Shivving Winston-Salem ... Because They Can

Rep. Donny Lambeth,
forcing himself to smile

Currently, the city of Winston-Salem elects eight members to its city council (plus a mayor who only votes to break ties). Currently, seven of them are Democrats and one is a Republican. Currently, four are white and four are black. Forsyth County Republican reps in the General Assembly filed a vicious little bill last Thursday (March 28) to change that council in radical ways.

The bill would reduce council districts (wards) from eight to five. Three black incumbent women (D.D. Adams, Vivian Burke, and Annette Scippio) would be shoved into the same district, to run against each other. Incumbent white male Dan Besse would also be double-bunked with the lone Republican. The three dissolved ward seats would become "at large" council seats, the mayor would be given a vote on every measure before the council, and all terms of office would be reduced to two years.

Chaos.

The two House sponsors of this snide innovation, Donny Lambeth and Debra Conrad, might relish the punishment they're meting out to their partisan enemies in the urban core of Winston-Salem. But they might want to take note of what happened in Guilford County after a vicious little attempt to upend the Greensboro city council in a similar way (see last paragraph below). Neither Lambeth nor Conrad won reelection last fall by unassailable margins. As a matter of fact, Lambeth beat his Democratic opponent, Dan Besse (where have I heard that name before?), by just over 2,000 votes, and Debra Conrad's Dem opponent, Terri LeGrand, came within 3,200 votes in a much more rural section of Forsyth. (Full disclosure: I contributed to both the Besse and the LeGrand campaigns.)

One of the black council women targeted with triple-bunking, D.D. Adams, ran against 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx last fall, and she "emphatically denounced" Lambeth and Conrad to the Winston-Salem Journal "for what she described as a racist payback for the Democratic activism of black women":

"Everybody thinks we are going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya — it's not going to happen that way," Adams said a day after learning of the bill. "This is one of those times when we are going to have to fight."

Her message to Lambeth and Conrad: "How dare you?" ... repeated. "How dare you!"

Said Dan Besse: "It is no coincidence that they drew me into the only Republican-leaning district ... When you look at the fact that I challenged Donny, and D.D. challenged Virginia Foxx -- that has to flag the city on the radar of the Republican party structure."

No kidding, the arrogance. "I don't know what problem they are trying to solve," said the lone Republican on the council, Robert Clark, referring to Lambeth and Conrad. "I think the city council should be consulted before anything moves forward. They don't talk with anybody, they just do it ... I am absolutely puzzled." That's what the Republican thought.

Remember that Republicans in Raleigh also overreached for partisan advantage in a proposal to redistrict the city government of Greensboro. How did that attempt work out for them? In this last election, Guilford County saw a net gain of one Democrat in the NC House (Ashton Clemmons) and one Democrat in the NC Senate (Michael Garrett). Garrett actually beat the author of the Greensboro redistricting attempt, Sen. Trudy Wade, a comeuppance that could instill a little humility in Lambeth and Conrad.

Another Terrible Idea From the Republicans in Raleigh

D. Craig Horn
"Let Them Eat Pixels"

Now they want poor four-year-olds to go to pre-school by sitting in front of a computer screen at home.

No, really. The "Virtual Early Learning Pilot Program" was filed by some powerful Republicans including D. Craig Horn of Union County, who chairs a couple of education committees in the NC House, and Harry Warren of Rowan County (among others).

Kristopher Nordstrom, senior policy analyst for the NC Justice Center's Educational Law Center, points out that "early childhood experts almost universally warn against virtual pre-school programs" because a computer screen is not the same thing as human contact with other children and other adults.

Master teacher Justin Parmenter, a finalist for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher of the year in 2016, offers this wise commentary:

Many of the advantages of a quality preschool education require children to actually be in the presence of other people. Those advantages include, among many other things, learning how to communicate effectively with peers, how to work together to solve problems, how to share and wait for your turn, how to be independent, and how to be respectful toward peers and adults. Those lessons form a critical foundation which helps prepare children for the transition to kindergarten.

