Berger-Hall to Josh Stein: "Pound Sand"

 

Photo Galen Bacharier, NC Newsline

Reportedly, in its last enacted budget Republican state lawmakers shorted the Medicaid program by around $319 million for the current fiscal year. As a result, Josh Stein's Health and Human Services (HHS) has resorted to cutting Medicaid reimbursements 3% to most hospitals and clinics (and up to 10-12% to "specialty providers"). Primary care doctors, dentists, community care clinics, nursing homes are all dependent on Medicaid funding. 

On Nov. 6, Governor Stein called a special session of the General Assembly for Nov. 17 to deal with that funding crisis. The state constitution gives the governor the power to summon lawmakers back to Raleigh to deal with emergencies (and you see where parsing that word will end up in court, right?). At a news conference, Stein said legislators had “failed North Carolina and the people of North Carolina” by not addressing the Medicaid shortfall during their October session -- which was largely devoted to once again redrawing the state’s congressional districts to add an extra Republican to Trump's tote board.

Yesterday, in a joint letter to Stein, House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate boss Phil Berger said they would not convene a session on Nov. 17, and claimed that Stein’s call for a special session "is constitutionally invalid and politically motivated."

Politically motivated. I certainly hope so!

Both chambers of the General Assembly are controlled completely by the GOP. Same party, but two equally immovable factions, fighting over the lucre. Leaders in both chambers have acknowledged the underfunding of Medicaid, and both chambers have written their own budget solutions in separate versions of a bill that was supposed to be blended and amended into a single unified budget law months ago. That didn't happen. There is no budget. North Carolina is now alone among all the fifty other states in the absence of one.

Berger-Hall

Can Berger-Hall just refuse to convene? You know it'll be litigated, and it'll be nobody's surprise when the current NC Supreme Court under Chief Justice Paul Newby rules for the General Assembly. Newby's going to love Berger-Hall's argument that Governor Stein's HHS made premature cuts to reimbursements as a means of exerting political pressure on the General Assembly. 

Josh Stein fired back at Berger-Hall: "The Republican majority has made the time to damage our democracy with their gerrymander. But when it comes time to protect people’s health care? When it comes time to enact a comprehensive budget? They’re on vacation, and they’ll see us next year. All while North Carolina families pay the price."

As far as I'm concerned, of course it's political, and it gives Stein the upper-hand here, the high ground, the advantage, because he is taking extraordinary action to stave off major damage to health care in North Carolina, while Berger-Hall just look like jerks, self-serving and out of touch with reality. So rather than asking, "Can they do that-- just refuse to come when summoned?" I should be asking the other question, "Why would they want to do that?" Because refusing to deal with the shortage of money that goes to help a whole community of need just helps build the bad, bad Republican brand of failing its own struggling MAGA base. 

Destin Kisses the Godfather's Ring

 

Destin Hall, Republican Speaker of the NC House, who represents just one precinct out of 20 in Watauga County, because his district is actually Caldwell, just posted this abject surrender on Twitter:

"The NC Senate race is too important to be derailed by a messy, divisive primary .... We must unify behind whoever President Trump picks...."

Seriously, Dude? You're surrendering everything, starting but not ending with your manhood, to your new dictator, and you admit it publicly? In a freakin' tweet?

This is mob-level bending of the knee.

 

Once Bitten, Twice Shy?

 

The mean eyes of
Keith Kitwell

Republican NCHouse member Keith Kidwell filed H 804 which would outlaw abortion in North Carolina at every stage of pregnancy, but new House Speaker Destin Hall quickly announced that the bill had been assigned to the Rules Committee where it will die a quick death, because Destin Hall is no fool and he knows that another extreme anti-abortion bill could be a killer of Republican careers.

“I don’t think there’s any real desire in our caucus to hear that particular bill, and so, it’s not going to be heard in committee,” Hall told reporters. End of story.

Granted that last year the expected backlash against the NCGOP for reducing the legal window for abortion from 20 weeks to 12 didn't quite materialize, at least not to the point of decisively ending the super-majority of Republicans in the General Assembly.

