North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed a bill banning the state from implementing a Federal Reserve-issued central bank digital currency despite it receiving near-unanimous support in the House and Senate.
Cooper — who’s been slammed for making a politically-motivated decision — explained that House Bill 690 was too “premature, vague and reactionary” to sign into law in a June 5 statement.
"Efforts are being made at the federal level to ensure standards and safeguards are in place to protect consumers, investors and businesses [using] digital assets and North Carolina should wait to see how they work before taking action.”
Cooper’s veto followed a lopsided 109-4 vote in the House and a 39-5 vote in the Senate in late June.
Given the near-unanimous votes, North Carolina legislators could easily override Cooper’s veto with a three-fifths majority in both chambers.
Cooper’s decision to veto wasn’t well-received.
“The veto from Governor Cooper was not representative of the desires of North Carolinians,” Blockware Solutions head analyst and North Carolina native Mitchell Askew explained to Cointelegraph.
Askew said it was a shame Cooper was “unwilling to put partisan politics aside” to support a law that would benefit all North Carolina residents.
“He vetoed only because his opponent Mark Robinson is in favor of the bill. It’s clear who the pro-Bitcoin and pro-freedom candidate is here.”
Similarly, Dan Spuller, head of industry affairs at the Blockchain Association, said Cooper’s veto was an opportunity missed to send a loud and clear message that North Carolina strongly opposes a CBDC.
“[Digital asset] policy must remain in the hands of the American people, ensuring that any development of digital currency reflects our values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness.”
That said, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at a federal Senate Banking Committee hearing in March that the U.S. was “nowhere near recommending or let alone adopting a central bank digital currency in any form.”