The Republicans in the General Assembly want to by-pass that sort of pre-school because it's more expensive than sitting a kid in front of a computer screen -- they're just poor and minority kids, after all, and should be grateful.

"Additional ickiness," about this bill, according to Nordstrom: "It was clearly written to direct appropriations to a specific virtual pre-school provider called UPSTART. What sort of contact has this company had with the bill's sponsors? Why have they chosen this specific provider of an unneeded service?" 

Pay to play?

"Even more ickiness," from Nordstrom: "It's a pilot program for children in poverty. Lawmakers would never inflict a misguided experiment like this on the children of rich white families..."

All of this comes on the heels of the complete failure of the virtual charter schools "pilot" program. The 2 virtual charters have been among worst 2 schools in the state, yet the "pilot" was deemed successful and the schools extended an additional four years ... NCGA lawmakers continue to pursue bullshit ideas to avoid facing the facts: it costs money to have high-quality education programs. You can't have a quality education system when you've already given away $3.6bn a year to corporations & the wealthy ... Both virtual charters and virtual pre-school have a common champion: @dcraighorn [D. Craig Horn]. He goes to a lot of education events. He should face tough questions about these two programs wherever he goes.

It's Not Okay

Renee Ellmers Auditioning for Act Two

Looks like primary races for lieutenant governor of North Carolina are going to be energetic. On the Democratic side, we have Cal Cunningham, Terry Van Duyn, Chaz Beasley, and several others facing off. And now on the Republican side, as of yesterday, we have a new prom queen, Renee Ellmers, entering the contest. She was last heard from when she was defeated in the Republican congressional primary in 2016 by Rep. George Holding. She had been elected to represent the 2nd Congressional District in 2010 and held the seat until redistricting shoved her into a match-up with George Holding.

So far, Ellmers will be up against former Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran, but there's a basketball team's worth of Republican men who've been considering the office.

Even though she was elected with the Tea Party wave of 2010, Ellmers never earned the trust of many on the far right. Some outright hate her. The Daily Haymaker refers to her as a she-devil, about as welcome on the ballot as a case of cancer. No, really. For her part, Renee broadcasts on one of her Twitter accounts that she "Jesus,Trump, animals, gardening, beach, boating," which certainly sets my mind at ease that she's fully equipped to do the same job that the current occupant of the office, Dan Forest, has been doing.

Some ultra-conservative Republican man will for sure announce a run, now that Ellmer's in. You can bet on it.

Will Not Be Spending More Time With His Family

Republican NC House Rep. Cody Henson (District 113, Transylvania, Polk, and part of Henderson counties) announced that he will not seek reelection in 2020. He's currently in his second term, the youngest member of the NC House. He's also fighting serious allegations brought by his estranged wife who was granted a protective order against Henson last month. More recently, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s office issued a criminal summons in a cyberstalking complaint also filed by his wife. Two small children are involved in the drama.

Henson's wife said she feared for her life and the lives of her children. In the hearing for the protective order, she presented to the judge a binder of messages she had received from her husband.

Henson describes himself as a Christian conservative who's big on family values, but his wife is clearly afraid of him.

Corporatism in the University

One of the ironies of the Republican/conservative/free-market ideology as it's taken root in our university system … For all its emphasis on the market as the optimal form of social organization, it ends up producing a whole cadre of bureaucrats and middle-management. Mo titles, mo money.

Specifically, as universities and other public institutions are starved of public funding and are encouraged to be more efficient, the advocates of this model also demand huge amounts of monitoring-- “compliance standards,” “assessment,” and “review.” Chancellors in the UNC System are now more driven than ever before to earn the approval of a hyper-touchy and majorly conservative Board of Governors on criteria that are not necessarily universal nor heaven-sent. 

Under former University President Margaret Spellings’ strategic plan, chancellors had to sign on to several strategic goals. Their pay raises became tied directly to performance reviews of goals-achieved. It takes extra administrative hands to manufacture and handle all that paperwork. University sub-deans and assistant vice chancellors constantly compile long lists of numbers of how their schools are doing on a host of "metrics," such as student retention, five-year graduation rates, rural enrollment, and so on.

