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NC Legislature: fire members of key panels, allow McCrory to replace

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WFFaithful

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http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/article_50ed81b0-6fff-11e2-b715-001a4bcf6878.html

"RALEIGH — A state Senate committee Tuesday backed a Republican proposal to fire the members of several key regulatory and policy boards and let GOP Gov. Pat McCrory and the party's legislative leaders pick their replacements.

...

Democrats on the committee said they were floored by the plan to dismiss all current members of significant panels such as the North Carolina Utilities Commission, state Industrial Commission, Coastal Resources Commission and state Lottery Commission."

I wonder how McCrory's ties to Duke Energy will affect his appointments to the NC Utilities Commission.

Furthermore, they played around with the idea of adding 2 more justices to the NC Supreme Court.

"The bill could have gone farther. A provision that would have created two additional seats for justices on the state Supreme Court in early 2015 was removed in the committee. The state constitution allows the state's highest court to have up to nine justices. There are currently seven on the court.
Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, the commit chairman, said the idea — labeled by critics as court packing — wasn't gone forever.
"We will probably visit that at a later date,” he said."
 
I mean, I guess this is what happens when one party has control for a century...the Pubs might as well be walking around with their middle fingers up at all times.
 
I don't believe that this (the immediate firing) has ever happened. please correct me if wrong
 
fuheel said:
I don't believe that this (the immediate firing) has ever happened. please correct me if wrong
Click to expand...

This is brand new. Pretty bold move. Also, the court packin plan is interesting - will help defeat the challenges to redistricting.
 
Deadbolt said:
I mean, I guess this is what happens when one party has control for a century...the Pubs might as well be walking around with their middle fingers up at all times.
Click to expand...

Dems may settle in for another 100 years after this crap.
 
Actually, I was told today this has been done before when an R took over for a D and against when a D took over for an R. So not withou precedent. Or so I'm told.
 
Gotta tell you... the stress of the job seems to be taking its toll on the newly elected governor.


palpatine.jpg
 
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/10/2669241/senate-plan-to-cut-12-judges-sweep.html#wgt=rcntnews

"The reason is that some House Republicans might have a problem with a provision in the bill to eliminate 12 special superior court judges, which some have warned would add to an already overburdened caseload and be an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

...

Just how necessary the judges are was disputed during the Senate floor debate on Tuesday. Sen. Buck Newton, a Republican who represents Johnston, Wilson and Nash counties, challenged Democrats’ claim that the judges handle a significant caseload.

“I’ve had information that they average less than 10 hours a week on the bench,” said Newton, a lawyer, without explaining where that information came from. Newton couldn’t be reached for comment over the weekend.

Data from the AOC suggests the judges handle far more cases than could be disposed of in 10 hours a week or less. While the data isn’t broken down by individual cases and judges, AOC estimates that 9.8 percent of the 204,000 cases disposed of in 2012 were handled by the 12 special superior court judges.

That amounts to approximately 20,000 cases heard by those dozen judges in a year – about 1,600 cases each.

...

When the bill hit the Senate floor the next day, Democrats warned that the provision removing judges could be unconstitutional, because the General Assembly isn’t allowed to fire individual judges, except through the repeal process. Republicans argued the legislation was allowable because 12 positions, not individuals, were being eliminated.

But Republicans also said that their ultimate plan is to replace these special judges – who were appointed by Democratic governors – with judges elected in local districts."
 
WFFaithful said:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/10/2669241/senate-plan-to-cut-12-judges-sweep.html#wgt=rcntnews

"The reason is that some House Republicans might have a problem with a provision in the bill to eliminate 12 special superior court judges, which some have warned would add to an already overburdened caseload and be an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

...

Just how necessary the judges are was disputed during the Senate floor debate on Tuesday. Sen. Buck Newton, a Republican who represents Johnston, Wilson and Nash counties, challenged Democrats’ claim that the judges handle a significant caseload.

“I’ve had information that they average less than 10 hours a week on the bench,” said Newton, a lawyer, without explaining where that information came from. Newton couldn’t be reached for comment over the weekend.

Data from the AOC suggests the judges handle far more cases than could be disposed of in 10 hours a week or less. While the data isn’t broken down by individual cases and judges, AOC estimates that 9.8 percent of the 204,000 cases disposed of in 2012 were handled by the 12 special superior court judges.

That amounts to approximately 20,000 cases heard by those dozen judges in a year – about 1,600 cases each.

...

When the bill hit the Senate floor the next day, Democrats warned that the provision removing judges could be unconstitutional, because the General Assembly isn’t allowed to fire individual judges, except through the repeal process. Republicans argued the legislation was allowable because 12 positions, not individuals, were being eliminated.

But Republicans also said that their ultimate plan is to replace these special judges – who were appointed by Democratic governors – with judges elected in local districts."
Click to expand...

Eliminating the special superior court judge slots is extremely troublesome to me. The AOC is incredibly underresourced as it is.
 
Elections have consequences. Let's see what happens with the NC economy over the next four years.
 
ArlingtonDeac said:
It's just breathtaking. They literally have no respect for anything outside their narrow, corporate-fueled political agenda.

This type of leadership is how the last tree was cut down on Easter Island.
Click to expand...


Yep. Every headline out of Raleigh these days seems like backwater/Deliverance city.
 
There is an argument to be made that term limits to unelected politically-appointed positions would help blunt the culture that brought the State its Jim Blacks, MSP's and Easley family issues.
 
DirkTheDeac said:
Elections have consequences. Let's see what happens with the NC economy over the next four years.
Click to expand...

51% of the house vote was democratic, yet democrats only hold 30.7% of the house seats. The 2010 republican takeover had dire consequences.

The removal of over $1.5 billion from the NC economy in the past two weeks is a great place to start.
 
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