McCrory uses Facebook to call out lawmakers
Gov. Pat McCrory is using Facebook to call on lawmakers to sustain two vetoes he issued earlier this month.
"Contact your representative, Julia Howard @ 919-733-5904 who represents Davie and Forsyth counties and tell her to sustain my vetoes of fiscally irresponsible & job-killing legislation: HB 392 & HB 786," reads one of more than a dozen posts the governor made to his official Facebook account Tuesday night.
McCrory vetoes included a bill that would require drug testing for welfare recipients and a measure that would extend the amount of time farm workers could be employed without undergoing an immigration background check.
McCrory has said he vetoed the drug testing bill because of a potential constitutional issue. The background check bill, he said, would open a loophole for people here illegally to take jobs away from North Carolinians.
When a governor vetoes a bill after the legislature has adjourned, he has 40 days to call the General Assembly back into session to try to override his veto or make adjustments to the measures in question. McCrory has still not called the legislature back, and his 40-day window ends shortly after Labor Day.
Senior Republican leaders have said over the past few weeks that sentiment is growing within the House Republican caucus to override McCrory's vetoes.
Among those the governor is calling out on Facebook are Reps. Julia Howard, R-Davie and David Lewis, R-Harnett, the co-chairs of the House Finance Committee, Appropriations Committee Chairman Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, Judiciary Committee Chairman Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, and Republican Conference leader Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg.
The very public tactic could backfire on McCrory.
Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, told WRAL News Wednesday that he has not heard from a single constituent about the vetoes, adding that he doesn't understand McCrory's reasons for objecting to either bill.
Both measures passed with bipartisan majorities, and lawmakers say McCrory's Facebook posts have done little to win support – and may have cost him some votes.
