By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein says more recent laws enacted by state Republicans that erode some gubernatorial appointment powers are “partisan power grabs that thwart North Carolina voters’ decisions at the ballot box.”
The Democratic governor sued House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger in Wake County court on Friday, aiming to strike down provisions within wide-ranging legislation that removed his power to fill court vacancies and name members of a commission that regulates electricity and natural gas. The Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted the omnibus law in December over then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
The lawsuit also seeks to throw out state Building Code Council appointment changes that were approved last September.
In a news release provided by his office Monday, Stein said that his comfortable gubernatorial election victory in November signals the public wants him to retain powers.
“I filed this lawsuit to ensure that their vote is respected, to restore balance to our state’s branches of government, and to put our Constitution ahead of power grabs,” he said.
Cooper and Stein had filed two similar lawsuits in December challenging other provisions in the omnibus legislation that took away powers to appoint State Board of Elections members and name a state Highway Patrol commander. Cooper, also a Democrat, filed several lawsuits against GOP leaders over challenges to his powers during his eight years as governor, with mixed results.
In the latest lawsuit, Stein seeks to have declared unconstitutional the law that places conditions on whom he can appoint to fill vacancies on the seven-member state Supreme Court and 15-member intermediate-level Court of Appeals.
The state constitution says the governor fills judicial vacancies, and based on the language the state’s founders “intended the Governor to hold exclusive, unfettered authority to fill appellate judicial vacancies,” the lawsuit said.
The new law directs the governor to fill an appellate court vacancy from a list of three people offered by the political party with which the departing judge or justice was affiliated. A sitting governor has otherwise filled vacancies with someone from a different party than the departing judge.
The current seven-member Utilities Commission already will soon decrease to five members. Without the December law, the retooled commission would be composed of three members appointed by the governor and two by the General Assembly. The December law, however, would give starting this summer one of the governor’s three appointments to the state treasurer, who is currently Republican Brad Briner.
The law, which also takes away the governor’s authority to pick the commission chairman, violates the constitutional separation of powers doctrine and fails to ensure a governor has enough control over a panel to ensure that “the laws be faithfully executed,” the lawsuit said.
Stein uses similar arguments to challenge changes to the Building Code Council. While the governor would appoint seven of the 13 members, Stein’s lawyers contend he’ll still lack sufficient control over the board because code changes can’t be approved unless nine members agree.
Spokespersons for Hall and Berger didn’t immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit. With similar laws, Republicans have argued that the legislature has historically been the most powerful of the three branches, and that executive branch power doesn’t rest with the governor alone.
Action continues for other pending power-shifting lawsuits filed by Cooper, Stein or both. A judge agreed Monday that the lawsuits challenging the Highway Patrol commander and State Board of Elections changes will be heard by panels of three trial judges. And the state Court of Appeals will hear arguments next week in a Cooper lawsuit that challenged the composition of seven state boards and commissions in a 2023 law.