The 33-member Freedom Caucus in the state House notched some major policy victories this year, defeating a proposal from Senate leaders to ban shrimp trawling while getting a gun-rights bill to the governor’s desk.
The Freedom Caucus' Chairman, Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, told the WUNC Politics Podcast his group has no public membership list because of concerns about “retribution against members of the Freedom Caucus, because we have made and broke many a bill in our time.”
One of those bills was the Senate’s plan to ban shrimp trawling. “When the government steps in and takes literally, a hundreds-of-years-old industry, and thinks it's OK to just shut it down, that's beyond the scope of the Constitution,” Kidwell said. He urged shrimpers to descend on Raleigh and voice their opposition, and it worked.
But he worries the proposal isn’t dead forever. “I always refer to legislation like this as Freddy Krueger bills,” Kidwell said. “Just about the time you think it's dead, it's going to come back to life and try and kill you again. So I stand ready with my spike to drive through its heart.”
Kidwell also spoke about the status of controversial gun legislation, next year's legislative elections and a new government efficiency project in the state House.
This conversation has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Another victory for the House Freedom Caucus this session was the bill to repeal the state's concealed carry permit requirements for handguns. What do you think changed this session to get that bill moving through both chambers?
"(Senate leader Phil) Berger has a primary."
Is it that simple?
"I have personally run this legislation every biennium since I've been in the General Assembly. And last biennium, Sen. Berger flatly stated to the media that we didn't need to do anything further for handguns. ... Why did it take until Phil Berger had a primary to get that bill actually moved through the Senate? It's been through every year. Nobody's ever moved it."
What's the outlook for that bill now that Gov. Josh Stein has vetoed it?
"We would need at least one Democrat to cross the aisle on an ideal day. The problem is we have a couple of members in the Republican caucus that are not willing to vote for the veto override at this point. I am told that they will probably come around when the time gets right. I hope that is the case. I hope if it's not the case, they might want to rethink their party affiliation."
Looking ahead to next year's election for the legislature, do you see a role for the House Freedom Caucus in that process?
"Generally, the Freedom Caucus stays out of primaries, unless there's a dire situation. If we have a so-called conservative, but we identify that that person is not really freedom-motivated, we're likely going to go out and look at that opponent and possibly take a position in that race.
"We do try and help our members, number one, because we know them. We know they're tried, tested, true people. We want to make sure that they come back into service, so that we can have more and more impact."
You're also co-chairing the new House Select Committee on Government Efficiency, which has started holding some hearings this fall. What do you hope to accomplish through that process?
"I think that's self-explanatory by the name, right? We're hoping to make North Carolina's government more agile, more fiscally responsible, and I will keep an eye on the freedom issues of it as well."
