A North Carolina Senate committee voted to move forward with a pair of amendments that seek to give voters the chance to enshrine in the state constitution a pair of policies that are already law.
If approved by the full House and Senate, voters would be able to consider so-called "right to work" and "right to farm" amendments on this November's ballot.
The "right to work" amendment would put language into the state constitution effectively reiterating North Carolina's 1947 law saying that people cannot be prevented from employment if they choose against joining a union, labor association, or similar organization. The "right to farm'" amendment would reiterate that the General Assembly is the sole body with the power to regulate — or to give the power to regulate — agricultural and timber activities in North Carolina.
"If we are fortunate enough to have these two added to our constitution in North Carolina, then if the people of North Carolina ever change their minds about farming or the right to work, all you've got to do is run another constitutional amendment to reverse it," said Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico.
Sen. Ted Alexander, R-Cleveland, is among the primary sponsors of the right to work constitutional amendment, Senate Bill 1082.
He said that part of the reason for trying to insert right to work in the state constitution is to make it more difficult to move away from such a policy if the state shifts politically.
"If the voters were to approve it, which we feel like most North Carolinians are in favor of right to work laws, basically it would provide us with an insurance policy that in the future, this will be enshrined in our law," Alexander said.
Shortly after Alexander's remarks, Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, retorted.
"I note that you said the opinions of people might change in the future so we need to put it in the constitution. I think that's actually a reason not to put it in the constitution," Grafstein said.
Sen. Carl Ford, R-Rowan, is another one of the right to work amendment's primary sponsors.
Ford said he'd worked for a company in the past that tried to unionize and experienced what he described as "bullying" to join the union.
Asked by Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, why the right to work amendment needs to be considered by voters now, Ford said he's pushed to strengthen the right to work policy before.
"Ten years ago would have been right, 10 years from now would be right, it's just the right time now, in my opinion," Ford said.
Braxton Winston, the president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, told lawmakers that his organization strongly opposes the amendment. The AFL-CIO represents about 150,000 North Carolinians, Winston said.
"Our constitution is a sacred document, not a political tool. The constitution need not be riddled with laws that have already been securely in place for decades," Winston said, adding that most states with "right to work" policies have not added them to their constitution.
The committee still voted to approve the amendment, sending it to the Senate Rules committee. If approved there, it would be voted on by the full Senate.
'Right to Farm' amendments
Under the proposed "Right to Farm" amendment, the General Assembly would ask voters to enshrine in North Carolina's constitution its own power to regulate farming.
The language included in Senate Bill 1081 specifically address growing crops, raising livestock, raising poultry, and timber.
"North Carolina has strong statutory protections in existence now, but statutes, as you know, can be changed. This bill would let the people decide whether that right should be protected more permanently for our children and grandchildren," Sen. Lisa Barnes, R-Nash, told the committee.
Grafstein asked Barnes whether there are specific issues impacting farmers' ability to operate in North Carolina. Barnes did not answer the question, instead referring to issues she had seen in other states.
"There's lots of issues, but what this bill will do will allow the people to decide to put this in our constitution or not," Barnes said.
The proposed right to farm amendment would not provide further restrictions on so-called nuisance lawsuits, with North Carolina's laws already limiting who can bring a lawsuit against an agriculture producer and under under what circumstances.
Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, said he also does not believe the right to farm amendment would prevent local governments from using local ordinances to ban the keeping of certain animals because the General Assembly has already given those governments the power to govern such activities.
After those answers, Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, said, "I'm just curious why we're doing this. Normally what we do changes something, right? But this doesn't seem to be changing anything."
Barnes, who introduced the legislation, responded.
She said, "It sends a strong message to our farmers and our ag community that we value what they do, the job that they do, the food they produce and we want to protect farming and have food security here in North Carolina."
The amendment will now go to the Senate Rules committee. If approved there, it will go before the full Senate.
A number of proposed amendments
The amendments are among five that are being considered in legislative committees — and presumably by one or both chambers of the legislature — this week.
The others include a Senate proposal to lower the cap on the state's individual income tax from 7% to 3.5% and the House's proposal to require that the General Assembly place a limit on local governments' increases in property tax revenue. Legislative leaders agreed to approve both of those as part of the budget framework announced last week.
The fifth proposed amendment would require that the governor select a replacement for Council of State members who leave office early from a slate of three candidates chosen by the political party of the person who previously held the office.
Governor Josh Stein cannot veto constitutional amendments, but they must be approved by three-fifths of the lawmakers in both chambers.
Republicans hold three-fifths of the seats in the Senate but are one seat short of that in the House, although Mecklenburg County lawmakers Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed recently left the Democratic Party to become unaffiliated.
If lawmakers approve the amendments, they would be placed in front of voters on November's ballot.
Since North Carolina adopted the updated version of its state constitution in 1971, the highest number of amendments voters have considered in a single year is seven in 1982.
According to Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper' Anatomy of a Purple State, the highest number approved on a single ballot is five amendments, in 1872 and 1977.
