North Carolina legislators have approved a bill that prevents the U.S. state from accepting central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a form of payment or participating in any related tests conducted by any branch of the Federal Reserve.
According to the roll call transcript for the voting session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the bill by a 27-17 vote on September 9. The positive votes surpassed the 60% benchmark needed to override the state’s Governor Roy Cooper’s veto against the bill.
North Carolina Stands Against CBDCs
In June, the General Assembly passed House Bill 690 prohibiting the federal government from getting involved with CBDCs with a solid bipartisan vote. The House of Representatives approved the bill by 109-4, while the Senate did the same with 39-5.
The bill was then sent to the governor, a member of the Democratic party who vetoed it because it was “premature, vague, and reactionary.”
About a month later, the House of Representatives unveiled a proposal to override Cooper’s veto and pass the bill regardless. During the override vote, nearly all Democrats who initially supported House Bill 690 voted against it by 73-41. The bill was eventually sent to the Senate for their override vote to determine whether it would become law.
Overriding The Governor’s Objections
Despite the Democrats flipping sides, the Republican supermajorities in the House of Reps and the Senate had enough support to approve the override as required by law. So, the bill prohibiting the North Carolina government from accepting payments in CBDCs and participating in related tests has become law despite the governor’s objections.
Following the bill’s approval, Republican Senator Brad Overcash told the local media, Carolina Journal, that the incident presented an opportunity for North Carolina to indicate that it is not interested in a federal CBDC.
“It was just over two months ago that it passed through the Senate, 39 to five. I reminded my colleagues of that on the floor today, and I think it is pure politics. I think once they saw Roy Cooper veto the bill, they fell in line and just copied his lead, which is really unfortunate,” he added.
North Carolina’s efforts to take a stance against CBDCs stem from concerns about the government using digital assets to monitor residents’ finances and violate their privacy.