McCrory Calls For Special Session To Deal With Disaster Relief & ‘Other Matters’

Governor Pat McCrory called for the General Assembly to return to Raleigh for a special session on December 13th, due to “extraordinary occasions,” like Hurricane Matthew and the western North Carolina wildfires, that have arisen requiring the Assembly’s attention.

In calling for the special session, McCrory also resisted calls from the media and Democrats to limit the scope of what the Assembly will be dealing with, adding that the session can also address “any other matters” lawmakers decide to take up.

This, of course, has sounded alarm bells throughout Raleigh, with many Democrats and members of the media terrified that the Republican super majority will take the opportunity to add two new seats to the North Carolina Supreme Court, allowing McCrory to appoint more conservatives to the court and giving conservatives back control of the state’s highest court.

The state constitution requires McCrory to seek the advice of the Council of State. According to McCrory General Counsel Bob Stephens, the Governor sent out an email on Thursday to the council informing them of his decision to call a special session for the purposes of “authorizing financial assistance necessary to aid the recovery from both Hurricane Matthew and the western North Carolina wildfires, making any changes in law to facilitate the recovery, and addressing any other matters the General Assembly elects to consider.”

Obviously, the last line of the text above has caused Democrats and their media allies to completely and totally lose their minds.

Democrat State Treasurer Janet Cowell, for example, wrote, “I do not consent to, join in, or advise any extra session with a broader purpose.”

Of the nine members of the Council of State, only Lt. Governor Dan Forest, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler wrote back in favor of the measure. The other six all urged McCrory to limit the scope of the session.

Of course, what those who are against the measure all know, full well, is the fact that the Governor can only ask the General Assembly to limit the scope of what they address in the special session. Once the special session is convened, the legislator can pretty much bring up whatever they please.

When a Democrat controlled legislator was called into special session during Governor Beverly Purdue’s tenure as Governor to address a single veto, the legislators took the opportunity to address other pieces of legislation.

As expected, Governor-elect Roy Cooper wasn’t exactly happy about the decision by the current Governor. According to WRAL, a Cooper aide was quoted as saying McCrory “should limit the purposes of the special session to aiding the recovery from Hurricane Matthew and the western North Carolina wildfires only.”

Democrat Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, known for continuously breaking state laws to advance her liberal agenda on illegal immigrants, advised McCrory, “the special session should be called strictly for the purpose of aiding the recovery from Hurricane Matthew and the western North Carolina wildfires only.”

All of the outcry against the measure is for naught, through, as the special session will take place on December 13th, and the legislator will decide from there what they decide to do.

It is important to note that Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have continuously gone on record to say they have not even discussed using a special session to expand the Supreme Court, and that it is merely a liberal narrative created by the Democrats and pushed by the media.