On Wednesday, the North Carolina Senate voted along party lines to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of House Bill 10, which would increase private school voucher funding and require sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Earlier, on Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 72 to 44 on Tuesday against Cooper's veto.
READ MORE HERE: NC House overrides Cooper’s veto of HB10; Senate to vote
The 2024 version of HB10 passed by majority votes in the state Senate and House in early September. Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the state legislature but the November election of more Democrats will change the veto-proof power next year.
The measure's private school voucher provisions could send hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund Opportunity Scholarships for non-public school students.
Democratic Rep. Natasha Marcus of Mecklenburg County spoke against HB10.
“This is not a bill about helping low income families or even about school choice,” Marcus said. “This is about expanding the program to the wealthiest families in our state. Nearly one quarter of the people that stand to benefit make more than $259,000 a year for a family of four.
That's who this bill's helping at the expense of all the other things that we need to be spending money on.”
The bill will also require sheriffs to honor ICE requests to detain – for at least 48 hours – individuals suspected of being in the country illegally.
El Pueblo, a non-profit advocacy group for Latino communities based in Raleigh, said the move by Republicans was used to further a political agenda at a time when the state should be focused on a natural disaster and the threat to the future of education by the incoming administration.
“For almost two years we have fought against HB10, and similar legislation for almost 5 years. We know well the impact that HB10 will have on our immigrant and Latine communities. We will be working in the weeks to come to inform and prepare our community to face any challenges this new law will bring.”
