Sen. Richard Burr: HB2 ‘too expansive’

Republican Sen. Richard Burr says North Carolina’s Republican lawmakers went too far when they passed House Bill 2, and said they need to rein it in before a judge does it for them.

“Yeah, I’ve got issues,” Burr told The Huffington Post when asked if he has problems with the law known as HB 2.

“The legislature botched what they were trying to do,” he said. “It was far too expansive.”

The law, signed in March, bars transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, and it prevents municipalities from passing LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances. Cities like Charlotte and Raleigh had such ordinances in place before HB 2. They are now invalid.

Burr has largely avoided talking about the law. He previously said he was out of the country when it passed; stated it’s up to the courts to decide if it’s valid; suggested it doesn’t actually discriminate; and declared it a state issue.

On Tuesday, though, he was clear that he wasn’t happy with it. He also predicted that the law is going to be changed one way or another, so the question now is which branch of government does it.

“It will be decided one of two ways: through the courts, where everybody’s chosen to place it now, or the General Assembly and the Charlotte City Council getting together and solving what was blundered on both sides,” Burr said.

A spokesman for North Carolina’s other Republican senator, Thom Tillis, did not respond to a request for comment on how he feels about HB 2.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Sen. Richard Burr: HB2 ‘too expansive’."