North Carolina’s Cooper withdraws lawsuit against state’s Rules Review Commission
(The Center Square) — Gov. Roy Cooper is no longer pursuing a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s Rules Review Commission, filing a notice of voluntary dismissal in the case less than two weeks before a scheduled hearing.
The governor’s attorney filed a notice of voluntary dismissal “without prejudice” on Friday, ending the two and a half year old lawsuit challenging the commission that oversees administrative rules from executive branch agencies, The Carolina Journal reports.
A three-judge panel was set to hear the case on Nov. 9.
Cooper filed the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state statute that created the commission, which rejected decisions by the departments of Public Safety and Health and Human Services in 2020.
Cooper argued in a press release when he filed the lawsuit in August 2020 that “all 10 members of the RRC are appointed by the General Assembly, giving the legislative branch an unconstitutional veto authority over rules and regulations issued by the executive branch.”
Cooper’s lawsuit was inspired in part by several similar lawsuits from governors of both parties, including McCrory v. Berger, in which the state Supreme Court found the General Assembly cannot appoint a majority of the members of commissions that perform executive functions, the release read.
“The current makeup of the RRC allows the legislature to interfere with and undermine the executive branch’s authority to establish policy through rulemaking,” it continued. “This authority is used to make important rules that protect the environment, safeguard public safety, and preserve public and individual health.”
Republican lawmakers described the lawsuit as “another power grab, plain and simple” in comments to The Carolina Journal in September 2020.
The House and Senate each appoint five members to the 10-member RRC, and Cooper’s lawsuit argued the executive branch should appoint a majority.
“Cooper wants a majority of appointments, which would kill the legislature’s veto in the rulemaking process,” Mitch Kokai, senior policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told the Journal in 2020. “It serves as a safeguard against unelected bureaucrats making rules that have a drastic negative impact on North Carolinians
“Not everything that affects people’s lives is the result of a law passed by lawmakers that you can hold accountable at the ballot box,” he said. “Much of what happens in government is the result of bureaucrats interpreting laws.”
Former commissioner Harry Payne, who now works for the left-leaning N.C. Justice Center, conceded that RRC members “wield more power than most elected officials,” according to the Journal.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and 10 similar organizations backed Cooper’s lawsuit.
“The Rules Review Commission ignores and violates North Carolina’s constitution, and the interests and well-being of the people of North Carolina,” Kym Meyer, senior attorney at SELC, said after filing a brief in support in August 2022. “This unconstitutional commission places the interests of politically powerful polluters over the interests and health of the people of North Carolina in violation of the separation of powers.”
Cooper’s decision to file the voluntary dismissal “with prejudice” means the governor could revive the lawsuit at a later time.
