Legislative Update from Rep. Iler — December 16, 2024
Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly we had the last chance this year to pass legislation to impact western North Carolina, make the boards of elections more bipartisan, and various provisions to impact other local and state issues. As the Senate had already concluded their voting sessions, we in the House had to finish our voting on Wednesday, the 11th.
After leaving Brunswick County for Raleigh Wednesday morning in the dark, I was able to attend the mid-morning meeting of the new House Select Committee on Helene Recovery. We met for 2 hours and heard many presentations about the ongoing recovery efforts in western North Carolina. They included our central staff explaining how the nearly $1 billion that we had already appropriated is being spent, the NC Division of Emergency Management, and the NC Office of Budget and Management. Speakers from hard working non-profits, Samaritan’s Purse and NC Baptist Men, also presented during this valuable meeting. There were no bills on which to vote, but there was bipartisan consensus to continue meeting into the 2025 session to impact new legislation concerning the long-term recovery effort.
Soon after noon there was a long Republican caucus meeting and presumably a Democrat caucus by the House members of the 2 parties. The upcoming votes on bills to be taken up later in the day were the topics of much discussion. After 3:00 P.M. we met in our House voting session to take up Senate Bill 382 – Disaster Relief-3/Various Law Changes. It was the last chance to override the Governor’s veto of the bill, as the Senate had already done so and adjourned previously. It had been long debated the first time we passed it, so the debate was somewhat limited. The override vote was 72 – 46, so it passed with the required three-fifths vote and became law.
We also passed Senate Bill 921 – Constitutional Amendment/Require Photo ID for All Voters. It will be on the ballot in the 2026 general election for the citizens to decide. It passed 73 – 45, the required three-fifths, and is not subject to the Governor’s veto. Over a dozen members not returning next year made their farewell addresses. They will all be missed.