NC GOP FIGHTING HARD TO SUPPRESS MAPMAKER'S FILES IN GERRYMANDERING SUIT: Republican lawmakers “had specifically promised the court that their mapmaker would not even possess racial data,” let alone use it, said Daniel Jacobson, one of the lawyers for the people and groups suing to overturn the maps. And Hofeller’s files, Jacobson said, will show that Hofeller broke the rules and did consider voters’ race when dividing them between districts. “It’s hard to imagine evidence that would be more directly responsive” to the key parts of the trial, Jacobson said. The maps in question were drawn in 2017, to replace a previous set of maps — also drawn by Hofeller, in 2011 — that were ruled unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. The state’s Republican legislative leaders strongly object to the files being used in court for this case.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article232190617.html

DAN FOREST WANTS TO PREACH HIS WAY INTO GOVERNOR'S MANSION: In his speech, Forest encouraged the congregation to get involved in politics. He suggested that the Bible predicted the current political polarization and that God would “heal” the country if Christians prayed for forgiveness. He compared current culture to 2 Timothy Chapter 3 of the Bible which, in the New International Version translation, says “There will be terrible times in the last days.” He offered his assessment of multiculturalism shortly after mentioning Satan’s intentions to divide the country. And then he outlined his hope for the nation. If “Christians will humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways and get on our knees and ask a loving and forgiving God to forgive us, he promises to heal our land. And he promises that he’ll give us a better land,” Forest said.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article232077907.html

GOVERNOR COOPER VETOES GOP STATE BUDGET: One day after state lawmakers approved a $24 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts next week, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the plan Friday. "This budget, as written, doesn't move us forward," Cooper said at an Executive Mansion news conference as he was surrounded by dozens of Democratic lawmakers and others. "I want to sign a budget that will move us forward." Republicans lost their veto-proof majorities in both the House and the Senate last fall, and although a handful of Democrats in both chambers voted for the bill, Republicans would have to pull at least four more House Democrats over to their side to override the veto. House Minority Leader Darren Jackson said Democratic lawmakers are united behind Cooper and will sustain his veto in a potential override attempt. Sens. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, Ben Clark, D-Hoke, and Don Davis, D-Pitt, who all voted for the budget this week, were at the news conference.
https://www.wral.com/cooper-vetoes-state-budget-calling-it-an-astonishing-failure/18479819/

GOP BUDGET GIVES $1.5 MILLION TO DAN FOREST TO STUDY DRONES: Half of the $1.5 million would go toward studying the potential for drones and eVTOL aircraft use in North Carolina. The lieutenant governor’s office is instructed to interview “leaders in aviation, telecommunications, education, health care, transportation, fuel technologies, emergency management, military, agriculture, planning, and venture capital to determine opportunities” for those aircraft systems. The other half of the money is to “organize and convene a summit.” But the money may be used to hire staff, consultants and vendors to conduct the study. An interim report on the study would be due to a legislative committee by next April and more complete research would be due to the eVTOL summit by October 2020. The demand to operate eVTOL vehicles in North Carolina is unclear.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article231981907.html

NC SENATE PASSES ICE BILL THAT COULD REMOVE BLACK SHERIFFS: HB370 has a provision for the removal from office of sheriffs who do not cooperate with the ICE on the detainers. Cooper, in a statement released from his office mid-afternoon, said dangerous criminals can already be locked up and prosecuted, but that the bill was “about scoring political points and using fear to divide us.” The Rev. Anthony Spearman, the president of the state NAACP, said during the morning press conference that the legislation was meant to target the black sheriffs. He called it “a tactic straight off the pages of the white supremacist playbook.” He said voters in the counties that elected the sheriffs “have all said that we want sheriffs who will not be slaves to the immigration and enforcement authorities that tear this nation apart.”
https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/n-c-senate-approves-ice-cooperation-bill-paul-lowe-a/article_1...