NC Republicans have no history of backing down
Published April 29, 2016
by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, published in Rocky Mount Telegram, April 27, 2016.
Since taking control of the N.C. House and Senate in 2011, Republicans on Jones Street have weathered their fair share of criticism – and that may be the understatement of the decade.
They have been deemed heartless. They have been called racists, bigots and homophobes.
They have endured sit-ins and die-ins and pray-ins. They have put up with loud banging and yelling outside the House and Senate chambers while in session.
They have witnessed hundreds of arrests of protesters in and around the Legislative Building.
They received hand-delivered petition after hand-delivered petition. It would be impossible to estimate how many disgruntled callers they have picked up the phone to hear.
They have become the butt of jokes of late-night talk show hosts and comedians.
They have read hundreds, if not thousands, of negative editorials from around the country on various issues.
But through it all, they have largely remained unfazed, barely retreating an inch. When they have, it has been the result of a court ruling or by making a tweak in a law to address unintended or unforeseen consequences. Also, at times, controversial legislation has been watered down as it moves through the legislative process.
In the face of fierce opposition, these Republicans have resisted the expansion of Medicaid, retained the voter ID law, barred cities from collecting certain types of revenue and kept on the books the repeal of the earned income tax credit and the lessening of unemployment benefits. They have loosened gun and environmental restrictions and legalized fracking. They have stood strong on those issues and others, and, in many instances, fought back aggressively against their critics.
But the backlash they are receiving as a result of House Bill 2 is unprecedented, even for this group that has stomached so much. It has gone viral. It has gone worldwide. And it is hitting the state they are leading where it counts – the pocketbook.
As the General Assembly session begins, Republicans can expect more name-calling and protests and arrests and petitions and phone calls. They have seen all of that before.
What they have not seen during the past five years are significant economic consequences as a result of their actions. But the monetary cost is mounting because of HB2 at a time when the Republican governor, up for re-election in November, is trying to tout a “Carolina Comeback.”
Corporations have nixed expansion plans in the state. Conferences, concerts and other entertainment events have been canceled. Tourists and film production companies are going elsewhere. The NBA is threatening to move its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte if changes are not made or HB2 repealed. Estimates on the total economic impact range from the tens of millions to the hundreds of millions of dollars.
As they get back to work in Raleigh this week, legislators have four choices on HB2. They can do nothing, modify it slightly and appease almost no one, modify it significantly and quiet some opponents or repeal it.
While this is the biggest test they have had to date, my guess is General Assembly Republicans will do one of the first two.
Recent statements by top legislative leaders suggest they are not going to give in to the pressure.
They do not have a history of backing down.
April 29, 2016 at 9:16 pm
Pat Kelley says:
I know some of these Republican legislators, Patrick, and I can assure you they feel so proud right now of their outdated stance that they likely will not back down as you say. But I'm hopeful that enough of us unaffiliated voters (and more moderate Dems) who stupidly voted for some of these folks will realize how out-of-touch they are regarding human rights (not to mention the economic harm their actions have caused our state) ... and we will wipe their bigoted asses out of office over time. Then we can get back to joining the rest of the nation with the modern mindset of believing we are all God's children and deserve to be treated equally. I am a white straight married person who has had just about enough of white straight married legislators who think they are superior to everyone else just because they can make the rules. Fortunately their days are numbered because they have exposed their bigotry a little too strongly with HB2. That may just be the silver lining to all of this controversy, because I can assure you it will not go away ... regardless of how many "anti-liberal establishment" statements the Republicans want to issue. They are simply on the wrong side of history this time.