Let's call it "corporatism." More managers, more compliance. 

Add the additional squeeze of money. With state funds diminishing as a share of institutional budgets, and with even tuition now capped, campuses have to compete for students, increase their enrollment, which requires all kinds of other managerial resources (“student support”) aimed at attracting those students and keeping track of them, while feeding, housing, and cosseting them.

Plus there’s still a glut of PhDs looking for jobs. Universities just don’t care that much about attracting and retaining the best faculty, because it’s a buyer's market out there. As administrators toy with shifting more and more to online education, even PhDs are becoming unnecessary.

NEW REPORT: New Administrators at AppState Increasing Three Times the Rate of Faculty

“A Review of Faculty Salaries and Budget Priorities at Appalachian" was released October 20 by AppState’s Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA). 

The report reaches the following conclusions: 

- Recent allocations of positions prioritize upper and mid-level administration. Since 2014, the number of full-time upper and mid-level administrative positions increased three times faster than faculty positions. Among the three employment categories -- SHRA employees (Subject to the State Human Resources Act), EHRA Non-Faculty (exempt from the State Human Resources Act), and Faculty -- faculty positions increased at the slowest rate.

- “Trends in allocations reveal recent shifts in budget priorities. In the five-year period between 2008-2013, funding for the academic budget grew faster than funding for each of the three support budgets (institutional, academic, and student). In the most recent five-year period, funding for each of the three support budgets grew considerably faster than funding for the academic budget.”

BREAKING NEWS--Republican Abortion Law in NC Ruled Unconstitutional

Will Doran, for the News and Observer: US District Court Judge William Osteen just ruled that North Carolina’s ban on women having abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy is unconstitutional. 

The ruling won’t go into effect immediately. The judge gave state lawmakers 60 days to either write a new abortion law or appeal his ruling. The state’s abortion ban has exceptions for certain emergencies, but critics said it doesn’t comply with U.S. Supreme Court rulings. 

Osteen, who was appointed to the court by Republican President George W. Bush, agreed.

Another Rising Democratic Star in North Carolina

Last Thursday State House Rep. Chaz Beasley announced via video on his Facebook page that he is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. He's entering a Democratic primary that is already getting crowded, with Cal Cunningham and Terry Van Duyn the big names with four or more others also putting their names forward.

Whatever happens, Chaz Beasley should be a political force in North Carolina for many years to come.

He grew up in Statesville in a single-parent household, graduated at the head of his class in 2004 from Newton-Conover High School, went to Harvard and graduated with high honors in economics in 2008, got a law degree from Georgetown in 2013 and ran successfully for the NC House (District 92 in Mecklenburg County) in 2016. He's now in his second term. He's an associate in the Alston and Bird law firm where he specializes on finance, representing financial institutions in corporate and structured debt financing.

The Ritual Humiliation of Steve Long

[Thank Gawd for @JoeKillianPW, who's actually in the room for the UNC Board of Governors meeting at AppState this morning. I'm depending on his Twitter feed]

You remember Steve Long? He's the one member of the Board of Governors who's come out publicly against UNC BOG Chair Harry Smith. Even urged his replacement. Primarily for the ouster of Eastern Carolina University Chancellor Cecil Staton.

This is what happened to Steve Long this morning:

JoekillianPW‏ @JoekillianPW

UNC Board of Governors member Steve Long is now apologizing to Chairman Harry Smith and the board for speaking out after the ECU chancellor's ouster. He said he should have come directly to Smith rather than speaking publicly on the matter in an "intemperate" way. #NCPol #ECU

JoekillianPW‏ @JoekillianPW

Long previously said Smith needed to step down, accused him of carrying out a personal vendetta against ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton. He now says he didn't handle things the right way. Smith thanks him, says they continue to be friends. http://ow.ly/hGBn30o9jm1  #UNCPol #ECU

 @JoekillianPW

Interim UNC System President Bill Roper does not acknowledge any controversy over asking the ECU Chancellor for his resignation, says simply he thanks the chancellor for his service and moves on to other business. #NCPol #ECU #UNC

JoekillianPW‏ @JoekillianPW

Reminder: Several UNC BOG members told Policy Watch earlier this week there was a movement to formally censure board member Steve Long for speaking out over the ECU Chancellor ouster and Smith's role in it. Long made an abrupt about-face this morning, apologizing. #NCPol #ECU

Sen. Deanna Ballard, Why Won't You Vote To Expand Medicaid Coverage in North Carolina?

