CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Republicans in the North Carolina House will file a bill to require capacity attendance at all events for the scheduled Republican National Convention in Charlotte in August.
The move is aimed at keeping the Republican National Committee from moving parts or all of the event to another state.
Organizers have said President Donald Trump's acceptance speech _ the signature event of the convention _ would be moved from Charlotte because Gov. Roy Cooper won't guarantee that 19,000 people would be allowed in the Spectrum Center due to the coronavirus pandemic.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and Rep. John Torbett are the sponsors of the legislation, according to North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley.
"I cannot believe Gov. Cooper has made this necessary," Whatley tweeted Thursday night.
It is the latest twist in the ongoing back-and-forth over holding the convention in Charlotte. It is scheduled for Aug. 24-27.
On Thursday, the Charlotte host committee for the event sent a letter to Cooper and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, offering to host a meeting "as soon as possible" to try to keep the convention in Charlotte.
The host committee, charged with raising money and volunteers for the convention, acknowledged health care concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it also said the convention would bring "a substantial and much needed economic boost" to the city's travel and tourism industry.
At a news conference Thursday, Cooper said he has made it clear to Trump and to convention organizers that he wants to keep the event in the state.
"We want the RNC convention in North Carolina," Cooper said. "We want to make sure that it is held in a safe way to protect the health of North Carolinians. I was told by the president that he insisted on a full arena, 19,000 people inside the Spectrum Arena with no masks and no social distancing. We had to guarantee they could do that by the end of August.
"Obviously the state of North Carolina cannot guarantee a full arena in August," Cooper said. "We don't know what the virus will be at that point."
The proposed legislation would allow modifications only if the RNC, the city of Charlotte and the North Carolina secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services agree. It also lays out other safety protocols, which were proposed by the Republican National Committee previously.
North Carolina has more than 30,000 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, and more than 1,000 residents have died, according to The News & Observer's county-by-county tally.
Also Thursday, Charlotte City Attorney Patrick Baker met behind closed doors with RNC officials and others to try to get a better idea what other parts of the convention might still be held in Charlotte, even if Trump is renominated in another city.
"During that meeting," the city said in a news release, "RNC representatives confirmed that at this point in time, they intend to locate the entirety of the business portion of the Convention in Charlotte. What those intentions mean in terms of the number of visitors coming to Charlotte, the length of time and the amount of space needed to properly host the business portion of the convention is unclear."
But it was clear, the city said in its release, that "some of the events that were originally to occur in Charlotte" may occur outside North Carolina. National Republican officials have mentioned Nashville, Las Vegas, and Jacksonville, Fla., as possibilities.
Baker will meet again Monday with RNC officials and others, including the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and the Charlotte Hornets.
In Cooper's news conference, he alluded to those discussions and said he hopes they end up with Charlotte getting at least a piece of the convention.
"There's been discussion about having all the other events in Charlotte except the acceptance speech," he said. "I hope that that can come about. I understand that some of those discussions are occurring."
The host committee letter was echoed by a Thursday tweet from Charlotte City Council member Tariq Bokhari, one of two Republican members of the council.
"On behalf of 10,000+ reeling small businesses and thousands of displaced hospitality workers," he wrote, "I DEMAND @NC _ Governor and @GOPChairwoman have a meeting viewable by the public, to negotiate keeping the 2020 RNC in #CLT, We deserve to see that each side is operating in good faith."
