General Assembly: Brandon’s absence changes outcome of bill [News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.]

May 15--GREENSBORO -- Legislation meant to let employers strip abortion and birth control coverage from company health insurance policies is moving forward today at the General Assembly.

A morning effort to strip the birth control language from the bill, and focus only on abortion, had the votes it needed to amend the bill.

But a committee member, Marcus Brandon (D-Guilford), wasn't in the room. The proposal failed on a 7-7 committee vote. House Bill 730 cleared committee and may come to the House floor later today.

The bill seeks to allow any employer in the state with a moral objection -- not just churches and other religious organizations -- to forbid their insurance provider from offering abortion and contraception coverage to employees. Sponsoring state Rep. Jacqueline Schaffer, R-Mecklenburg, acknowledged this violates federal law, but argued that First Amendment rights are at stake.

Had state Rep. Brandon been in the room, it would have passed 8-7.

Brandon was in another committee meeting, hoping for a hearing on a charter school bill he supports, he said. That hearing never happened, he said.

Thursday is crossover day at the legislature, which generally means bills must pass either the House or Senate by midnight to stay alive for the rest of this session. That quickens the legislative pace, and legislators often find themselves with conflicting meetings.

Brandon said he felt bad about the outcome and blamed two things -- the speed at which bills move as the state legislature gets close to one of its arbitrary deadlines and a lack of communication among fellow Democrats.

Brandon said he had a legislative assistant in the room to monitor the bill, and that he himself arrived in time to vote against the full bill.

"If the leadership and Alma would have told me about the amendment then I would have been there to vote for that," he said.

"Alma" is state Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford. Both legislators have said they would like U.S. Rep. Mel Watt's congressional seat, should his recent presidential appointment be confirmed.

Adams focused her criticism on the bill, saying birth control coverage reduces the number of abortions.

"If you're opposed to abortion it seems like you would have been supporting the amendment," she said.

State Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, supported the amendment, but said it was "a tough call." He also voted for the full bill after the amendment failed. He said employers shouldn't have to provide coverage for health measures they don't believe in.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Travis Fain at 373-4476, and follow

@travisfain on Twitter.

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