At a healthcare townhall meeting last evening at the Watauga Medical Center attended by both Rep. Ray Russell and Sen. Deanna Ballard, according to someone who was there, Senator Ballard was all "big smiles and a blizzard of excuses on why the #ncgop refuses to expand Medicaid. An Ashe Co. couple then explained how they struggle without healthcare."

Why are her pleasant smiles, her "thoughts and prayers," not at all helpful?

500,000 people in North Carolina make too little to afford health insurance and too much to qualify for Medicaid. This is known as the Medicaid Gap. The Affordable Care Act provides subsidies to people of modest means, but it gave money to states to expand Medicaid programs to cover the very poor. North Carolina did not accept this money.

Single people making less than $12,000 a year and families of three making between $8,000 and $20,000 do not qualify for health care premium subsidies, but also do not qualify for Medicaid. For these people, healthcare is unattainable.

37 states have expanded Medicaid. In these states, the very poor have access to health insurance and medical care. These states are led by both Republicans and Democrats.

Expanding Medicaid would add 43,000 jobs to North Carolina’s economy. It would bring $4 billion in federal funding to North Carolina annually.

The UNC Board of Governors Meeting in Boone Just Got More Interesting

UNC BOG member Steve Long

Reference: BOG member Steve Long, who had the courage to call for BOG Chair Harry Smith's replacement, based on Smith's bullying yet another university chancellor into premature retirement -- ECU's Chancellor Cecil Staton.

Fellow BOG member Tom Fetzer, former chair of the NCGOP and one of Chair Smith's strongest lieutenants, has reportedly been lining up votes to formally censure Steve Long for his criticism of Chair Smith, such censure resolution to be sprung during Day Two of the BOG's meeting on the campus of AppState -- in other words, tomorrow.

Since that plan to censure Steve Long has been outed publicly, will it happen anyway, in the full glare of press coverage?

ADDENDUM
Said Thomas Harnisch, Director of State Relations and Policy Analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, “The stories coming out of North Carolina have garnered national attention. People are seeing heavy turnover in key leadership spots. That can lead to top talent not applying for those positions. Higher education is a community. People certainly talk to each other. All these transitions are piling up and taking a toll on the state’s reputation. North Carolina has gained a reputation where its Board of Governors is very political. There’s a lot of instability emanating from that board. All of the stories about in-fighting on the board, firings and resignations over the last several years, top talent sees that and may decide they don’t want to be a part of it.” (Thanks to Joe Killian, NC Policy Watch, for getting the interview with Harnisch)

Better Keep Your Children Indoors! The BOG Is Coming to Boone

UNC BOG Chair Harry Smith

The feudin', fussin', and fightin' Board of Governors (BOG) of the University of North Carolina System will hold its next meeting this Thursday and Friday on the campus of Appalachian State University (Plemmons Student Union). The BOG bears a certain justifiable resemblance to an institutional wrecking crew, chaired as it is by Uncle Fester lookalike Harry Smith.

Smith leads a band of hard-edged conservatives -- all appointed by the Republican overlords in the General Assembly -- and he's a bloodhound for sniffing out people who won't be missed. He just succeeded in getting rid of the chancellor of Eastern Carolina University, Dr. Cecil Staton, following closely his successful defenestration of UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt and UNC System President Margaret Spellings.

