Chop Wood, Carry NC 12/4 (FIXED VERSION)

Hey, Team NC.

Turns out there were a couple of unfortunate errors in my earlier Chop Wood, Carry NC 12/4 (namely, I had the wrong phone number for Rep. Pless, and the content of the call scripts was a bit off), so this is take two. Please disregard the first one!! Super sorry, folks. Especially sorry to the guy who received a bunch of calls incorrectly assuming he was Mark Pless…

Please read all the way through— important events at the bottom.

I’ve got a few actions for you all related to the so-called “hurricane relief” bill, which the NC House will vote on on Dec. 11 (and which actually has very, very little to do with hurricane relief). The bill was created by NC Republicans in secret—Democrats didn't even know about it until an hour before the first vote in November. Only 13 pages actually discuss "hurricane relief", the rest of it makes sweeping changes statewide to NC’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches as well as changes to the way elections would be run in the state in the future.

To quote David Pepper:

The changes include: transferring the appointment of State Board of Elections members from the (Democratic) Governor to the (Republican) Auditor; removing the state highway patrol from the Governor’s purview; forcing the Governor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justices with appointees from the same party as the retiree (ie. blocking the Democratic Governor from replacing retiring Republicans with Democratic appointees); removing the seats of certain judges who have ruled against election laws passed by the legislature; stripping power from the (Democratic) Attorney General from taking steps that undermine laws passed by the gerrymandered legislature; weakening the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s power over Charter Schools; and reducing the number of days (from 9 to 3) that voters can “cure” provisional ballots. All these changes were included in a bill labeled as “hurricane relief.”

And perhaps most egregiously, the proposed funds for "hurricane relief" are not even allocated immediately— so not only are they not enough, it would take another act of legislation to get released soon enough to help western North Carolinians in the winter. It is unbelievably horrendous. You can read a concise summary of SB 382 here.

Here are some action items from the amazing NC activist Marilyn Hartman:

Prioritize calling or writing letters this week to the 21 Representatives from the Western counties affected by Hurricane Helene. Republicans need 72 votes to override the veto in the House. We need to convince as many of these Representatives as we can to vote no on the override.

There are two kinds of letters/calls we need to make:

Priority One: thank you letters to the three representatives that voted against the bill originally — Mark Pless, Mike Clampitt, and Karl Gillespie— and ask them to please keep putting the needs of their constituents first by voting to sustain the Governor’s veto so we can get a better bill that will bring immediate relief to their constituents. We need them to stay with us.

• Rep. Mike Clampitt, Mike.Clampitt@ncleg.gov 919-715-3005

• Rep Karl E, Gillespie, Karl.Gillespie@ncleg.gov 919-733-5859

• Rep.Mark Pless, Mark.Pless@ncleg.gov 919-733-5732

I made a click to send tool so you can email all three of the above lawmakers at once BUT PLEASE PERSONALIZE if you use it! Add a subject line, add your name and address at the end, and add some personal wording to the suggested note. If they get identical emails they’ll ignore them. (It won’t work if you have a VPN, btw). Try to emphasize the lack of hurricane relief included in the bill.

Priority Two: calls or letters to the 15 Republican representatives to urge them to sustain the Governor's veto.

SAMPLE PHONE SCRIPT, COURTESY OF NC CD 11 DEMS:

Hi, my name is _____________ and I’m a constituent from ____________

I’m asking Representative __________ to uphold Governor Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 382.

While disaster relief is urgently needed, this bill doesn’t provide the immediate, targeted assistance our neighbors in Western North Carolina need to recover. I’m asking you to uphold the veto so a better bill can be presented, one that prioritizes critical support like rental assistance, small business aid, homeowner relief, and a moratorium on evictions.

Upholding the veto will show a commitment to putting people first and ensuring effective and focused disaster relief efforts.

Thank you for your time and for considering my concerns.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Address]

SAMPLE SB 382 LETTER, COURTESY OF DEMOCRACY OUT LOUD.

Dear Representative ________:

As you know, there are many in your district that are still out of their homes, still without running water, still without being able to work, still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

They need your help. And SB382 doesn’t provide the immediate, targeted assistance they need to recover. I’m asking you to uphold the Governor's veto so a better bill can be presented — one that takes advantage of the resources of the "Rainy Day Fund" you have amassed to prioritize critical support like rental assistance, including a moratorium on evictions, small business loans, homeowner relief, and childcare support.

Upholding the veto will show a commitment to putting the people of your district first — like you were elected to do — and ensuring effective and focused disaster relief.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Address]

Click here for a list of House and Senate Republicans from Disaster-Declared Counties who voted FOR SB 382 (Only disaster counties are listed below legislator’s name)

ACTION ITEM (ACTION EVENTS?) #3

If you have the time to attend the following events, you absolutely should.

All In for NC’s monthly meeting/preliminary election debrief is this Monday, December 9. You’ll hear from Robert Hubbell of Today’s Edition, as well as some of NC’s most influential leaders in politics and organizing about takeaways, wins, losses, and lessons learned from the election. RSVP here.

After that, if you’re in the Raleigh area, join Moral Monday on the same day (Monday, December 9). Meet in front of the capitol building in Raleigh, NC, at 5:30PM (1 E. Edenton St., Raleigh, NC 2760).

That’s it for now. Thanks and sorry again about the confusion!

Jess