Restoring NC’s reputation begins
RALEIGH (March 30, 2017) – The N.C. House and Senate both voted today to repeal HB2, the notorious “bathroom bill” that stigmatized North Carolina and its universities in the eyes of corporate leaders, job candidates and athletic leagues nationwide.
And Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill within hours.
“It’s not a perfect deal, but it repeals House Bill 2 and begins to repair our reputation,” Cooper said in a statement Wednesday night.
The repeal bill negotiated by Cooper, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, HB 142, does three things:
- It repeals HB2, which required individuals to use restrooms in public buildings according to their biological sex.
- It forbids state agencies and local governments to regulate restrooms and showers except in accordance with acts of the General Assembly.
- And it forbids local governments to regulate private employment or public accommodations until Dec. 1, 2020.
“Compromise sometimes is difficult – and this bill represents a compromise,” Berger told the Senate. “I don’t know that there a lot of people who are extremely happy…. But I believe and I hope you believe that this bill is what’s right for North Carolina at this time.”
The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 32-16 and the House by a vote of 70-48.
It should never have taken a year to undo what the legislature did in a day last March 23 in response to a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance, however.
In the year since HB2 was enacted, North Carolina and its universities have endured the withdrawal of job candidates1 and potential students,2 loss of conferences3 and potential business partners,4 billions in research dollars placed at risk,5 and the loss of ACC and NCAA tournament games.6
Credit Suisse reportedly even told state officials it will move 1,000-1,500 high-paying jobs to Research Triangle Park – but only if HB2 is repealed.7
“The economic fallout from HB2 is potentially one of the most damaging things to our economy in modern times, if we don’t address these issues,” said Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue.
Pragmatists from both sides of the aisle appeared to agree.
“There are some companies that are just not coming because of the stigma of HB2,” Rep. Scott Stone, R-Mecklenburg, said in debate on the House floor.
“The fact that both sides are opposing it probably shows that it is a reasonable compromise,” he said. “The time has come for us to get out from under the national spotlight for negative things…. I think it is time to move on.”
1 https://www.apnews.com/b12e82daf2bf402b9374654382730fc0.
2 http://www.thewesterncarolinajournalist.com/2016/04/15/hb2-creates-chilling-effect-on-higher-education/.
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article69558257.html.
3 http://www.myacpa.org/article/open-letter-acpa-decision-move-event-north-carolina-venue. http://blog.historians.org/2016/12/business-history-conference-cancels-meeting-charlotte-nc/
4 http://www.wral.com/woodson-ncsu-losing-business-because-of-hb2/15642270/.
5 http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/the_syllabus/the-syllabus-hb-and-higher-ed-once-again-updated/article_a3d79fb8-dbe5-5c2d-84cc-9b3d6975485d.html.
6 http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/news/hb2-ncaa-championship-events-out-north-carolina-anti-lgbt-lesiglation-north-carolina-duke-region/1vipmthi50erc11rel2bms14vj.
7 http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2017/03/21/north-carolinas-hb2-repeal-could-mean-1-000-plus.html.
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