Forcing out Dr. Staton at ECU in the last week opened a public fissure on the BOG. Member Steve Long has issued a public letter denouncing his chairman as a petty meddler who relentlessly grinds his axes to the detriment of higher education in North Carolina. According to Long, Smith's vendetta against Chancellor Staton consisted of a "long-running campaign of false accusations and irrational attacks" based on Smith's failure to reap a profit from the students at ECU: "Harry Smith has been seeking the Chancellor’s removal ever since Chancellor Staton and his trustees rejected in 2016 Mr. Smith’s proposal to buy an apartment complex near ECU if the University would change its housing policy." The sordid topic of coin in the age of the Trumpists.

Making a profit seems very much uppermost in the philosophy of Harry Smith, as is keeping the symbols of white supremacy manifest in an old bronze statue. Wonder how he feels about Chancellor Sheri Everts' successful application for certifying AppState student IDs for the purposes of voting. Is that a strike against her? Smith doesn't seem like the sort of political operative who would be interested in encouraging student activism at the ballot box. In fact, we wonder if any discussion will focus on the fact that 12 of the institutions in the UNC System just had their students significantly disabled from their access to the polls.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx Announces She'll Run Again

Her announcement statement left room for interpretation:

What She Said

"To anyone paying attention, it’s become very clear in the first few months of liberal control of the House that the Democrat party has lurched far, far to the left."

What She Meant

Halloween is my favorite day of the year. I dress up as a witch and try to scare the little children. It usually works.

…..

What She Said

"Our nation is founded on the concepts of individual liberty and personal responsibility. That’s why I am committed to working to halt the left’s headlong slide into what increasingly looks like socialism. We cannot afford the out of touch policies peddled by the far-left that will squelch the entrepreneurial, problem-solving, and hard-working ethos that has made the United States the greatest nation in the world."

What She Meant

I know lots of words. I know the best words. Some good word combos require hyphens. I can also blow out all the candles on my birthday cake with one breath.

…..

What She Said  

"North Carolina voters are looking for solutions from their government that actually work. They want economic growth, good jobs and strong national security—not partisan investigations or the kind of socialist rhetoric and class warfare being floated by the newly ascendant 'Democratic Socialist' wing of the Democrat party."

What She Meant

Have you seen all the photos of me with Our Wonderful President? I have enlargements suitable for framing. Do you want one? Don't call me. Call my office.

…..

What She Said

"My goal for the 2020 election is to build on my strong track record of conservative problem-solving on behalf of my constituents.  I love our nation and our tradition of limited government too much to let a handful of big-spending leftists in Congress trample our centuries of success in self-government."

What She Meant

Sometimes I just have to stick my fingers in my years and say "Na na na na na na" until they stop talking. It usually works.

…..

What She Said

“I’m looking forward to a vigorous debate over the best path forward for America.  And I’m casting my lot—as I always have—with the time-tested principles of liberty and limited government that will work for all the people of the Fifth District.”

What She Meant

You wanna see me in person? You make an appointment with my office. I don't do town hall meetings, though I like a good buffet.

Look Who Else Filed Yesterday in the Republican Primary for NC-9 Special Election

Chris Anglin, "Republican constitutional conservative," filed yesterday afternoon in the NC-9 Republican primary for the seat won lost by preacherman Mark Harris (who is now under investigation for possible election law violations). You should remember Anglin's claim to celebrity. Last year he had to fight in the courts for the right to run for a seat on the NC Supreme Court. Democrat Anita Earls eventually won that seat, possibly because Anglin divided (weakened) the Republican vote.

Yesterday, the NCGOP immediately went ballistic over Anglin. "Chris Anglin ain't a Republican," fumed Executive Director and wielder of big cigars, Dallas Woodhouse. Chris Anglin was a Democrat who changed parties to run as a Republican in that Supreme Court race last year. True. He had every right to do so. The Republicans had passed new law to cancel judicial primaries, which facilitated two competing Republicans on the ballot. Too bad for them. Too clever for Anglin!

Dallas Woodhouse probably didn't like Anglin's statement yesterday about how he interprets his "constitutional" values: He said Republican President Donald Trump “constantly lies to the people, shows fealty to dictators, insults our allies, fills the swamp with corruption, explodes the deficit and relentlessly assaults the rule of law.”

