Gov. Cooper vetoes NC bill with mask restrictions and campaign finance changes

Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill Friday addressing mask wearing in public that was modified to include an unrelated campaign finance provision, which critics say would allow more money from wealthy donors that is difficult to trace to pour into the state.

“This legislation creates a gaping loophole for secret, unlimited campaign money in the middle of an election year,” Cooper said in a statement. “While voters are kept in the dark, this scheme allows anonymous out-of-state billionaires to flood North Carolina with campaign contributions to rescue extreme right-wing candidates that Republicans now fear will lose.”

“The legislation also removes protections and threatens criminal charges for people who want to protect their health by wearing a mask,” Cooper said.

The bill, which passed both the Senate and House in party-line votes, now returns to the legislature.

Republicans have said that in the middle of stalled budget talks that will continue next week, they expect to hold some override votes on bills Cooper has vetoed this session.

Speaker Tim Moore said in a social media post on Friday that the House “will swiftly override” Cooper’s veto of the masking and campaign finance bill.

Sen. Danny Britt, a Lumberton Republican, also indicated that the Senate would hold an override vote. Britt said the bill was necessary because “bad actors” have used masks “to conceal their identity when they commit crimes and intimidate the innocent.”

“Instead of helping put an end to this threatening behavior, the governor wants to continue encouraging these thugs by giving them more time to hide from the consequences of their actions,” Britt said in a statement. “I look forward to casting a vote to override this veto and allowing those with actual health concerns to protect themselves and others.”

What the mask restrictions do

A final version of the bill, which focused on making changes to masking laws and cracking down on protesters who block traffic, was negotiated by a group of House and Senate Republicans appointed to reach a compromise within the party.

The Senate-passed version of the bill had proposed repealing a health and safety exception to the state’s longstanding ban on wearing a mask in public.

Once the bill reached the House, a few Republicans in that chamber said they wouldn’t vote to approve the Senate’s changes, because they were concerned repealing the exception entirely would create confusion for people who are immunocompromised, or have other health conditions that require them to wear a mask.

A compromise bill that was unveiled earlier this month kept an exception for health and safety in place, but rewrote it to be narrower.

State law currently allows mask wearing to ensure “the physical health or safety of the wearer or others,” but if the bill is enacted over Cooper’s veto, that will change to allow only “medical and surgical grade” masks to be worn for the purpose of “preventing the spread of contagious disease.”

Democrats and critics of the bill have argued there’s no need to change the exception as its currently written, but Republicans have said the exception, which was added during the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer necessary. They argue that protesters shouldn’t wear masks or other face coverings while demonstrating in public.

They also say that people who wear masks for their health can continue to do so, even under the new, narrower language, without concern.

The bill also requires anyone wearing a mask for health reasons to take it off “upon request by a law enforcement officer.” That is broader language than existing law, which states people have to remove their masks if asked by law enforcement, during a traffic stop, at a checkpoint, or at a roadblock, or, if the officer has “reasonable suspicion or probable cause during a criminal investigation.”

Another provision would require people to “temporarily remove the mask upon request by the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present to allow for identification of the wearer.”

Other sections of the bill establish a sentencing enhancement for people who wear masks to conceal their identity while committing a crime, and increase criminal penalties for participating in a demonstration intended to impede traffic, or blocking emergency vehicles.

Organizers of demonstrations that impede traffic would be civilly liable for any injuries or deaths that result from an emergency vehicle being obstructed.

Debate over the bill shifted to the controversial campaign finance provision after Republicans negotiating the compromise between both chambers inserted that language into the bill, with several Democrats questioning why a bill concerning masking and protesters had been changed to include unrelated changes to campaign finance law.

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