NORTH CAROLINA: Gov. Pat McCrory Offers To Repeal Hate Law If Charlotte Repeals Law That Spawned It

He’s panicking. Via the Charlotte Observer:

Gov. Pat McCrory could call lawmakers into session as soon as next week to repeal House Bill 2 – but only if the Charlotte City Council first drops the ordinance that prompted it, his office confirmed Friday.

The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association has been working to broker a compromise to stop the economic damage from HB2, which this week included the loss of major NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference sporting events. Losing the games is expected to cause an economic loss of tens of millions of dollars.

“Our industry and the hospitality industry at large has been collateral damage in this,” said Lynn Minges, president and CEO of the restaurant group. “It’s obviously been impacting our businesses and employees. We’ve chosen to have a seat at the table rather than have an adversarial role.”

A McCrory spokesman said the governor is willing to call lawmakers back. “For the last nine months, the governor has consistently said state legislation is only needed if the Charlotte ordinance remains in place,” said spokesman Josh Ellis. “If the Charlotte City Council totally repeals the ordinance and then we can confirm there is support to repeal among the majority of state lawmakers … the governor will call a special session.

A similar deal was proposed earlier this year but the Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 to refuse to consider repealing their ordinance.

The Human Rights Campaign reacts:

“This is the same cheap trick the North Carolina General Assembly has attempted all along, asking Charlotte to repeal crucial protections for the LGBTQ community and trust they will hold up their end of the bargain on a full repeal of HB2. This arrangement would create problems, not solve them.”