{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://butterfield.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/butterfield-ncga-surprise-bills-are-abuse-of-authority", "Butterfield: NCGA Surprise Bills are Abuse of Authority", "2016-12-15", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "G. Butterfield", "B001251", "butterfield.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today released the following statement in response to the North Carolina General Assembly's special session on Wednesday, December 14:\n\u201cI am outraged by the Republican-led\u00a0General Assembly's latest attempt to abuse their legislative authority. \u00a0Using the legislature\u2019s special session to appropriate funds for victims of Hurricane Matthew, Republican leaders immediately convened another special session to allow members to introduce any legislation.\u00a0 The additional special session was clearly a hyper-partisan maneuver to enable defeated Governor Pat McCrory to sign legislation that will continue to tarnish his reputation and the credibility of the North Carolina legislature.\u00a0 \n\u201cI call upon Republican legislative leaders to cease their political maneuvers and allow Governor-Elect Roy Cooper to assemble his administration as he deems necessary and allow him to possess the authority of prior Governors.\u00a0 To strip the incoming Governor of the traditional roles and responsibilities of the state\u2019s chief executive is an insult to the voters and citizens of our great state.\u00a0 \n\u201cRestructuring of county Boards of Elections is evidence that there are political motivations for these actions.\u00a0 The transfer of authority over public education and higher education to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the General Assembly will politicize education that the public will not tolerate.\u201d\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://butterfield.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/butterfield-ncga-surprise-bills-are-abuse-of-authority"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9762998670339584, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}