KTS Strategies brings years of experience providing clients in a diverse range of industries with comprehensive policy and advocacy advice before federal, state, and local agencies. In North Carolina, we advise local municipalities, corporate transportation entities, nonprofit organizations, statewide associations, government vendors, and Fortune 500 companies before the North Carolina General Assembly and executive branch.
Below is an update on the activity at the NC General Assembly this week.
Legislative Schedule
This week, the House returned to Raleigh for one voting session on Wednesday. The Senate did not take any floor votes or hold any committee meetings this week. Budget negotiations remain at an impasse as House and Senate leadership have not reached an agreement on a tax package and the spending of budget reserves. At this point, we may not see a final budget compromise until mid-August. Due to the budget gridlock and upcoming national legislative conferences, we anticipate the legislative workload will be light for the remainder of July.
House Session Highlights
On Wednesday, the House held a brief voting session. The House considered several local bills and held multiple concurrence votes. Most notably, the House voted not to concur with the 2023 Regulatory Reform Act (H600) and an omnibus health care bill (H125). These bills have been sent to conference committee where a final compromise will be negotiated. The House voted to concur with legislation that would make changes to the state retirement system (H201), changes to the laws related to the expunction of criminal offenses as recommended by the Administrative Office of the Courts (H193), and an omnibus charter school bill (H219). Those bills have been sent to the Governor for consideration. The next voting session for the House will be held Wednesday, July 19th.
Vetoed Bills
Last week, Governor Cooper vetoed the following five pieces of legislation.
- H618, Charter School Review Board- This bill would convert the Charter Schools Advisory Board into the Charter Schools Review Board and shift the authority to approve charters from the State Board of Education to the Review Board.
- H488, Code Council Reorganization and Various Code Amendments- This bill would reorganize the North Carolina Building Code Council to create a new Residential Code Council and would make various changes to the North Carolina State Building Code provisions, land development regulations, and General Contractor licensing laws.
- H808, Gender Transition/Minors- This bill would prohibit medical professionals from performing surgical gender transition procedures on minors and from prescribing, providing, or dispensing puberty-blocking drugs or cross-sex hormones to minors.
- H574, Fairness in Women’s Sports Act- This bill would prohibit biological males from competing on women’s sports teams.
- S49, Parents’ Bill of Rights- This bill would require public schools to provide parents with information regarding their student’s education, as well as provide them with notifications about the student’s physical and mental health. The bill would also require health care practitioners to obtain written consent from the parent of a minor child before providing treatment and would prohibit instruction on gender identity or sexuality in the curriculum of students from kindergarten to fourth grade.
Veto override votes for H618, H488, H808, and H574 have been calendared for next Wednesday’s House session.
