GOP GOAL: Get NCAA Games Back in the Tar Heel State
HB2 could be partially repealed by the close of business Thursday. Late Wednesday night Republican lawmakers and North Carolina‘s Democratic governor announced a deal that would “leave bathroom regulation to the state,” but retain HB2’s ban on allowing cities and towns to enact any laws banning discrimination or regulating employment practices through the end of 2020.
Those conditions would allow conservatives, who have a strong reputation of working against North Carolina’s minority communities, more than enough time to re-enact the portions of HB2 they would like to retain presuming they are able to place another Republican in the governor’s office literally the day after the moratorium would expire.
North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper called the compromise legislation “not a perfect deal,” but one that “begins to repair our reputation,” as The News & Observer’s Colin Campbell reports.
Democratic state lawmaker and Equality North Carolina executive director Chris Sgro opposes passage.
“The deal proposed would continue to actively discriminate against the LGBT community,†he said on a conference call Wednesday night.
The state senate is slated to vote on the bill at 9:15 Thursday morning, allowing no time for public input or commentary, much less a practical review of the bill.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement on a leaked version of the bill Wednesday evening.
“The rumored HB2 ‘deal’ does nothing more than double-down on discrimination and would ensure North Carolina remains the worst state in the nation for LGBTQ people,†HRC President Chad Griffin said. “The consequences of this hateful law will only continue without full repeal of HB2. Sellouts cave under pressure. Leaders fight for what’s right.â€
Lawmakers main goal appears not to be supporting the LGBT community and the many other groups impacted by the likely unconstitutional law that has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Instead, the NCAA has a deadline of Thursday. Passing the bill into law, repealing only portions of HB2, the lawmakers believe, will be enough of a compromise to allow the NCAA to return to the state, and with it, the millions of dollars in revenue the games provide.
If the bill fails, North Carolina will reportedly lose NCAA games through the end of 2022, according to ACLU attorney Chase Strangio:
“North Carolina could lose hundreds of millions more because the NCAA is avoiding the state, usually a favored host. The group is set to announce sites for various championships through 2022, and North Carolina won’t be among them as long as the law is on the books. The NAACP also has initiated a national economic boycott,” the AP reports.
The AP calls its own report “an underestimation of the law’s true costs” because it ignored reports that it could not quantify.Â
“Some projects that left, such as a Lionsgate television production that backed out of plans in Charlotte, weren’t included because of a lack of data on their economic impact.”