(The Center Square) – North Carolina lawmakers squabbled Thursday over a late addition to legislation resolved by a conference committee from both the General Assembly chambers, ultimately leading to a walkout by Senate Democrats.
Unmasking Mobs and Criminals, as House Bill 237 is known, had already drawn sharp rebuke centered on the rights of immunocompromised people and their families. Senate Democrats said they had noticed only hours before voting that campaign finance was now in the bill.
Just before noon, the official vote was 28-0 with 10 excused absences and 12 not voting. No Republicans opposed it, and two were among the excused. The bill had passed 30-15 on party lines May 15 and needed the resolution from House representatives and senators.
Next up is a vote in the House of Representatives at a time to be determined, possibly next week.
Corporations cannot give money directly to candidates, per state law. They can give directly to federal political fundraising committees known as 527 organizations and do so in unlimited amounts.
The change allows the 527 organizations, named because of the associated tax code, to donate to state political parties. Those respective parties can take in unlimited donations and give unlimited amounts to their candidates.
In a post to social media, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, wrote, “Senate Democrats walked out today because this election bill literally allows convicted felons and millionaires to buy our coming election. We walked out today because it’s critical we shine a light in a dark of night rushed process that will undermine our democratic process.”
Chaudhuri says an example of the legislation’s potential impact is “convicted felon Greg Lindberg could give millions” of dollars to Republican candidates without any disclosures. He also called it “political laundering” in an 11th-hour change with elections already ongoing via the completed primary season.
Other Senate Democrats also called it political money laundering.
Corporate contributions to political candidates or political committees in North Carolina are banned by General Statute 163-278.19. That law was not changed by HB237.
People wearing masks in public, and those blocking roads or emergency vehicles, are singled out in the proposal. Protests in the state about fossil fuels have led to road blockages, and university campuses – notably the Polk Place quad at Carolina – have been contentious areas linked to the war between Hamas and Israel.
State law involving masks dates back 71 years to activity by the Ku Klux Klan. When the COVID-19 era came, lawmakers agreed to a change that corresponded to federal and state health officials’ recommendations.
When first filed March 1, 2023, the proposal only included language on criminalizing money laundering, and enhancing sentence when convictions involved a defendant “wearing a mask, hood, or other clothing device to conceal or attempt to conceal the defendant’s identity.”
Seven months later, Hamas attacked Israel. Since then, protestors of that war have often covered their faces as they demonstrated; some did so defacing or destroying property or confronting other people.
Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, pushed back on mask critics. He said he believed discretion by lawmen and district attorneys would prevail when it came to people wearing masks for legitimate health reasons.
The bill language approved Thursday does not stop people from wearing masks for health reasons.