North Carolina Minimum Wage Bill/Affordable Housing Kill Bill (aka the Bathroom Bill)
Last week I heard something about the bathroom bill being linked with a minimum wage bill and waited patiently to hear more, but nothing! Seems like the real intent of this bill is to prohibit cities from adopting minimum wages (Like Seattle, New York, LA).
So the cities are controlled by the state, and the state is being controlled by the Feds ... no wait - that's wrong! Its all about penises and vaginas!
Reminds of the scene from 'Wag the Dog' where they have the girl under attack in the fictional country holding a bag of chips. But in this case the bag of chips isn't an endearing cat, its homophobia. And meanwhile...
Why isn't this a bigger story? Here's an article from the Atlantic from last month (bold mine)
Please read the whole link before condemming my very short summary. (Happening way too often lately)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/north-carolina-lgbt-discrimination-transgender-bathrooms/475125/
The state is deeply divided between liberal cities and conservative rural areas, and with few prospects to take back control in Raleigh, progressives have looked to local government as a way to enact change. The general assembly has not looked kindly on those efforts. In September, just as the legislative calendar was ending, lawmakers heard a bill that would prevent cities from passing higher minimum-wage laws, establishing affordable-housing mandates, or instituting rules about landlord-tenant relations. It would also have likely banned any LGBT-discrimination bans. Another failed bill would have required state approval for cities wishing to create new bike lanes.
Although the push to preempt city laws failed as the clock ran out, Charlotte’s new ordinance created a new impetus. McCrory, a former mayor of Charlotte, opposed the law but declined to call a special session, so on Monday lawmakers did so themselves. On Wednesday, members who could make it in time traipsed back to Raleigh to overturn the Charlotte rule. (Some missed the session, saying they did not have time to travel.) What exactly would be in the bill remained a mystery almost up to the moment the session gaveled in—the text was made public just minutes ahead of time.
Once released, it was clear that the legislative language was more sweeping than expected. Not only does it prevent local governments from writing ordinances that allow people to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender with with they identify, it also preempts cities from passing their own nondiscrimination standards, saying the state’s rules—which are more conservative—supersede localities. Local school district would be barred from allowing transgender students to use bathrooms or locker rooms that don’t correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificate. The bill would also ban cities from passing their own minimum-wage laws.
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