Vetoes seemingly arbitrary

State lawmakers will reconvene in Raleigh today after a divisive session that saw North Carolina take a dramatic right turn on a host of issues. Only two measures that won General Assembly approval ran afoul of Gov. Pet McCrory’s review, prompting the chief executive to issue vetoes and schedule this override session for lawmakers to uphold or reject his decision.

The legislation in question — to authorize drug testing for welfare recipients and a proposal to ratchet up immigration enforcement — are almost innocuous by comparison to that which the governor signed. So as North Carolina conducts this exercise, the public must wonder the real reason for this power play and how it could affect the balance of power in Raleigh in the months to follow.

Of all the outlandish and deplorable bills approved by the N.C. General Assembly this year — including those imposing strict restrictions on abortion, radical changes to elections and even one banning Sharia law — McCrory selected only two on which to exercise his veto authority.

The first bill would impose drug testing on some, but not all, applicants for North Carolina’s Work First and food stamps programs. Those selected for testing would be identified by a social worker as a suspected drug user, which seems entirely arbitrary. The procedure may be unconstitutional, but it is certainly bad policy; a similar experiment in Florida saw the state pay far more for testing than in recouped in unpaid benefits.

The other bill centered on the E-Verify system, which can be used to determine the immigration status of temporary workers. The governor’s veto of this measure, which authorizes a study rather than advances implementation, earned him the ire of the N.C. Farm Bureau, which said the governor was threatening this year’s harvest due a lack of available, verifiable workers.

McCrory is likely correct in his contention that money spent to administer drug tests to welfare applicants would be better applied to proven treatment programs. And his concern for North Carolina workers rather than undocumented season workers can be considered well intentioned, at least. But pulling these two bills from all that crossed his desk should have North Carolinians scratching their heads.

With so many flawed bills given a free pass, rejecting these two smacks of something more than a difference of opinion between a governor and the legislature. Still, if it was attention he needed, all eyes are again on Raleigh to see if McCrory’s uncommon assertion of authority will stand or fall.