Republican voices offer HB2 options

[caption id="attachment_19634" align="alignleft" width="150"] Graphic by WRAL[/caption]

Editorial by Burlington Times-News, May 23, 2016.

Two leading state Republicans — one moderate and one conservative — have ideas for how to get North Carolina out of the bathroom and back into larger public policy issues without further tarnishing the state’s reputation.

On the conservative side is North Carolina businessman and philanthropist Art Pope. The one-time state budget director under Gov. Pat McCrory pours a lot of money into conservative causes and organizations, including some that have given a strong push to controversial House Bill 2.

Last week, though, during an interview on National Public Radio, he provided a voice of reason, according to the Fayetteville Observer. “The LGBT community has legitimate issues,” Pope said. “Those who have concerns about the privacy in the bathroom of women and children or men have legitimate issues as well.”

So Pope suggested that all parties back away from their positions “and have a commission come up with a workable statute.”

Not bad.

The moderate is former Gov. Jim Martin, who has spoken out already on House Bill 2, the so-called “Bathroom Law” that’s really about more and larger issues than simply who goes where.

Martin noted that while different sides of the issue are meeting, there has been little to no progress toward a solution so far. So he is proposing that the General Assembly: “Enact new legislation to (a) repeal the sections of HB2 pertaining to Charlotte’s ordinance, and (b) replace that with a simple directive reserving to the state exclusive authority and jurisdiction over laws and regulations governing access to multi-occupancy rest rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, showers and the like.

“Then, put an emphatic period right there. Include no further specification at this time as to who goes where … nothing would mention any class or category of people, and it would not be discriminatory against anyone. Let that issue settle back down. … Statewide policy regarding these kinds of sensitive issues would be right where it was a year ago ...”

If enacted, Martin’s plan would get us back to where we started before the brouhaha began, and allow for serious debate and input on a complex issue, which is what was needed from the outset.

That’s where Pope’s idea comes in.

We’re talking about a move toward common sense that might even jump-start a return to sanity in governance, where laws are created by studying a problem, advancing a solution, debating it publicly, compromising between opposing sides and then passing the best law possible.

Congress and the federal courts will have to deal with the recent mandates that came down from the Obama Administration. As Gov. McCrory correctly said, that has become a nationwide issue. Meanwhile, both Martin and McCrory have called on the legislature to return state court access to individuals claiming discriminatory business practices.

In order for Martin’s plan to work, there will need to be strong bipartisan support. Martin says he has been encouraged by the reception his idea has received from several members of both the House and Senate.

We hope our local legislators are listening with open minds. After all, since federal courts are likely to send the state back to the drawing boards on HB2 anyway, how about beating the feds to the punch and starting over again now?

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