Monday will see a Vance County Board of Commissioners Meeting, a Water District Board Meeting, a Board of Education Meeting and a City of Henderson City Council Meeting.
We’ve already got the full agenda up for the BoC and associated Water District, it’s only 121 pages. Download the agenda on our article page here. We should be receiving the BoE agenda and CoH agenda Friday.
I posted yesterday regarding the NC House midnight session that “The public didn’t know, the press didn’t know – not even many lawmakers knew – that there would be a special veto override session early this morning to ban the state’s biggest teachers’ group from collecting dues from member’s paychecks.”
Now, of course the politics of calling a session into order at midnight after your opponents have gone home just stinks. And I thought it just stank until I read today: “In a private meeting inadvertently broadcast to the press room last June, House Speaker Thom Tillis told fellow Republicans the bill was prompted by NCAE’s political ads against Democrats who sided with Republicans to override Perdue’s budget veto. Tillis called the bill “a little taste of what’s to come.”” “He outlined plans to target the group, which has traditionally backed Democratic candidates and was lobbying hard against cuts to spending on public education.”
So it’s not just because they disagree that government should allow organizations to deduct from a paycheck for funding, also seen as the bill did not target other organizations from deducting from paychecks, but because of planned action months in the making in a hope to defund a supporting group that has backed their opposition. The bill allows organizations like the State Employees Association of North Carolina and charities like the United Way to continue to collect dues through payroll deduction. But to donate to the North Carolina Association of Educators, the largest teacher group in the state with over 70,000 members is not allowed. That’s not just stinky, that’s crappy. Since I can’t use other words here.
Perdue is looking at the move to be unconstitutional, and the teachers group is suing.
The group said it planned to sue to overturn the prohibition. Jack Nichols, a lawyer representing NCAE, said the group’s lawsuit would challenge the override on procedural grounds and on arguments the Legislature was singling out the group for retribution.
“The message from the Legislature is clear — if you stand against cuts to public education, we will teach you a lesson,” NCAE President Sheri Strickland said, surrounded by about 50 group supporters at a Thursday afternoon news conference. “If you say we are short-changing our students, we will try and silence your voice.”
BTW, local representative Jim Crawford broke party lines and voted with the republicans on the bill to block the funding.
Anyway, welcome to the weekend open lines!
Now posted to our site are the full agenda packets for the City Council, BoC, and BoE meetings Monday Night.
The games, the battles, the wars….it will never stop and it will never die so long as people are paying taxes. I agree, what was done the other night in Raleigh was bathroom behavior. Did the message get sent? Yes. Is there fall out? Yes. Will there be any resolution to this? Maybe a year or so from now once a court decides. What will be done in the meantime? The band will play on. Raleigh, just like Washington is equipped with a ‘Quid pro Quo’ mentality or ‘This for That’. A larger example of what goes on in every business in the world. Political votes are valuable in the domains of government, dare I say they are the most precious commodity among the powers that be. When you see someone vote in such a way that it can be considered odd, you must ask yourself; What was in it for them? Or, in the constituants place; What was in it for us? A good elected official is always going to look out for the interest of those who voted them in to office. So, take a look and see what is deep down in a bill. No one likes pork, but it is often times the only thing there is to eat.