rules concerning federal elections, they remain subject to the ordinary exercise of state judicial review,” read part of the holding in the de-
cision. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Kavanaugh also filed a concurring opinion. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion in the case, which was joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito in part. Initial reports said that plaintiffs, led by the legislative leaders, lost the case. But, in part of his dissent, Justice Thomas noted that the N.C. Supreme Court’s 2023 rehearing essentially made the case before them moot. “In short, this case is over, and petitioners won. The trial court’s original final judgment in favor
RALEIGH — State Treasurer Dale Folwell filed a writ of prohibition that seeks to overturn a 2022 ruling issued by the then-Democrat majority state Supreme Court in a case involving retirement health care benefits. The writ alleges “this court acted without the quorum of four neutral Justices” as required by state law in ruling the case could proceed and that the court “therefore acted without jurisdiction or legal authority.” “This court’s decision was without jurisdiction and legal authority, so it is void,” the writ’s conclusion states. “Without this court’s intervention, the Superior Court will continue to proceed without lawful authority. Defendants therefore seek this Court’s issuance of a writ of prohibition to correct its own past irregular and unauthorized actions.” Tim O’Connell, the executive director of the NC Retired Governmental Employees Association, disagrees. “To take care of them in the
See BENEFITS, page A3
of petitioners, affirmed by the State Supreme Court in Harper III, represents ‘the final determination of the rights of the parties’ in this case,” wrote Thomas. “Harper I has been overruled, and plaintiffs-respondents’ claims for relief have been dismissed on adequate and independent state-law grounds. As a result, petitioners’ alternative Elections Clause defense to those claims no longer requires decision; the merits of that defense simply have no bearing on the judgment between the parties in this action. That is the definition of mootness for an issue.” The decision comes at the N.C. Supreme Court earlier this year vacated rulings from the 2022 court in both redistricting and voter ID. Moore indicated as much in April, telling North State Journal at an event he expects new maps for the 2024 elections for Congress and both chambers of the General Assembly. Redistricting litigation is far See SCOTUS, page A2
5
20177 52016 $0.50
8