The meanness of old white guys about women's bodily autonomy gets put in the corner by the good sense of young white Republican men who understand better the political winds, not that he necessarily respects women more.

Ray Pickett and Hurricane Relief

 

Rep. Ray Pickett

Newly installed Speaker of the NC House, Destin Hall, notable lawyer of Caldwell County and olympic gerrymanderer (who moved Watauga's Blue Ridge Precinct out of Ray Pickett's Dist. 93 and gave it to himself in Dist. 87, where those Blue Ridge progressives wouldn't be much of an annoyance in that otherwise blood-red district) -- but I digress. That squirt Destin Hall appears to be moving fast to funnel actual dollar bills toward the victims of Hurricane Helene -- to make up in some sense for the passage of S 382 back last November, which masqueraded as a hurricane relief bill but was actually a naked power-grab. Just announced yesterday, Hall has appointed a "Select Committee on Hurricane Helene Recovery" to make recommendations, write legislation, lay the groundwork -- quickly -- for specific appropriations.

To the Select Committee, Hall appointed the three mountain guys who initially raised hell over S 382 for the fakeout in its title -- "Hurricane Relief" -- because it offered zero relief. Those guys quickly folded and voted for the bill in the veto override, but not before (probably) getting some promises for their own districts. There must have been strategy in their caving, or else they're just bully-bait. I prefer my politicians cynical rather than craven.

Hall also appointed Ray Pickett to the Select Committee, who without any visible protest -- no indignant speaking up for constituents wiped out by flood, no symbolic no vote -- rather voted for S 382 at first sight. Voted for the same bill the three other guys had rightly called a notorious fraud. Those guys likely made a bargain or got a promise or leveraged their yes votes on the veto-override for specific economic relief to their constituents. What did Watauga and Ashe counties get for Ray Pickett's complicity? 

Doran's Crystal Ball

 

Destin Hall

Enjoyed Will Doran's forecast of what to watch most closely in Raleigh this year, with so many new characters running things, from the governor's office to the House speakership, to that pesky extra-Dem in the House who gives Josh Stein his best chance for a sustained veto (supposedly gives Stein that advantage, because there's always also Cecil Brockman to watch). 

Doran mentions a rather bold gesture of Governor Stein's -- a very public "olive branch" of bi-partisanship. The governor invited several Western Republican lawmakers on stage with him last week in Asheville when he was signing executive orders about Hurricane Helene, and he appointed Republican Sen. Kevin Corbin from Macon Co. as co-chair of a new committee Stein created to advise the governor’s office on Helene recovery needs. I hadn't picked up on that, and it looks like a good move.

Doran's background on medical marijuana legalization in North Carolina is interesting -- let alone the truly hilarious notion of "recreational marijuana." Legalizaion has been stopped cold repeatedly in the NC House, after the state Senate had passed legalization several times. "House leadership" won't countenance it, Doran says, and former Speaker Tim Moore would never let it come to a vote, apparently fearful he didn't have the majority of his caucus with him. Will the new Speaker (and comparative youngster) Destin Hall do better?

What Doran explores about a Trump immigration pogrom and its ramifications for the state's economy is also worth quoting at length:

Immigration could also require attention at the legislature. Trump has pledged a mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally, and some conservatives are also now pushing to reduce the number of visas given for immigrants to work here legally. Either strategy would disrupt the local economy and potentially drive up inflation: Approximately 1 million immigrants live in North Carolina, many of them employed in large industries such as agriculture, construction, tech and health care.

The GOP is becoming increasingly torn between more populist voters in the party base and pro-business interests among the major party donors — and the question of how to handle immigration is just one area in which 2025 could bring clashes between those opposing factions.

 Will Doran reports regularly for WRAL in Raleigh.

