From the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law:
Today, the N.C. Supreme Court issued an opinion affirming, per curiam, the Court of Appeals ruling that determined that then-Governor Mike Easley?s raid of the Highway Trust Fund was unconstitutional. The N.C. Court of Appeals held that the Governor exceeded his constitutional power when he transferred $80 million from the Highway Trust Fund, a special account within the State Treasury, to the General Fund without legislative approval in an effort to balance the state budget. The Court of Appeals upheld transfers of the General Assembly; those transfers were not before the Supreme Court.
The N.C. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on September 7th in this case. Bob Orr of the NC Institute for Constitutional Law and Hardy Lewis of Blanchard, Miller, Lewis and Isley, counsel for amici curiae, argued on behalf of the Plaintiff-Appellees and urged the Court to affirm the holding of the Court of Appeals.
?The Constitution and the People have prevailed. The Court of Appeals decision will stand and government accountability will stand with it,? says Jeanette Doran, Senior Staff Attorney for NCICL. ?The People can count on the constitutional mandate that the General Assembly set the budget and the governor administer it as enacted. Voters can count on future governors not raiding special trust funds.?
Last year, Gene Boyce and Dan Boyce, attorneys for the Plaintiff-Appellees, asked NCICL attorneys Bob Orr and Jeanette Doran to join them in representing the Plaintiffs. Other interested citizens who supported the Court of Appeals decision include N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney, Representative Harold J. Brubaker, Representative Holliman, Representative Paul Stam, President Pro Tempore of the Senate Marc Basnight, Senator Dan Blue, Senator Daniel G. Clodfelter, Senator Fletcher Hartsell, Jr., and the National Conference of State Legislators.