Chris Anglin doesn't live in the 9th Congressional District. Federal law requires only residence within the state, not in the specific CD. These other Republican candidates also live outside the 9th:

Leigh Thomas Brown, real estate broker
Albert Lee Wiley Jr., a perennial candidate
Stevie Rivenbark Hull, Fayetteville
Kathie C. Day, Cornelius

A total of ten Republicans will battle it out in the primary on May 14. A run-off in September seems inevitable, with the general election consequently pushed into November.

Good News for AppState Students, But New Photo ID Law Is Only a Lawsuit Away From Sudden Death

Some 850 North Carolina universities, colleges (both public and private), local governments, including charter schools and tribal entities, were eligible to request approval. The deadline for applications was last Wednesday, March 13. Yesterday at 5 p.m., the State Board of Elections (SBOE) issued their list of approved photo IDs (see below), the ones that satisfy the law passed by the General Assembly. Mirabile dictu, AppState made the list of approved IDs.

According to Kim Strach, exec director of the SBOE, of those 850 entities entitled to request approval of the photo IDs they issue, only 81 submitted requests. Of the 81, some 72 received approval. None of the entities who were disapproved and none who never applied at all -- following the law the Republicans wrote -- may reapply for acceptance until 2021. In other words, a law hurriedly written by the Republicans in the NC General Assembly has managed to disenfranchise or otherwise disadvantage hundreds, if not many thousands, of students/staff/employees/enrolled members for the 2020 elections. This includes most of our state's colleges and universities, unless those students also have state drivers licenses or other approved forms of ID. Many will. Many won't.

In other words, photo IDs required for voting in North Carolina has ballooned into a scandal. Of major proportions. Imminently justiciable, based on manifest malfeasance of law-writing, either incompetence or ill will by the Board of Governors of the UNC System, and benign neglect by administrators/employers who shirked their responsibility and failed to apply.

Refer to the approval list below. Twelve of the 17 UNC System institutions didn't make the approved list, meaning many thousands of students (30,000 at UNC-Chapel Hill alone) have been disadvantaged for voting. Besides AppState, which is approved for both student and employee IDs, the only other UNC members approved for their students are NC State, NC Central, and UNC Asheville. A handful of community colleges are approved. A tiny handful of private colleges, though Duke is on the approved list.

Congratulations are in order for the Berger/Moore machine in the General Assembly. They have successfully suppressed the youth vote for the 2020 elections. Or not. For all hope now shifts to the courts, where this rank bullshit cannot stand the constitutional test.

Major Republican Contenders in the NC-9 Special Election

We've been watching the slow progress this week of candidates filing to run in the NC-9 special congressional election. Filing officially ends this afternoon, so other big names may appear, but at the moment Dan McCready, who ran a close race against Mark Harris last fall, is the only Democrat who's filed. There's one Libertarian, Jeff Scott of Charlotte, and one Green Party candidate, Allen Smith of Charlotte, and six Republican candidates.

The Republicans run the gamut from the unserious (Stony Rushing) to the deadly serious, state Sen. Dan Bishop, who wanted so badly to frisk suspicious individuals before they visited a public toilet, and former state Sen. Fern Shubert, who served in the General Assembly with Virginia Foxx and is just as mean as Foxx, with maybe not as much makeup.

Fern Shubert -- A certified public accountant from Marshville with a long elective history, though she's been out of the public eye for some time. According to Ballotpedia, she was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1994, was reelected for three more terms, then ran for and was elected to the state Senate in 2002. In 2004, she unsuccessfully ran for governor in the Republican primary (one of six candidates, the only woman, and she placed 5th). She attempted to return to the state Senate in 2010 and lost to Sen. Tommy Tucker (who had a big interest in running in this special election but who announced he wouldn't a couple of days ago). In 2012, she ran for State Auditor and got only 18% of the vote in the Republican primary. Though most recently a three-time loser, Shubert has no lack of confidence in herself: “I have a huge head start on name recognition and I’m a known quality,” she said. “You can spend $1 million telling people what you’re going to do. But people can see what I’ve done.” Well maybe. But she would seem to be the major competition for...

