North Carolina governor vetoes mask bill largely due to campaign finance provisions

RALEIGH, North Carolina – Despite changes made to North Carolina’s masking bill to quell concerns the removal of a pandemic-era health exemptionDemocratic Gov. Roy Cooper said he vetoed the legislation on Friday primarily for a different reason: a campaign finance provision tacked on late during legislative negotiations.

The project now returns to the state Legislature. Republicans hold narrow, veto-proof majorities in the General Assembly, which overrode all 19 of Cooper’s vetoes last year.

It’s Cooper’s third veto of the year, and GOP lawmakers have yet to override votes on the previous two this session — though they could come soon.

The original version of the invoice that passed the state senate generated significant criticism over the removal of an exemption to public masking laws passed in 2020 that allowed people to wear a mask for health purposes. Removing the exemption would have technically made masking for health reasons illegal in the state.

While the one-line strikeout caught most people’s attention, the bulk of the bill focuses on increasing penalties for people who wear masks while committing a crime or intentionally blocking roads at demonstrations. Republican lawmakers advanced the legislation this session, in part as a response to mask-wearing during widespread campus protests over the war in Gaza, including demonstrations at the University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus.

The relatively smooth passage of the project through the Senate stopped when it reached the state House, however, when Republican Rep. Erin Pare announced on X that she would not vote for the bill without a health exemption. Because Republicans need every GOP vote to pass more polarizing legislation, the bill was sent to a committee of lawmakers to reach a compromise.

They reached an agreement in the bill earlier this month, which notably added a health exemption for people who wear a “medical or surgical grade mask” to prevent the spread of disease. Law enforcement and property owners would also be allowed to ask someone to temporarily remove their mask to identify them under the bill’s new changes.

But another entirely new provision that caused outrage among Democratic lawmakers was the addition of a campaign donations provision that would allow wealthy donors to give money to special federal political organizations that could then send the money to state and local parties.

Cooper said in his veto statement that the legislation “created a loophole for secret, unlimited campaign money” that could cause problems during an election year. He also said the legislation still does not fully protect people who wear masks for health reasons.

Republicans say the addition to election funding was necessary to remedy problems with a 2020 State Election Board Advisory Opinion that asserted campaign limits but barred groups like the Republican Governors Association from helping the state party.

Spokespeople for House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Phil Berger did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Cooper’s veto.

Senate Democrats refused to vote on the bill due to the provision, and House Democrats voiced their concerns that the legislation would create a lack of financial transparency in long debate last week.

The House and Senate hope to carry out their veto overrides next week, before going on a possible indefinite hiatus to resolve budget issues.