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HB2 repeal failure highlights distrust between assembly, Charlotte

By Blake Hanson
By Blake Hanson

RALEIGH, N.C. — The failed attempt at repealing House Bill 2 Wednesday might have grown the schism between the Republican majority in the state Assembly and urban cities.

Political expert Michael Bitzer, of Catawba College, could not recall a time when trust has been so lacking between state government and cities.

"For the foundation of political dynamics, there has to be trust, and I think it just is not there," Bitzer said.

While in North Carolina the state has power over its cities, Bitzer said states must also rely on cities.

"Urban areas provide so much economic catalyst for the state, and the state has the power to define what cities can and cannot do," he said. "That trust just is not evident and the divide I'm afraid is growing even deeper between the two sides."

Trust was a major talking point following the failed repeal effort Wednesday. Republican Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters that it was a lack of trust that led to a moratorium. That moratorium would have put a monthslong ban on cities passing non-discrimination ordinances, as Charlotte did.

Initially, the deal in place was for Charlotte to repeal its ordinance, and lawmakers would repeal HB2. Charlotte leaders announced they had repealed the ordinance Monday.

But it was revealed Tuesday night that they had not fully repealed the actions they took in February.

Charlotte City Council fixed the issue in an emergency meeting Wednesday. Leaders said they had acted in good faith and believed they had done everything that was required initially on its end of the bargain.

Berger said, however, that the fiasco had broken the trust, along with reports that cities such as Durham might pass a non-discrimination ordinance as soon as the assembly repealed HB2.

"I don't know why [Charlotte City Council] decided to be cute with it," Berger said.

Some Republicans were OK with passing a "clean" repeal bill that lacked a moratorium. Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Cornelius, said Republicans began dropping their support of the clean repeal when the issue with the Charlotte City Council's repeal happened.

"To [Charlotte City Council's] credit, in good faith they did that. They eliminated their whole ordinance. Good. So we started moving forward, but we had members at that point that had a lot of skepticism. Are there other things that are going to change? Is this changing? Is that changing?" Tarte said.

Tarte said he did not understand why Democrats had an issue with a moratorium.

"Had enough Democrats voted with the group of Republican senators to repeal HB2, it would be repealed today," Tarte said.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Jackson railed against the moratorium Wednesday.

"We had a deal. The deal was Charlotte repeals its ordinance, which it did, in exchange for a full repeal of HB2 with no strings," Jackson said.

With the moratorium in place, Democrats said they would not agree to the repeal effort. The effort failed Wednesday night.

Bitzer said trust issues are also high between parties in Raleigh.

"The big question in my mind is how much trust is there going to be between [Democratic] Governor-elect [Roy] Cooper, who assumes office in a few days, and the Republican Legislature, and I think that that is broken as well," Bitzer said.

The next chance for the Legislature to repeal HB2 will be January.

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Gov. Pat McCrory issued the following statement:

"As promised, I called a Special Session to reconsider a manufactured political issue that strategically targeted the city of Charlotte and our state by well-funded left-wing interest groups. This was at least the third time that pressure from the left sabotaged bipartisan good faith agreements for political purposes. 

"As I've stated multiple times, the balance between privacy and equality is not just a North Carolina issue, it is a national issue that will be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in the near future.

"North Carolina will continue to be one of the nation's leaders in job growth, education, quality of life and equality for all of our citizens."

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Gov.-elect Roy Cooper statement:

"The legislature had a chance to do the right thing for North Carolina today, and they failed.

"I am disappointed that Republican legislative leaders refused to live up to their promise to fully repeal House Bill 2. I’m disappointed for the people of North Carolina — the jobs that they may not get. I’m disappointed that we haven’t yet removed the stain from our reputation around the country and around the world.

"People want us to work together for the good of our state. I know there were enough Democratic and Republican votes to fully repeal HB 2 by itself. But Republican legislative leaders have broken their word to me and broken their trust with the people. 

"My staff and I worked day and night through the past week to forge an agreement that would bring back jobs and sporting events. For the first time ever on this issue, we had House Republican leaders, Senate Republican leaders, Senate Democrats, House Democrats, the Charlotte City Council, business leaders, sports leaders and the LGBT leaders in agreement. The Charlotte City Council held up its end of the deal by repealing its ordinance. When it came time for Republican legislative leaders to do their job, they failed.

"This was our best chance. This cannot be our last chance."

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NCGOP statement:

"After months of threatening boycotts and misleading rhetoric, not a single Democrat voted to repeal HB2 on a straight up and down vote. It's even more absurd that Governor-elect Cooper privately pressured Senate Democrats to reject the deal while publicly calling on lawmakers to support a repeal. This is nothing more than smoke and mirrors and the people of North Carolina deserve more than the lies and collusion that Roy Cooper has fashioned himself accustomed to," said NCGOP Chairman Robin Hayes.

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City of Charlotte statement:

"The Charlotte City Council acted in good faith to do everything it understood was needed to necessitate the state legislature repealing HB2, a state law that made our non-discrimination ordinance unenforceable. 

Despite our efforts, the legislature was unable to pass a bill that would have repealed HB2.

While we are disappointed with this unfortunate outcome, our commitment to maintaining and protecting diverse and inclusive communities remains unchanged.

