Despite GOP rows, Cooper speech likely looks for agreement

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Gov. Roy Cooper and legislative Republicans have spent the few months since Cooper was elected fighting in court over gubernatorial powers and Medicaid. When attorney general, Cooper criticized GOP legislation his office was obligated to defend and was blasted by lawmakers for giving up on some appeals.

Hostility should give way to decorum when Cooper delivers Monday night his first State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly. But don’t expect enthusiasm from many Republicans who comprise the veto-proof majorities in the Senate and House and remain suspicious of Cooper’s goals.

“If he’ll find ways to work with us I’m more than willing to do it,” said Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly, “but I’m not going to sit here and stand by while he tries to cram his left-wing agenda down the throat of North Carolinians.”

The speech marks a major opportunity for Cooper to press areas in his agenda that could find bipartisan support, such as areas in his state budget proposing increases in education and economic development spending, as well as criminal justice reform.

“I hope he’ll speak of the need for collaboration and working together - Democrats and Republicans alike - for the good of this state on things that we can agree upon,” said Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham.

A statewide television audience also allows him to speak to voters who narrowly elected him and urge them to tell Republicans to work with him on other ideas. They include getting rid of House Bill 2, the law limiting LGBT rights and directing transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to their birth certificate.

Cooper, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger - who is slated to give the Republican response Monday - have been talking about finding common ground. A projected current-year budget surplus and $1.5 billion of additional revenue anticipated the next two years increases the possibility, particularly on raising teacher pay. They even met last week to discuss HB2.

Recent history, however, will be hard to forget.

In December, just after GOP Gov. Pat McCrory conceded to Cooper, Moore and Berger led a special session passing laws shifting gubernatorial powers to the Legislature and forcing Cooper’s Cabinet to face Senate confirmation. Cooper sued. The lawsuit is pending.

Then during his first weeks in office, Cooper tried to fast-track Medicaid expansion in North Carolina before President Barack Obama’s administration ended and without legislative approval. Berger and Moore sued, and a federal judge blocked Cooper’s effort.

Cooper’s political situation is reminiscent to that of GOP Gov. Jim Martin, who faced a huge Democratic majority in the General Assembly when he arrived in early 1985 and had no veto power. Democratic lawmakers tried to limit Martin’s authority from the start. The two branches initially couldn’t even agree on a State of the State date.

“I expected there would be an opportunity to work with them … and found that they had no interest in that,” Martin told The Associated Press. “They resented that I had been elected.”

The date ultimately set, Martin focused his speech on several items, primarily on eliminating state taxes on food and the value of investments. Democrats that year passed their own package that cut some taxes. The food tax wouldn’t be addressed for another decade.

Martin said the State of the State is an important occasion for any governor - especially for one with few friends in the Legislature - to hone an agenda to a small number of achievable goals.

“You try to pick 100 fights, then you lose focus and the public just hears a lot of noise going on,” Martin said. “Pick four, five, six things and work at that over and over and eventually you get your message across.”