Dan Bishop -- Currently a state Senator representing District 39 in Mecklenburg County, the last surviving Republican member in the General Assembly from that county after last November's blue wave. He's powerful in the state Senate, chairing the Redistricting and Elections Committee (meaning he's an accomplished gerrymanderer) and chairing both the Health Committee and the Committee on Appropriations for Health (meaning he's been at the forefront of stopping the expansion of Medicaid in the state). Most famously, Bishop was the co-sponsor in 2016 of HB2, the notorious "bathroom bill" that cost North Carolina and most especially Charlotte millions in investment and tourism money. He's rumored to be planning to spend $250,000 of his own money in this race. He'll need a lot more than that to first get by Fern Shubert (and the other, lesser known Republicans in that primary) and then face the very well funded Dan McCready.

Election schedule: Republican primary, May 14. General election: September 10, unless a primary run-off election is required, in which case the run-off will occur on Sept. 10, with the general election pushed to November 5. Odds are that a primary run-off will be required. A candidate must get to 30% of the vote to avoid a run-off.

Kudos to Ray Russell for Standing Up for Openness and Fairness -- Concepts Foreign to the Republicans in the General Assembly

Freshman Rep. Ray Russell (District 93) in the NC House yesterday introduced the "North Carolina Sunshine Act" in an effort to reform practices in the General Assembly that would make it more transparent, fairer, and more responsive to public scrutiny. Like this: "The long title of each bill shall adequately and fairly reflect its subject matter." Novel idea that, for a body that sneaks in abortion restrictions under a title dealing with motorcycle safety. Or this: "Every special provision [pork] contained in the Current Operations Appropriations Act shall indicate the name of the member or members who requested the provision." The Pork King Tim Moore especially wouldn't like that requirement.

These would all be reforms that the Berger/Moore overlords are not about to enact. So what did Tim Moore, Republican leader of the House, do with the bill? He referred it to 12 different committees, a gesture of outright mockery:

"Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House, if favorable, State and Local Government, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Judiciary, if favorable, Appropriations, Information Technology, if favorable, Appropriations, Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, if favorable, Appropriations, Education, if favorable, Appropriations, General Government, if favorable, Appropriations, Health and Human Services, if favorable, Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety, if favorable, Appropriations, Transportation, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House"

WRAL's reporter on the scene, Travis Fain, said the referral to all those hostile committees amounted to "an unheard of series of hurdles that, to put it mildly, does not bode well for passage." Said @RaleighReporter Colin Campbell, "Never seen a bill get sent to a dozen committees -- shows how much #ncga House leaders like a proposal for more transparency."

Which prompts the obvious question: What do Tim Moore and his confederate in the Senate Phil Berger not want you to see, hear, or understand?

That brand of arrogance has already passed its "sell by" date, judging from last fall's blue wave (which incidentally put Ray Russell into office). Just doubling down on your arrogance doesn't seem like a winner for 2020 either.

Thom Tillis, Turn Tail

On February 25th, Sen. Thom Tillis published an op-ed in the WashPost (doubtless, someone else wrote it) in which he announced that he would be voting against Twitterman's use of emergency powers:

It is my responsibility to be a steward of the Article I branch [houses of Congress], to preserve the separation of powers and to curb the kind of executive overreach that Congress has allowed to fester for the better part of the past century. I stood by that principle during the Obama administration, and I stand by it now. 

Conservatives rightfully cried foul when President Barack Obama used executive action to completely bypass Congress and unilaterally provide deferred action to undocumented adults who had knowingly violated the nation’s immigration laws. Some prominent Republicans went so far as to proclaim that Obama was acting more like an “emperor” or “king” than a president. 

There is no intellectual honesty in now turning around and arguing that there’s an imaginary asterisk attached to executive overreach — that it’s acceptable for my party but not thy party.

That principled position became inoperative today. Tillis voted against the resolution to overturn DJT's use of emergency powers. The resolution passed anyway, with a dozen other Republican senators standing up when Tillis ran away.

