By Brianna Kraemer
Carolina Journal
One month after supporting legislation restricting the implementation of a central bank digital currency in North Carolina, Democrats voted against overriding the governor’s veto of the bill during a House floor vote on Wednesday.
The North Carolina House of Representatives voted to override three of Gov. Roy Cooper’s recent vetoes on Wednesday, including House Bill 690, an act prohibiting payments to the state using a central bank digital currency. The legislation also prohibits North Carolina from participating in the Federal Reserve branch’s testing of any future central bank digital currency (CBDC).
At the end of June, the General Assembly passed the bill in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote; the Senate passed the bill 39-5 and the House passed it 109-4. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, calling it “premature, vague and reactionary.”
SEE ALSO: NC legislature approves CBDC restrictions with strong majority, bill sent to governor
During Wednesday’s override vote, nearly all House Democrats voted in contradiction to their supportive positioning in June (73-41). With a three-fifths supermajority approving the override as required by law, the bill will be sent to the Senate for an override vote before it can become law over the objections of the governor.
Rep. Mary Belk, D-Mecklenburg, who previously supported a May 2023 version of the bill, denounced the legislation and compared a CBDC to other forms of digital currency.
“First, let me point out that the United States does not have a central bank digital currency,” Belk said. “It is a concept that the Federal Reserve Bank is studying in an effort to offer businesses and consumers an option to make digital transactions with confidentiality, with security and predictability.”
The Federal Reserve has acknowledged it is exploring the potential of CBDCs in an age of digital transformation, something critics warn could lead to privacy issues and federal government surveillance of individuals’ finances. Belk questioned why the state would not give citizens the right to use a digital currency if they choose to in the future, referring to “other digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ether.”
“There’s enough space in the digital economy for everyone. There’s no reason to limit our choices before we know what they are,” Belk added.
Republican legislators have said the bill is intended to dissuade the federal government from going forward with a plan that could threaten one of our great American assets: the dollar being the main global currency.
Following the override, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, Rep. Mark Brody, R-Union, told the Carolina Journal that the sudden shift in stance among Democrats is driven by political motivations ahead of a major election rather than a genuine understanding of the issue.
“I think all the stuff that [Belk] said just misses the whole point of a central bank digital currency,” said Brody. “It really doesn’t do much other than give total control over money, citizens, which in turn controls the population. And that’s the key to controlling populations in history, because you control the monetary system or the medium of exchange within the country and they didn’t recognize that.”
He said the Senate should be able to override the bill as well, but because there are a limited number of reconvening dates through the rest of the year, the challenge will be ensuring every lawmaker can be there at a specific date.
The House Republican supermajority voted to override two other bills also rejected by the governor. House Bill 155 allows for certain off-road vehicles to operate on four lane highways at speeds up to 55 miles an hour. Democrats in opposition said off-road vehicles lack safety features found in traditional vehicles, creating increased risk of serious injury. The House also overrode House Bill 556, regarding a tenancy in common, notary laws, and the appeal period in a small claim action.
CBDC is absolutely the largest threat to liberty imaginable. It is complete economic slavery. You could not buy, privately or retail, anything the government doesn’t approve of.
We board the windows up BEFORE the hurricane hits us, not while the windows are getting blown in.
I suggest that EVERYONE research what a CBDC is, because the vast majority of Americans are asleep to the potentials of any digital currency, much less where the government controls the blockchain top-down.