North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed a bill that sought to prevent the state from adopting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the US Federal Reserve, despite the bill receiving overwhelming support in both the state’s House of Representatives and Senate.
Cooper, criticized for what some perceive as a politically motivated move, articulated in a statement on June 5th that House Bill 690 lacked readiness, clarity, and was a hasty response to the issue at hand.
His veto came after the bill sailed through the legislative process with a decisive 109-4 vote in the House and a 39-5 vote in the Senate in late June. Despite this broad legislative backing, lawmakers could potentially override Cooper’s decision with a three-fifths majority in each chamber.
Reacting to Cooper’s veto, Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware Solutions and a native North Carolinian, expressed disappointment, stating that the governor’s action did not reflect the will of the state’s residents. Askew criticized Cooper for prioritizing partisan considerations over what he argued would be a beneficial law for all North Carolinians.
Similarly, Dan Spuller, head of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, lamented Cooper’s veto as a missed opportunity to signal strong opposition to a CBDC from North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had previously stated during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in March that the United States was far from endorsing or adopting any form of central bank digital currency.
Source:
Dan Spuller
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