State lawmakers have removed a controversial provision from a bill that would have shortened the terms of Forsyth County commissioners and school board members.
The language, added to Senate Bill 214 last week, proposed cutting those terms from four years to two.
Local candidates and advocacy groups quickly pushed back, calling the move a threat to local governance and disrespectful to voters.
Their appeals seem to have swayed lawmakers — both the House and Senate chose to advance a version of the bill that didn’t include the Forsyth provision. They also stripped out another controversial section related to water resources in Franklin County.
Republican Sen. Bill Rabon said on the Senate floor Tuesday that the two sections “caused a great deal of heartburn.”
Sen. Dana Jones and Rep. Kyle Hall, Republicans who supported the Forsyth measure, have not issued statements on the decision to drop it.