Conservatives in North Carolina were vowing a primary for Tillis next year, and no doubt the White House threatened him too, perhaps by Trump's promising to appear at an anti-Tillis campaign rally next year.

Tillis's flipflop may have been facilitated by the fact that no big-name Democrat (so far) has announced a run for his seat. He has more to fear from his right flank.

NC Colleges/Universities Submit Applications To Have Their Student IDs Count for Voting

List of colleges and schools (etc.) as of 3 p.m. yesterday (deadline for submittal was 5 p.m. yesterday, so this list is not complete) that applied to have their student photo IDs certified for voting purposes. Unknown whether these schools/universities submitted the State Board of Election's "attestation" form (which has been much discussed and debated here and elsewhere) or explanatory letters about their practice of gathering vital statistics (citizenship status, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth).

Where there are two listings from the same institution, one is for students and the other for staff.

The SBOE will announce tomorrow which of these institutions meet the legal guidelines for their student IDs to qualify for voting purposes.

Institution Name	Institution Type
Anderson Creek Academy	Charter School
Appalachian State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
Appalachian State University	State Government
Beaufort County Community College	Community College
Beaufort County Community College	State Government
Bennett College	Private University/College
Brevard Academy	Charter School
Brevard College	Private University/College
Burke County	Local Government
Central Piedmont Community College	Community College
Central Piedmont Community College	State Government
City of Elizabeth City	Local Government
City of Greensboro	Local Government
Davidson College	Private University/College
Department of Health and Human Services	State Government
East Carolina University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
East Carolina University	State Government
Edgecombe Community College	Community College
Edgecombe Community College	State Government
Elizabeth City State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
Elizabeth City State University	State Government
Elon University	Private University/College
Envision Science Academy	Charter School
Falls Lake Academy	Charter School
Fayetteville State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
Fayetteville State University	State Government
Guildford Preparatory Academy	Charter School
Halifax Community College	Community College
Halifax Community College	State Government
Halifax County	Local Government
Healthy Start Academy	Charter School
Isothermal Community College	Community College
Isothermal Community College	State Government
Johnson C. Smith University	Private University/College
Kestrel Heights Charter School	Charter School
Kipp Durham	Charter School
Lake Norman Charter	Charter School
Livingstone College	Private University/College
Meredith College	Private University/College
NC Agricultural & Technical State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
NC Agricultural & Technical State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
NC Connections Academy	Charter School
NC Department of Administration	State Government
NC Department of Public Safety	State Government
NC Department of Transportation	State Government
NC General Assembly	State Government
NC Housing Finance Agency	State Government
NC Lottery Education Lottery	State Government
NC School of Science and Math	??? Private HS/College Prep??
NC School of Science and Math	??? Private HS/College Prep??
NC State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
NC State University	State Government
North Carolina Central University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
North Carolina Central University	State Government
North East Carolina Preparatory	Charter School
Onslow County Government	Local Government
Orange County	Local Government
Peak Charter Academy	Charter School
Pender County	Local Government
Pfeiffer University	Private University/College
Piedmont Community College	State Government
Piedmont Community College	Community College
Roanoke-Chowan Community College	Community College
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College	Community College
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College	State Government
Shaw University	Private University/College
St. Augustine University	Private University/College
The Expedition School	Charter School
Town of Fuquay-Varina	Local Government
Town of Jamestown	Local Government
UNC Ashville	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
UNC Ashville	State Government
UNC Chapel Hill	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
UNC Chapel Hill	State Government
UNC Charlotte	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
UNC Charlotte	State Government
UNC Greensboro	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
UNC Greensboro	State Government
UNC Health Care System	State Government
UNC School of Arts	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
UNC School of Arts	State Government
University of NC at Wilmington	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
University of NC at Wilmington	State Government
Vance Charter School	Charter School
Warren Wilson College	Private University/College
Washington Montessori Public Charter School	Charter School
Wayne Community College	Community College
Western Carolina University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
Western Carolina University	State Government
Western Piedmont Council of Governments	Local Government
Winston-Salem State University	Constituent Institution of the University of NC
Winston-Salem State University	State Government