Let the vetoes stand

Editorial by Greensboro News and Record, August 24, 2013.

Legislators don’t have to accept Gov. Pat McCrory’s vetoes of two bills passed this summer.

“We got pretty good last year at overriding vetoes,” Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, told The News & Observer of Raleigh. “I think we got it down pat by now.”

Sure enough, the Republican House and Senate last year swept aside vetoes by Gov. Bev Perdue of the state budget and two other measures. But Perdue was a Democrat; McCrory is a Republican, and he’s raised few objections to legislative initiatives. He even signed a bill putting new restrictions on abortion despite a campaign promise that he wouldn’t. Legislators should return the favor now.

The governor expressed clear objections to bills that would require drug-testing for Work First applicants and expand E-Verify exemptions for farm laborers.

The first measure wasn’t adequately funded and likely wouldn’t work as intended. There are better ways to deal with drug problems, McCrory said.

The second, allowing farmers to hire workers for up to nine months without using the federal E-Verify system to check their immigration status, would open the door to the employment of undocumented workers, he said. “We need to grow the economy, but not at the expense of North Carolina workers.”

Agricultural organizations pushed for the exemption and claim farmers won’t be able to hire enough help without it. They may have a point. Farmers haven’t been turning away hordes of job-seekers clamoring to work in the fields. The agricultural interests also may have enough political strength to push legislators back into session Sept. 3 for an override vote. But this bill isn’t worth the effort.

The governor, as required by the state constitution, called a special legislative session for the purpose of holding override votes. Lawmakers can decline to return, letting the vetoes stand.

McCrory urged them to stay home and spare the taxpayers the expense of new proceedings. Legislators could wait until next year’s scheduled short session to make changes that might satisfy the governor.

McCrory raised a second objection to both bills, saying a governor should veto measures “to ensure the public is made aware of legislation that is not fully scrutinized.”

A great many bills approved by this year’s General Assembly, and many from past years, were not “fully scrutinized.”

One of those passed this summer was the bill changing voting laws, which McCrory acknowledged he hadn’t read before it reached his desk. Even some legislators complained they were presented with a final version hours before adjournment without adequate time to digest it. It was enacted anyway.

The governor should demand close scrutiny for every proposed new law. He’s entitled to say no if he finds objections or thinks concerns have not been addressed.

The legislature is also entitled to hold an override vote. This legislature does know how to do that, but this time it shouldn’t.