#ncga: Legislators to voters: ‘Screw You.’ (Power Grab NOW EVEN WORSE)

dolmoreI swear.  You almost have to harken back to the Soviet Union or look to Cuba to find a government that has such utter, comparable, contempt for its people.

NCGOP Chairman Hassan Harnett, newly-chosen executive director Dallas Woodhouse, speaker Tim Moore, and president pro team Phil Berger had a photo op tonight ‘celebrating’ some alleged fence-mending over the attempted power grab in HB 373.

The drivebys tried to tell us things would now be OK. The grassroots can breathe easy now.  But not so fast.  

Check out SB 119 — a/k/a “technical corrections”:

SECTION 81.(a) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law, then G.S. 163?278.8B, as enacted by Section 3(a) of that act, is rewritten to read:
Ҥ 163?278.8B. Affiliated party committees.leo
(a) Each political party caucus of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate may establish one separate affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates who would be eligible to be members of that caucus. No other affiliated party committees shall be authorized pursuant to this section. The affiliated party committee is deemed a political party for purposes of this Article.
(b) An affiliated party committee shall be established only by majority vote of the total membership of the political party caucus. Attached to the organizational report filed in accordance with G.S. 163?9, the affiliated party committee shall provide a report to the State Board of Elections certifying that the political party caucus has organized and taken the appropriate vote to establish an affiliated party committee. The report described in this subsection shall be a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.dl
(c) Each affiliated party committee shall:
(1) Adopt bylaws which shall be in compliance with the provisions of this Article. At a minimum, the bylaws shall include designation of a treasurer.
(2) Conduct campaigns for candidates who would be eligible to be members of that political party caucus of the North Carolina House of Representatives or North Carolina Senate if elected or re?elected, or manage daily operations of the affiliated party committee.
(3) Establish a bank account.
(4) Accept contributions and expend funds.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an affiliated party committee shall be entitled to use the name, abbreviation, and symbol of its respective political party.grab
(e) For purposes of this section, “political party” has the same meaning as defined in G.S. 163?96.”

Wait.  THIS sounds like the same damn thing they tried to do in HB 373.  Except they’ve watered it down slightly — talking about majority votes in the caucus, drawing up bylaws.  But it still neuters each state party operation.  And who in either body is going to overrule David Lewis, Tim Moore, or Phil Berger?   But wait. It gets even worse:

SECTION 81.(b) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law, that act is amended by adding a new bill section to read:
“SECTION 3.(a1) Article 22A of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
Ҥ 163?278.8C. Council of State affiliated party committees.
(a) Members of the Council of State affiliated with the same political party may establish one separate Council of State affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates who would be eligible to be nominees of that political party for Council of State offices. No other Council of State affiliated party committees shall be authorized pursuant to this section. The Council of State affiliated party committee is deemed a political party for purposes of this Article.monk
(b) Each Council of State affiliated party committee shall:
(1) Adopt bylaws which shall be in compliance with the provisions of this Article. At a minimum, the bylaws shall include designation of a treasurer.
(2) Conduct campaigns for candidates for Council of State who are members of the leader’s political party or manage daily operations of the Council of State affiliated party committee.
(3) Establish a bank account.
(4) Accept contributions and expend funds.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a Council of State affiliated party committee shall be entitled to use the name, abbreviation, and symbol of the political party of its leader.FullSizeRender
(d) A previously established Council of State affiliated party committee may continue to be maintained in the event that no individual affiliated with that political party is elected to serve on the Council of State in the general election. The Council of State affiliated party committee shall be maintained by the most recently elected members of the Council of State from that political party. Notwithstanding the definition of “leader” in subsection (e) of this section, those members shall designate an individual from that group to serve as leader. When an individual or individuals affiliated with that political party is next elected to the Council of State, that individual or individuals shall assume control of the Council of State affiliated party committee for that political party.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Leader.” – The highest?ranking individual affiliated with the political party of the Council of State affiliated party committee. For the purposes of this subdivision, the highest?ranking office serving on the Council of State shall be in the mqdefaultfollowing order: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the offices as set out in Article III, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution, as follows: Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Labor, and Commissioner of Insurance.
(2) “Political party.” – As defined in G.S. 163?96.”
SECTION 81.(c) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law, that act is amended by adding a new bill section to read:
“SECTION 3.(b1) G.S. 163?278.6 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
“(1a) The term “affiliated party committee” means a General Assembly affiliated party committee as established by G.S. 163?278.8B or Council of State affiliated party committee as established by 163?278.8C.”lew
SECTION 81.(d) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law, G.S. 163?278.6(15), as amended by that act, reads as rewritten:
“(15) The term “political party” means any political party organized or operating in this State, whether or not that party is recognized under the provisions of G.S. 163?96. A special definition of “political party organization” that applies only in Part 1A of this Article is set forth in G.S. 163?278.38Z. An affiliated party committee is deemed a political party for this Article as set forth in G.S. 163?278.8B.G.S. 163?278.8B and G.S. 163?278.8C.”
SECTION 81.(e) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law, that act is amended to add two new bill sections to read:
“SECTION 3.(s) G.S. 163?278.13B(a)(2) reads as rewritten:551e13988ec3f.image
“(2) “Limited contributee” means a member of or candidate for the Council of State, a member of or candidate for the General Assembly.Assembly, an affiliated party committee, or a Council of State affiliated party committee.”
SECTION 3.(t) If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect without the invalid provisions or application, and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.”
SECTION 81.(f) If House Bill 373, 2015 Regular Session, becomes law G.S. 163?278.38Z, as amended by that act, reads as rewritten:
Ҥ 163?278.38Z. Definitions.
As used in this Part:

(3) “Candidate campaign committee” means any political committee organized by or under the direction of a candidate.candidate, except for an affiliated party committee as defined in G.S. 163?278.6(1a).
…”def

Yep.  They’ve expanded this “affiliated committee” nonsense to include the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the rest of the Council of State.  EVERYONE is getting in on the graft and corruption. 

Basically, it allows the elected officials at the highest levels of state government to shake people down for campaign contributions collectively and to protect each other — independent of the state parties.  The politicians are officially insulated from the rabble in the state parties. 

What a bait-and-switch.  Folks, we deserve better than this.  Each and everyone one of them needs to be fired — DROP-KICKED beyond the Beltline — over  this.  

This is not what I voted for in 2010, 2012, and 2014.  I don’t think it’s what you voted for either.