RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to California recently for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), but few knew about it until after the trip was over.
According to Cooper’s campaign, the DGA paid for the governor’s travel, which spanned Monday through Wednesday.
Daily schedules sent out by the governor’s press office did not indicate the governor had left the state and said only that the governor “will be holding meetings and conducting other business.”
Transparency in the governor’s out of state travel has been a recurring issue, with Cooper being accused of not properly notifying the lieutenant governor and the media of his travels.
The North Carolina constitution says, “During the absence of the Governor from the State, or during the physical or mental incapacity of the Governor to perform the duties of his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall be Acting Governor.”
In 2017, Cooper left the state during the last weekend of September without telling the Forest.
Earlier this year in June, during the budget controversy, the governor made an unannounced trip to New York City.
“The Governor has only informed the LG of one out of state trip over the last 2.5 years. Last week was not that instance,” Jamey Falkenbury, Forest’s Director of Communications said at the time.
