RALEIGH — During 2023 legislative session, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper issued the third-highest number of vetoes in his two terms with 19, and for the first time since Cooper took office, the General Assembly successfully overrode all of them.
Supermajorities in both chambers gave the legislature a 100% veto override rate during the 2023 long session.
Coming out of the 2022 election cycle, the Senate already had a Republican supermajority but the House was down by a single vote. That vote came along in April 2023 when Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham’s switched parties from Democrat to Republican.
The 19 bills which saw successful veto overrides during the 2023 session are:
- SB 41 – Guarantee 2nd Amend Freedom and Protections
- SB 20 – Care for Women, Children, and Families Act
- SB 364 – Nondiscrimination & Dignity in State Work
- SB 331 – Consumer Finance Act Amendments
- SB 329 – Retail Installment Sales Act Amendments
- SB 299 – Reimburse Late Audit Costs with Sales Tax Rev.
- SB 582 – NC Farm Act of 2023
- HB 750 – Address ESG Factors
- HB 574
- SB 49 – Parents Bill of Rights
- HB 808 – Gender transition/minors
- HB 488 – Code Council Reorganization & Various Code Amendments
- HB 618
- HB 219 – Charter School Omnibus
- SB 512 – Greater Accountability for Boards/Commissions
- SB 747 – Elections Law Changes
- SB 749 – No Partisan Advantage In Elections
- SB 678 – Clean Energy / Other Changes
- HB 600 – Regulatory Reform Act of 2023
One of the most high-profile overrides was that of Senate Bill 20, which reduced the state’s elective abortion limit from 20 weeks down to 12 with an exception for rape and incest through 20 weeks. Following the successful override, a lawsuit was filed by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and Dr. Beverly Gray.
Other laws that were enacted following a veto override have also been hit with lawsuits include Senate Bills 512, 747, and 749. The lawsuit over Senate Bill 512 was initiated by Cooper himself with a judge temporarily blocking part of the law in November while the case proceeds.
Heading into the last year of his second term, Cooper holds the state record for most vetoes issued with 94 or 73% of all vetoes issued.
His four predecessors who had veto powers, former Govs. Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory had collectively issued 35 vetoes.
Hunt issued no vetoes and Easley issued 9 spanning the years 2001-2008. Perdue and McCrory, who both served a single term, issued 20 and 6, respectively.
As of the end of the 2023 long session, the General Assembly has an overall override rate of 45%.
Cooper issued 28 vetoes during the 2017-18 legislative year that included three extra sessions. Of those vetoes, 23 were overridden.
During 2019-20’s session, the governor issued 25 but most of those vetoes never received an override attempt as Republicans had lost their supermajorities in both chambers during the 2018 midterm elections.
Cooper’s 16 vetoes in 2021-22 and six in 2022-23 would also go mostly unchallenged.
