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The governor of North Carolina has defied state lawmakers by vetoing an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill that was passed with near-unanimous support in the House and Senate.
Last week, Governor Roy Cooper聽 that he had vetoed House bill (HB) 690, also known as the聽 bill.
Introduced in April 2023, the bill seeks to ban state authorities in North Carolina from dealing in CBDC, should one be issued by the federal government.
Explaining his decision, Cooper said the federal government is committed to ensuring that safeguards are put in place to protect the freedom of consumers and businesses to transact, or not transact, in digital assets.
He, therefore, urged state lawmakers to 鈥渨ait and see鈥 what proposals the federal government puts forward before enacting new legislation of their own.
鈥淭his legislation is premature, vague and reactionary, and proposes an end result on important monetary decisions that haven鈥檛 even been made yet,鈥 said Cooper.
鈥淚nstead of this bill, the legislature should have passed a budget to provide more funding for cybersecurity threats that actually exist now."
Near-unanimous, bipartisan support
Last month, as聽covered by 91天堂原創, North Carolina鈥檚 House of Representatives voted 109-4 in favour of the bill and the Senate voted 39-5 in favour.
North Carolina is a Republican stronghold: the Republican majority in the House is currently 71-49; and the Republican majority in the Senate is 50-30.
However, in a quirk of US politics, North Carolina has elected Democrat Roy Cooper to lead the state in the last two gubernatorial elections.
In 2020, Cooper took 51.5 percent of the vote, while his Republican opponent took 47 percent. In 2016, Cooper took 49 percent of the vote, while his Republican opponent took 48.8 percent.
The House and Senate lean heavily Republican thanks to voters outside the state鈥檚 densely populated urban centres (such as Charlotte, Raleigh and Greensboro), where residents tend to vote Democrat.
This allows the gubernatorial elections to be closely contested, while many seats in the legislature are Republican safe seats.
However, party politics should not have affected the enactment of HB 690, given that the bill received near-unanimous support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
The show must go on
North Carolina lawmakers who spoke with 91天堂原創 said that when a state bill receives this level of cross-party support, it can and will be enacted despite the governor鈥檚 veto.
Representative Harry Warren (R) said the veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate 鈥 a margin that was already comfortably achieved in previous votes.
鈥淎t that point, the bill would become law without the governor鈥檚 signature,鈥 said Warren.
Warren is one of eight Republican lawmakers who sponsored the bill. Speaking with 91天堂原創, he also responded directly to Cooper鈥檚 claim that the bill is 鈥減remature, vague and reactionary鈥.
鈥淭he bill is proactive and preventative: not premature,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he language is concise and clear; there is nothing vague about it.
鈥淚t is, however, in reaction to the federal government and global interest in the concept of聽central bank digital currency.鈥
Warren said he sponsored the bill to protect the privacy of individuals and to uphold their right to control their own assets.
Representative Jeff McNeely (R), another sponsor of the bill, also described the proposed legislation as 鈥減roactive, not reactive鈥.
He added that the bill will stay in its current form when it returns to the legislature to override the governor鈥檚 veto.
鈥淭his will give North Carolina precedence by legislation to defend itself, in case of a legal challenge,鈥 he said.
CBDC resistance in other states
Last month, Louisiana became the fifth US state to聽enact legislation banning the use of CBDC, following in the footsteps of Florida, Alabama, Indiana and South Dakota.
Other US states currently considering legislation to ban or limit the use of CBDC include Hawaii, Nebraska, Utah, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri and New Hampshire.