Our Pitiable Destiny With Destin Hall

 

NC House Representative Destin Hall, who represents Caldwell County and a carved-out large precinct of Watauga, who is probably going to be the new Speaker of the House next year, who graduated from Wake Forest School of Law and is therefore as a practicing attorney in the NC mechanisms of justice an "officer of the court," had this to say on Twitter about what 12 citizens in New York, seven men and five women, decided in the criminal trial of a famous defendant who needs no introduction but who apparently needs over-the-top groveling by a young lawyer in North Carolina to satisfy his bloody-minded, low-information universe of adherents and useful idiots:

The NY show trial is something one would expect in third world dictatorships, not the greatest legal system in the world. 

The charges were based on a bogus Frankenstein legal theory, were brought by a left wing prosecutor who campaigned on going after Trump, with a trial that was presided over by a left wing judge who issued grossly unconstitutional rulings. 

The ultimate jury will be American voters. Through the ballot box, we must repudiate what happened to our legal system and our country today.

A man who makes his living with the law joins the wholly twisted project of denigrating the rule of law itself to satisfy the ego of one would-be dictator. This is the guy the Republicans will put in charge of running legislation in the NC House. We are so fum-buzzled.

Destin Hall, The Next Big Raleigh Sugar-Daddy

This is about the Lenoir lawyer Destin Hall, elected to the NC House from Dist. 87 in 2016. He rose fast in the Republican caucus, became head of the Redistricting (Gerrymandering) Committee and as a favor to Ray Pickett, carved the largest precinct (Blue Ridge) out of Watauga County and added it to his own Dist. 87 and gave Pickett's 93rd the whole county of Alleghany to make up for the loss of Blue Ridge Precinct. Yeah, that guy.

'

Destin Hall is the presumptive new Speaker of the NC House, soon to replace Tim Moore, who seems destined for greater profit margins in Mugstomp-on-the-Potomac. As Speaker, Hall will wield great power. With the war chest of campaign money described below, Hall will be undisputed sugar daddy to aspiring Republican politicians.

Lucille Sherman for Axios Raleigh:

Republican state Rep. and House Rules Chairman Destin Hall, who is on track to become North Carolina's next House speaker, brought in $750,000 in the second half of 2023 to his campaign.

That appears to be the highest amount ever raised in a non-election year by a lawmaker not at the helm of the House or Senate chambers, his team told Axios.

Though Hall is up for re-election this year, he's expected to easily win his Republican-leaning district, which means he doesn't need to raise a significant amount of money to win. But legislative leaders tend to be major fundraisers, which in turn helps them keep their party in power. Hall's latest campaign finance report signals he's well-positioned to help Republicans get re-elected and maintain power in the House.
"As our caucus prepares for a transition of leadership, it's important that we have unity and a common focus as we enter 2024," Hall said in a statement to Axios.

"My goal was to help the caucus close 2023 in a strong position and start the new year in a strong cash position as we look to the elections. We've accomplished that goal and we are now laser-focused on adding to our supermajority in 2024."

Speaker of the NC House To Be, Accomplished at Gerrymandering

 

Rep. Destin Hall, who as chair of the House redistricting committee gerrymandered the hell out of Watauga, pulling blue-leaning Blue Ridge precinct out of Ray Pickett's District 93 and adding it as dilution to his own heavily Republican Caldwell County District 87 -- that Destin Hall appears destined to become the new Speaker of the NCHouse, replacing Tim Moore who has his own eye on a free US House seat that was created specially for him. Destin Hall's biggest rivals, John Bell and Jason Saine, have both dropped out of the race and endorsed him. 

We profiled Hall and Bell back in July. We called Hall "slick," which was not meant as praise (and I don't take it back now).

Less corrupt than the previous Speaker? Remains to be seen. Should be easy since Tim Moore set a high benchmark.

Who Will Be the Next Speaker of the NC House?

 

Slick and Aw, Shucks

At the moment, the struggle to succeed Tim Moore as Republican Speaker of the NC House comes down to a contest between "slick" and "aw, shucks" -- that is, a rivalry for the job between current Majority Leader John Bell ("aw, shucks!" from Wayne Co.) and slick Caldwell County lawyer Destin Hall, chair of the all-important House Rules Committee and the also very important Redistricting Committee. I profiled Bell not so long ago; Hall is better known up here because of his redistricting shenanigans, which included his snatching Blue Ridge precinct, Watauga's biggest precinct which has trended "blue," for his own Caldwell County House district, thus safely diluting the Democratic vote -- no threat to himself -- while strengthening Ray Pickett's hold on Dist. 93.

