This US state just passed an anti-CBDC bill

Lawmakers in North Carolina have passed a bill that would prevent the US state from accepting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a form of payment or participating in any related tests conducted by any branch of the Federal Reserve .

According to the transcript of the roll call of the voting session, the North Carolina General Assembly approved the bill by a vote of 27 to 17 on September 9. The positive votes passed the 60 percent benchmark needed to override state Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the project.

North Carolina comes out against CBDCs

In June, the General Assembly passed House Bill 690, which prohibits the federal government from getting involved with CBDCs, with a solid bipartisan vote. The House of Representatives passed the bill 109-4, while the Senate did the same 39-5.

The bill was then sent to the governor, a member of the Democratic party who vetoed it because it was “premature, vague and reactionary.”

About a month later, the House of Representatives introduced a proposal to override Cooper’s veto and pass the bill independently. During the override vote, nearly all Democrats who initially supported House Bill 690 voted against it 73-41. Finally, the bill was sent to the Senate for its override vote to determine whether it would become law.

Overruling the governor’s objections

Although Democrats switched sides, the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate had enough support to pass the override as required by law. Therefore, the bill banning the North Carolina government from accepting payments in CBDC and participating in related tests has become law despite the governor’s objections.

After the bill passed, Republican Senator Brad Overcash told local media outlet Carolina Journal that the incident presented an opportunity for North Carolina to signal that it is not interested in a federal CBDC.

“It was just over two months ago that it passed the Senate, 39 to five. I reminded my colleagues on the floor today, and I think it’s pure politics. I think once they saw Roy Cooper veto the bill, they fell in line and just copied his leadership, which is really unfortunate,” he added.

North Carolina’s efforts to take a stance against CBDCs stem from concerns about the government’s use of digital assets to monitor residents’ finances and violate their privacy.

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