RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The North Carolina House of Representatives voted to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of a controversial bill concerning school vouchers and undocumented immigration on Tuesday afternoon.
The bill passed with a 72-44 vote, and now heads to the state Senate, which is expected to hold its vote Wednesday afternoon.
Cooper vetoed House Bill 10 in late September. However, the Republican Party currently holds three-fifths of the seats in both the N.C. Senate and House, allowing the caucus alone to override any veto from the governor.
Shortly before the vote, the pro-public education group Every Child N.C. held a demonstration on the grounds of the Legislative Building in Raleigh.
“Unfortunately, we’re here again,” said demonstrator Francisco Martinez, who emphasized the group’s message to lawmakers to not risk taking money away from public education through the vouchers to give wealthy families the opportunity to send their kids to private school.
Demonstrator Brittani Clark said, “We will continue to advocate. We will continue to push. We will continue to show up here to have our voices heard.”
HB10 was not directly written to exclude Helene relief money, but has been considered a political pawn to try to sway the super-majority house vote.
“This program is about families being able to pick what’s best for their child,” said Rep. Tricia Cotham, a former Democrat turned Republican. “We don’t need to set up a false choice between hurricane relief and public school funding for the Opportunity’s Scholarship Program.”
By voting to maintain HB10, the House also upheld anti-immigration tactics.
“No matter what we did in a bill like this, federal law still exist,” said Republican state Rep. Destin Hall, who was elected the next House Speaker the same day. “Federal law still says you can’t cross the border without doing so legally.”
Democratic Rep. Julie von Haefen said, “We should prioritize our taxpayer money on Helene recovery and the $53 billion dollars it’s estimated to be to recover from this horrible storm. Instead, we’re spending it on private school vouchers for wealthy families.”
The General Assembly is scheduled to convene at least two times before the GOP is expected to lose its complete supermajority in January.
Republican state lawmakers voted earlier in September to allocate $463 million for private school vouchers. This came after lawmakers expanded voucher eligibility to all families earlier in the year and demand exploded, with around 55,000 students still on a waitlist.
After vetoing the bill, Governor Cooper said the money should go to public schools first and the funds could be better used to give those schools more resources.
Cooper maintains he’s not against private schools, but says many of these vouchers will go to people who can already afford to pay private school tuition.
“It works for some children,” he said after vetoing the bill in September. “But I am against taking taxpayer dollars out of the public schools and giving it to private school vouchers for the wealthiest North Carolinians. That is exactly what HB10 does.”
The governor added under this bill, rural communities would suffer the most.
“Most of these private schools that get this voucher money are in our urban areas,” Cooper said. “That’s where the money will go.”
Educators said this money could instead be used for raising teacher pay and paying retention bonuses, which are proposed in the governor’s budget. Along with school board members and county officials, they called on state lawmakers to uphold the governor’s veto.
“When I think about these funds, I realize they could go to technology, new and updated facilities, textbooks, and support for students with disabilities,” said Elyse Cannon McCrae, a social studies teacher in Pitt County. “You have to do right with this public funding. You have to support public education, the great equalizer in North Carolina.”
“We cannot afford to let this bill pass,” said Carlos Riddick, who chairs the Washington County Board of Education. “It’s time to stand up for our public schools, our communities, and, most importantly, our children.”
Vouchers are not the only controversial subject in the proposed law. It would also require sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials and hold inmates charged with serious crimes if they are believed to be in the country unlawfully. Cooper has vetoed similar legislation twice before.
Republican advocates say the bill is necessary because some sheriffs in predominantly Democratic counties have previously disregarded detainers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“North Carolina is dealing with border issues right now,” Republican Speaker of the House Tim Moore said after state lawmakers passed the bill in September. “We’re dealing with thousands of people who are in this state who shouldn’t be here. And we’re dealing with folks who shouldn’t be here and committing serious crimes.”
Opponents of the legislation argue that it would unconstitutionally target Hispanic communities across the state.
“This bill not only strips away immigrant rights but also destroys the trust between law enforcement and our community,” said Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, president of El Centro Hispano, which is an organization that advocates for the state’s Hispanic communities.