NC House Votes For Guardrails On Governor's Emergency Powers

North Carolina’s governor would have to get formal support from the Council of State to carry out long-term emergency orders in a measure approved by the state House on a party-line vote favoring Republicans. The measure is another response to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s directives during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included shutting down or scaling back businesses. These orders have been slowly eased in recent months, but GOP lawmakers have said the governor had too much power to begin with. Cooper has defended his actions as protecting the public. The bill now goes to the Senate after Wednesday's vote.