NC lawmakers fail to publicly commit to repealing controversial HB2
Less than a third of North Carolina lawmakers are willing to publicly commit to repealing the controversial bathroom ban bill HB2.
Just 12 out of 50 state senators and 40 of 118 current House members, mainly democrats, said they would support abolishing the law which forces people to use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth.
13 representatives and six senators said they firmly want the law to remain.
The results were compiled by the Associated Press and eight newspapers in the state after an effort to repeal the bill fell through in December.
Governor Roy Cooper, who replaced Pat McCrory – the governor that enforced the bill, stood by his statement that there were enough votes to push the repeal.
“If there ever was a need for bipartisanship, it’s now. We came too close in December for Sen. Berger to give up. Too many jobs, too much investment, too much of North Carolina’s reputation are at stake,” Cooper said.
It is believed that the results of the survey still fail to give a clear vision about the likelihood of repealing the law because a number of people declined to participate in the survey.
Some were still undecided about their decision, while others refused to comment to avoid “public squabbling” according to Republican Mike Hager who formerly served as House Majority Leader.
Hager explained that some legislators agree with the “privacy” and “religious” aspects that drive the law, but are worried about the economic impact.
“People have deep-seated feelings about family norms,” Hager said. “You’ve got to have someone brave enough and offer a compromise, because that is what it’s going to take.”
A special session was held in an attempt to repeal the law but failed because it included a moratorium which would have included a six-month-or-longer period during which local ordinances could not be passed around employment practices, public accommodations or bathroom access.
The bill is believed to have lost the state $600 million because of musician boycotts, companies pulling business out of the state, sporting events moving elsewhere, cancelled conventions and the legal costs of creating and defending the anti-LGBT bill.
Governor Cooper failed attempt to repeal the law in another special session, costing a further $42,000.
