Give N.C. governors a line-item veto

44 states already have it. I think it would improve N.C. politics

I recently wrote about four particularly bad vetoes from Gov. Josh Stein — bills that should’ve become law but didn’t, at least at first, because politics got in the way.

All four of those bills were swiftly overriden by the General Assembly last week in bipartisan votes, along with a handful of other important measures.

But it’s kind of telling which bills weren’t taken up. Because to be fair, not all of Stein’s vetoes were indefensible. On one of them, I actually don’t blame him at all.

House Bill 96 was supposed to give property owners a tool to remove squatters from their property — and it did. But at the last minute, lawmakers tacked on a completely unrelated clause banning local governments from regulating pet stores.

Yes, really. You’re reading a bill about property rights and due process — and then, boom: Puppy mills.

Now, maybe that’s good policy. I haven’t done a deep dive on the pet store clause, and I’m open to the argument. But what I do know is that it has absolutely nothing…