Hall is like a walking knife blade, as sleek and polished as rival John Bell is rumpled and scruffy. Hall cuts, too, is willing to draw blood. He was once caught in the act:

RALEIGH A political trial that has mostly been dominated by math and academic research erupted in drama late Wednesday [Jan. 5, 2022] , when a top Republican redistricting leader said on the witness stand that he had used secret maps, drawn by someone else, to guide his work.

That statement, made under oath, appears to directly contradict what he told Democratic lawmakers at the legislature in November, shortly before the Republican-led legislature passed those maps into law over Democrats’ objections.

More recently, Carolina Forward outed two video messages that Hall had posted to his Twitter account, one accusing North Carolina sheriffs of being "woke" because they don't persecute enough brown people. Those videos do not appear to be on Hall's Twitter feed any more.

Back after the terrible redistricting of 2018, Hall had the gall (I made a rhyme!) to tell an audience at the Caldwell County Public Library that “I can tell you that the way the maps are drawn now are much, much, much more fair than they ever were.” That comment elicited prolonged laughter from the crowd. It was not complimentary laughter. It was derisive. Which appeared to stun Hall (sometimes slickness backfires). You can see the footage here.

Lucille Sherman, reporter for Axios Raleigh, has written a good primer on why House Spkr is so important, and notes details about these first two announced candidates. Undoubtedly there'll be at least one more, possibly grinning Jason Saine, who got exposed recently as Tim Moore's bitch.

Ray Pickett Signs on to House Bill Eliminating Tenure at All NC Colleges and Universities

 

Pickett

Rep. Ray Pickett (R, Blowing Rock) became a primary sponsor of House Bill 715, which seeks (among other things) the elimination of all faculty tenure in all state-owned colleges and universities. Pickett's 93rd House district includes Appalachian State University.

Also listed as a primary sponsor ... Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County, who represents Watauga's Blue Ridge precinct.

The bill would reduce all faculty employment to either at-will assignments or to limited term contracts of one, two, three, or four years.

The bill also targets faculty research, demanding "cost-benefit analysis" for all "non-instructional research" being undertaken by any faculty. "Cost-benefit" is mischief masquerading as some sort of economic measurement of what good comes from research of any kind. If you're into, say, the status of women in ancient Aegean cultures, the cost-benefit analysis may put you on the outs with Ray Pickett and others who think (?) like him.

Both Republicans Representing Watauga Voted for Medicaid Expansion

 

Yesterday the NC House passed HB76 "Access to Healthcare Options" (Medicaid expansion under Obamacare) with both men representing Watauga County voting yes -- Ray Pickett, who represents most of the county and Destin Hall, who carved out Blue Ridge Precinct for his Caldwell District.

The bill passed 92-22 on its final reading. All Democrats voted for it and a bunch of majority Republicans too.

The bill goes now to the Senate. And that's where the trouble will begin.

1st (Of Many?) Proposed Congressional Maps for NC

 

Rep. Destin Hall, head of the Republican NC House redistricting committee, floated this proposed map for congressional districts late yesterday. It puts Watauga back entirely in the 5th.

WRAL reports:

Political scientists Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University, Eric Heberlig of UNC-Charlotte, Michael Bitzer of Catawba College and Asher Hildebrand of Duke University expect Democrats to win the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 12th congressional districts under Hall's plan, while Republicans would likely win the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th districts.

The redistricting experts are divided on which party might capture the 8th and 14th districts.

Bitzer said those two districts in Hall's plan are likeliest to be the most competitive. It's too early to say which way they lean until Hall provides precinct-level data, Bitzer said.

