Republican leaders have now confirmed that they will be dissolving the Program Evaluation Division (PED), a group of non-partisan experts who work to save taxpayer money by targeting waste and fraud, and replacing them with partisan staff. Eliminating the division is opposed by both Democrats and Republicans, and would “put the state back in the minority of state legislatures without one.”
Republicans’ motivations are clear — take it from former Republican Rep. Craig Horn, who opposes eliminating the watchdog: “Transparency wasn’t always in the best interest of some…To me that is the very essence of what we’re to do. That was our charge. When you start stepping on toes, people scream. I’m not surprised there was some considerable pressure on legislative leadership to put PED out of business.”
NCDP Chair Wayne Goodwin released the following statement in response:
“North Carolina Republicans have fostered a culture of corruption, hyper-partisanship, and bad government for years. They’ve crafted entire budgets behind closed-doors, made it harder to prosecute people and groups that violate campaign finance laws, and called a deceptive, surprise override of Governor Cooper’s budget veto. This is more than muzzling a watchdog – it’s replacing it with a lapdog. Replacing independent, government professionals with partisan staff does nothing to improve accountability of North Carolina’s taxpayer dollars and only serves to undermine public trust in our government. Democracy should happen in the light of day and with the best interests of the people you serve in mind, which is why legislators should drop this harmful move.”
In recent years, Republicans have created a culture of corruption at the legislature:
- Republicans passed a bill in 2018 that “makes it harder to prosecute people and groups that violate campaign finance laws.“
- Legislative Republicans “overstepped ethical boundaries with veto override tactics” that “may have done lasting damage to the legislative process.”
- Former House Rules Chairman David Lewis resigned after being charged with federal financial crimes Thursday after he tried “to take money from his political donors for personal use.”
- NCGOP Chairman Robin Hayes resigned after being indicted for attempting to bribe a public official and later plead guilty to lying to the FBI.
Read the full NCGOP Corruption Dossier online here.
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