Legislative Update from Rep. Iler — June 26, 2023
Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly was fast and furious. We had bills from the House and Senate coming out of committees and onto the floors of both chambers for votes. In the House we passed bills on women’s sports, gender transition procedures, property owners protection, elevator safety, and many others. We also saw many bills vetoed by the Governor and sent back to us for possible override votes.
House Bill 574 – Fairness in Women’s Sports was back in the House for our concurrence with the Senate changes. It protects the rights of students in the state to compete in interscholastic sports on teams of the same biological gender. It passed 62 – 43 with 15 of our members absent. Having already passed the Senate, it now goes to the Governor for his signature or veto.
Senate Bill 631 – Minor Gender Transition Procedures/Public Providers protects individuals under the age of 18 from sex-change procedures and prevents state funds from being used for such procedures. It passed 66 – 41 and went back to the Senate for their concurrence.
Senate Bill 246 – Property Owners Protection Act strengthens the trespassing laws. It passed 101 – 4 and will go to the Governor this week.
House Bill 608 – Safety Requirements for Elevators specifies certain minimum standards for elevators, such as no more than 4 inches between the outer door and the edge of the elevator floor. This was in response to a child hiding in such a space and dying. This applies to properties rented for 15 days or more per year. It passed 113 – 0 on our concurrence vote. Having passed the Senate 47 – 0, it went to the Governor.
Last week we saw the Governor set a possible new record for vetoes of our bills in a single week. He vetoed about half a dozen, including:
Senate Bill 582 – N.C. Farm Act of 2023
Senate Bill 364 – Nondiscrimination & Dignity in State Work
Senate Bill 329 – Retail Installment Sales Act
Senate Bill 299 – Reimburse Late Audit Costs with Sales Tax Revenue
Senate Bill 331 – Consumer Finance Act Amendments
House Bill 750 – Address ESG Factors (Environmental, Social, Governance)
The Senate has already overridden his vetoes on 4 of the bills. We anticipate this week that we will continue to override these vetoes in the House and Senate. We also expect he will veto more bills this week. Budget negotiations are continuing at the highest levels, and we expect that our goal of June 30th completion may not be met.