There are many issues that require a positive and collaborative relationship between the City and State. We will continue to work with our partners at the state and local levels to develop a solution that protects the rights of all individuals."

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NC Values statement:

"Tonight the North Carolina Senate voted to keep the protections provided by our privacy law, HB2, in place. We continue to encourage our leaders to never sacrifice the privacy, safety, or freedom of young girls by forcing them to use the bathroom, shower, or change clothes with grown men just to satisfy the demands of greedy businesses, immoral sports organizations, or angry mobs. Nor should they sacrifice the freedom of everyone to live and work according to their beliefs.

We are thankful for the members of the General Assembly who stood up for what is right, and represented the will of voters by stopping the move to cower and cave-in to the City of Charlotte and the Human Rights Campaign." - Tami Fitzgerald, NC Values Coalition Executive Director

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Progress NC statement:

On Monday, Progress NC Action warned that Republican leaders should not be trusted to hold up their end of an HB2 "compromise" requiring Charlotte City Council to repeal its nondiscrimination ordinance in exchange for the full repeal of HB2.

On Wednesday, Republican leaders proved how untrustworthy they are by:

  • Refusing to fully repeal HB2, even after the Charlotte City Council repealed its non-discrimination ordinance
  • Proposing an indefinite "moratorium" on local nondiscrimination ordinances, leaving the HB2 provision banning such ordinances in place
  • Adjourning without even bringing their false "repeal" plan to a full vote in both chambers.

This comes after the General Assembly blackmailed Charlotte into removing its escape clause on Wednesday, leaving LGBT North Carolinians even worse off than before.

"Republicans have no excuses for this sham of a session," said Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action. "Republican state lawmakers have betrayed the trust of Charlotte's business community, the LGBT community, and the voters of North Carolina. Charlotte should immediately reinstate its nondiscrimination ordinance as soon as possible to reaffirm their commitment to equality for all, and other local governments should pass similar ordinances in solidarity."

By refusing the allow a vote on full repeal of HB2, Republicans also reveal their hypocrisy on their own damaging discriminatory law. Even now, Republicans claim HB2 was a needed reaction to a local ordinance, and they claimed the business backlash to HB2 was the fault of the Charlotte City Council. But even when the ordinance is repealed, Republicans with their super-majorities in the General Assembly refuse to budge on HB2.

"The Charlotte ordinance is repealed, HB2 is still hanging around North Carolina's neck, and the Republican excuses for keeping HB2 are revealed to be utterly fraudulent," said Brenner. "As employers, major sporting events, and entertainers cross North Carolina off their list of states in which to invest and visit, it's ever more crystal clear who is to blame. Republicans in the General Assembly will answer to voters in 2017."

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Lambda Legal and ACLU Condemn North Carolina Lawmakers' Failure to Repeal H.B. 2

The North Carolina legislature today convened for a special session where it failed to pass a bill repealing H.B. 2, the state's sweeping anti-LGBT law.

Based on a promise from the General Assembly to fully repeal H.B. 2, the Charlotte City Council repealed their LGBT non-discrimination ordinances earlier this week. However, the Legislature failed to follow through on their promise, despite the deep and widespread opposition and outrage over the discriminatory nature of the law.

 H.B. 2 bans transgender people from accessing restrooms and public facilities consistent with their gender identity and prevents local municipalities from extending nondiscrimination protections to LGBT people. H.B. 2 is estimated to have cost North Carolina over $600 million in lost revenue from businesses concerned with the discriminatory nature of the law, and was a contributing factor in the election defeat of the outgoing Governor Pat McCrory.

"The General Assembly and Governor McCrory are playing political chicken, and North Carolinians continue to lose for it. It is an outrage that North Carolina's lawmakers could not follow the mandate of the voters and repeal H.B. 2," said Simone Bell, Southern Regional Director at Lambda Legal. As long as H.B. 2 is on the books, thousands of LGBT people who call North Carolina home, especially transgender people, are being discriminated against and will never feel safe. This was a counterproductive exercise in reaffirming to the rest of the country that North Carolina wants to remain mired in this divisive dispute.

"It is a shame that North Carolina's General Assembly is refusing to clean up the mess they made. The support for the LGBT community from political leaders, faith leaders, businesses, and everyday people that has emerged this year will not fade. These attempts to expel transgender people from public life will not be tolerated," said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT & HIV Project. "The legislature may not be willing to undo their unconstitutional overreach and respect the rights of LGBT people, so we'll just have to see them in court."

The ACLU, ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal and the law firm of Jenner & Block are challenging H.B. 2 in federal court on behalf of four LGBT North Carolinians and members of the ACLU of North Carolina.

With H.B. 2 in place, transgender North Carolinians are barred from using the restrooms they had used day in and day out without incident prior to the passage of the anti-trans measure in March. The repeal of H.B.2 would bring essential and immediate relief to transgender people across the state who had been put in the perilous position of being forced to avoid public restrooms or risk violation of state law.

"We will continue to fight in court for transgender people to access the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity and for equal protection for the entire LGBT community in North Carolina. State-sanctioned discrimination is unacceptable. LGBT North Carolinians and millions around the country are anxious to see an end to these dangerous displays of intolerance," said Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina.

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