This year, the North Carolina General Assembly has dabbled in an interesting political game that many view as overreaching. Twice, legislators from across the state have stepped in to redistrict a city or county in North Carolina, without the approval of those entities. It happened in April to the Wake County Board of Commissioners and it happened again last week to the Greensboro City Council.

In Greensboro, the new lines that will shape local elections were redrawn by the state at the request of Senator Trudy Wade, who said she’d received complaints that some of her constituents didn’t feel like they were adequately represented. The new lines now pit the four incumbent Black Greensboro councilmen against one another incumbents in two districts, guaranteeing that two of the four will be voted out of office, and the mayor will no longer be able to weigh in with his vote in most cases. The new lines were voted on by legislators who have no cause to be messing in local politics.

Gov. Pat McCrory blasted his own party for the act, calling the act “shameful” and saying that he would have vetoed it if he could. Since the bill dealt with local matters, it didn’t have to go across the governor’s desk. The Mayor of Greensboro, Nancy Vaughan, is meeting with lawyers this week to discuss a legal challenge to the bill. Very few people in Greensboro are happy about the extreme changes, ones that were handed down to them from above.

So, the question is why? Why would legislators wade into political waters that are not their own? Why would Senator Bill Cook, Rep. Paul Tine and Rep. Michael Speciale all feel the need to weigh in on the Greensboro redistricting — especially when that redistricting is being called partisan at best and racist at worst?

All three voted in favor of House Bill 263. Perhaps those legislators, who were elected to represent eastern North Carolinians, should explain their votes. While they are at it, explain how they will vote when someone in the General Assembly decides it’s a good idea to redistrict Washington or Beaufort County, or any other municipality or county in their respective districts.

Over the past year, the General Assembly has extended its reach into the business (local politics), and pockets (business privilege license taxes, sales taxes redistribution), of cities and counties. It’s unclear how those cities and counties benefit from that overreach.