A highly skeptical chorus greeted Hall's trial balloon on his Twitter feed. Among the more provocative responses was one from Vegan Pythagorean:

So you're going to release intentionally inadequate maps to force the court to draw the maps. Then you'll claim a rigged Dem court unfairly put Dems in power and you'll run on that issue to get GOP judges on the court who will allow partisan gerrymandering and your eternal rule.

 

Confirmed: What We Already Suspected

Reporting: Will Doran, for the News and Observer: 

RALEIGH A political trial that has mostly been dominated by math and academic research erupted in drama late Wednesday, when a top Republican redistricting leader said on the witness stand that he had used secret maps, drawn by someone else, to guide his work. 

Rep. Destin Hall, testifying in the gerrymandering
trial yesterday in Raleigh.
Photo by Travis Long, N&O

That statement, made under oath, appears to directly contradict what he told Democratic lawmakers at the legislature in November, shortly before the Republican-led legislature passed those maps into law over Democrats’ objections. 

A Durham Democrat and former judge, Rep. Marcia Morey, asked the GOP redistricting leader, Rep. Destin Hall, at the time if he had used any outside materials to help in drawing the maps. Hall said no....

But on Wednesday Hall, a Lenoir Republican who leads the House redistricting committee, said that he would sometimes refer to “concept maps” that his top aide, Dylan Reel, had brought to him. 

Sometimes Reel would bring the maps up on his phone for Hall to look at while drawing the official version of the map, Hall said in a deposition just before the trial, details of which came out during his testimony Wednesday. Other times they would meet in a back room, to discuss the maps away from the public mapmaking terminals which were livestreaming video and audio. 

So the liberal challengers in the lawsuit asked if they could see those concept maps — to analyze them, potentially for signs that they used a process that violated the rules the legislature was supposed to be following. 

But the legislature says those maps no longer exist.

The challengers accused lawmakers of withholding evidence, and suggested they knew it was going to be destroyed and didn’t try to stop it....

Secret fucking maps.

Watauga Chopped Up in New NC House District Map

 

Above, NC House districts for the next decade -- barring judicial interference. This map overall graded F by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The opinion of Watauga voters in Blue Ridge and Elk precincts -- unprintable in a G-rated blog. Blue Ridge and Elk precincts have been added to the 87th House District, which is mainly Caldwell County where Destin Hall holds the seat. Hall, incidentally, is the Republican chair of the House redistricting committee, and he drew the map.

Blowing Rock precinct is left in House District 93, which means that Ray Pickett was allowed to keep his district. District 93 also now includes Allegheny County. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project rates the partisan divide 41.68% Democratic to 58.22% Republican.

This map and the NC Senate map are not targets of the law suit filed yesterday in Wake County. That legal challenge will move forward in state courts, beginning with a three-judge panel to be appointed by Chief Justice Paul Newby. The suit complains only about the 14 US congressional districts (which also chops up Watauga so that Congresswoman Virginia Foxx can be rid of most of us Wataugans while retaining the core of her red district). Surely there will follow suits against the NC House and NC Senate redistricting.

Audience Laughs at Caldwell County Republican Lawmaker

At a candidate forum in the Caldwell County Public Library on October 6th, Republican NC House member Destin Hall bragged that the Republican gerrymandering of the General Assembly is the bestest gerrymandering evah:

“And I can tell you that the way the maps are drawn now are much, much, much more fair than they ever were.”

Sound right to you? Didn't sound right to the crowd in the public library, either. They laughed at him.






Destin Hall is completing his first term in Raleigh representing House District 87. He beat incumbent Republican lawmaker George Robinson in the 2016 Republican primary and faced no Democrat in the 2016 general election. He's an AppState grad with a law degree from Wake Forest. He looks to rise fast in the NC House caucus, as he has his conservative talking points down pat, and he's young in a tribe of old men.

This year he has an opponent, Democrat Amanda Bregel, a 10th grade English teacher at Caldwell Early College High School. After graduating from UNC-Greensboro in 2010, she spent two years teaching in a missionary school in Kenya before being hired in Caldwell County. She serves on the leadership team of Caldwell Women Rise, a community action organization, and is involved in her Methodist church food pantry and other community activities.