Bill to reopen North Carolina gyms, bars sent to Cooper’s desk

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina legislature has passed another bill overturning parts of Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order that keep certain businesses closed to discourage COVID-19′s spread. The House voted on a largely party-line vote on Wednesday for the measure written by Republicans, many of whom have been critical of Cooper’s slow pace to loosen restrictions on the state economy.

The governor already vetoed a bill last week would let bars reopen outdoors and give restaurants additional outdoor seating options, and he’s been skeptical about the new measure, which also would allow gyms to reopen.

Gym and bar owners are frustrated -- they were excluded from the Phase Two reopenings with the possibility of reopening with Phase Three at the end of the month.

Cooper has expressed his concerns about the legislation, saying it would make it difficult for health leaders to impose restrictions again if there’s another COVID strike. However, lawmakers said they added language to the bill that would give Cooper flexibility to close businesses again if if he deems it necessary.

In the bill, bars and gyms would be allowed to reopen. It would also extend to health clubs, fitness centers, yoga and dance studios.

North Carolina Sen. Rick Gunn (R-Alamance) announced changes Monday to the legislation that would let gyms reopen and said he expected the bill to be signed into law.

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Gunn said the Senate eliminated the only obstacle that it is aware of to reopening gyms and treating bars and restaurants equally.

“On Friday afternoon, the governor vetoed my bill that would treat bars and restaurants equally by allowing them both to operate outdoors,” Gunn said. “The only excuse I have heard from the Dems for opposing the bill is that the governor would not have the flexibility to reclose those businesses if there’s another COVID strike. I’m going to presume that the same logic would apply to the gyms. The updated bill will make it explicit that the governor has the flexibility to reclose those businesses if he deems it necessary provided that he obtains concurrence from the council of states."

Gunn said he was “simply tired of wasting time and watching these businesses flounder.”

He noted that the number of people in North Carolina on unemployment has surpassed 1 million.

“These people are struggling and the businesses that are so good to hire them are in a catastrophic situation,” Gunn said.

Every state that borders North Carolina has reopened restaurants, bars and gyms, Gunn noted.

“The Cooper administration has not explained at all how the science and the facts and data with every state that borders us is different than North Carolina,” Gunn said. “In fact, the Cooper administration has not explained how the science and the facts and the data make it OK for thousands of people, including the governor himself, to gather in the streets without social distancing or masks, but one person can’t sit outside and sip a drink. The governor’s only excuse for not signing the bill we sent him is he needs more flexibility.”

One local gym owner, Chris Narveson, told Channel 9 he supports the bill.

“We’re all for it. I know that it’s a difficult decision,” he said.

However, Cooper said Monday that the COVID-19 numbers are top of mind for him.

“We’ve got to keep our numbers in mind and make sure we’re being safe,” said Cooper. “Right now our numbers are not going in the right direction.”

Supporters believe they have enough votes to pass it and then it would be up to the governor to sign it into law.

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A coalition of North Carolina fitness club operators, the Fitness Operators for Responsible Reopening (FORR), released the following statement on the passage of legislation to safely open gyms, health clubs and fitness centers (HB 594) from the N.C. Senate:

“We commend lawmakers in the N.C. Senate for the passage of HB 594, legislation to safely and responsibly reopen fitness centers for North Carolina’s 2.5 million health club members, with strong bipartisan support. As an industry, we are committed to the highest health and sanitation standards to provide our members the confidence needed to safely return to their workout routines. We thank Governor Roy Cooper for working with us to this point and encourage him to sign this solutions-oriented legislation for the physical and mental well-being of our communities.”

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Last Friday, Cooper vetoed legislation that would have let North Carolina standalone bars serve patrons again in contradiction to his executive order that’s aimed at halting the spread of COVID-19.

The vetoed bill would have allowed bars to only reopen outdoors, as well as give additional outdoor seating to restaurants that Cooper agreed could again serve dine-in customers two weeks ago.

The governor wrote Friday that the bill would have limited the ability of leaders to respond quickly to a surge in the virus.

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