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Amendments shifting power to legislature 'devious and mischievous,' former governors say

All five of North Carolina's living former governors came together Monday to urge voters to defeat two proposed constitutional amendments that would shift power from the executive branch to state lawmakers.

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By
Matthew Burns
, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief
RALEIGH, N.C. — All five of North Carolina's living former governors came together Monday to urge voters to defeat two proposed constitutional amendments that would shift power from the executive branch to state lawmakers.

Former Govs. Pat McCrory, Bev Perdue, Mike Easley, Jim Hunt and Jim Martin criticized the amendments as a power grab by the General Assembly that would cripple state government and wouldn't help North Carolinians.

One amendment would shift much of the power to fill judicial vacancies from the governor, who has wide latitude now to pick judges. Instead, if voters approve the proposed amendment, the legislature would pick two finalists for each open seat on the bench, and the governor would have to pick one of those two.

The other amendment sets up a new bipartisan state board of elections appointed by the General Assembly, and it asserts that the legislature has the power to appoint members to hundreds of boards and commissions currently handled by the executive branch.

Gov. Roy Cooper has sued to keep the two amendments off the November ballot. A court hearing on the lawsuit is set for Wednesday morning, and the former governors have asked to file an amicus brief in support of Cooper's position.

"This is not about partisan politics. It's about power politics, and it must be stopped," said Martin, a Republican who served as governor from 1985 to 1993.

Perdue, a Democrat who served as governor from 2009 to 2013, agreed, saying that, if voters approve the two amendments, the General Assembly would have a dangerous amount of power over the state.

"I'm not saying the legislature doesn't care about the people of North Carolina," Perdue said, "but I am saying, from my perspective as one citizen, it appears to me they care a whole lot more about who has the power and who can do whatever needs to be done to control that power and to consolidate that power."

Easley, a Democrat who served as governor from 2001 to 2009, said appointing people to state boards and commission is the essence of a governor's power, as those panels set policy and regulations for the state.

"You can't do your job as governor if you don't have access to those commissions and those boards. They respond to who appoints them," Easley said, predicting a protracted legal battle over appointments and paralyzed boards that would damage the state's economic growth.

"The awkwardness of having committees appointed by someone else but report to the [cabinet] secretaries that report to the governor is unworkable," added McCrory, a Republican who served as governor from 2013 to 2017. "You can't have two different bosses."

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said they "respectfully disagree" with the stance taken by the five former governors.

"While it’s not surprising former governors oppose checks and balances on the unilateral authority of their office, we are confident the people will support a more accountable approach to filling judicial vacancies and approve a bipartisan balance on critical boards like the state’s ethics and elections commission over a system of purely political control," Moore and Berger said in a joint statement.

Meanwhile, their lieutenants issued a news release details various ethical lapses under the previous governors, from unreported campaign contributions to steering road projects to the districts of powerful politicans and their supporters.

"It's really about whether or not a few politicians in the legislature want to increase their power at the expense of the people of North Carolina," said Hunt, a Democrat who served as governor from 1977 to 1985 and from 1993 to 2001.

Several of the former governors criticized the language for the amendments that will appear on the ballot as misleading, saying voters will have no idea what changes will take place if they approve the amendments.

"The things that the voters can read in the ballot question are not what will happen in the constitution," said Martin, calling the two amendment "devious and mischievous."

"The constitution is your constitution," Easley said. "When somebody asks you to vote for a change in your constitution, you have the right to know what the amendment is, and if you don't know, vote no."

The five held a private meeting Monday afternoon to discuss strategy for campaigning against the two amendments over the next three months.

This battle is one of several in recent years over the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Cooper has been battling the GOP-controlled legislature over appointment powers since before he took office. Martin and Hunt similarly sided with McCrory in a lawsuit he filed against the General Assembly over appointments to a state board overseeing the cleanup of coal ash pits across the state.

"My advice to the hard-working legislators is, if any of you want to take on the responsibilities of the governor, then have the courage to run for governor and win," McCrory said. "Earn it. Don't hijack our constitution, especially through two deceitful and misleading amendments that will be on the ballot which attempt to fool the citizens of our great state."

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