Legislative Updates

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly saw many more bills filed, and some important bills pass the N.C. House and Senate.  The House passed the anti-rioting bill and a bill to improve educational opportunities and accountability.  I chaired the first Environment Committee of this session, and will be chairing our first transportation budget…

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly saw the introduction of several dozen bills in both the House and Senate.  I co-sponsored bills dealing with law enforcement, civil disorder, domestic violence, retirement tax relief, and others.  We had an introductory meeting of the Education K-12 Committee, and we are looking at many more committees…

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly saw the beginning of our voting sessions for the 2023 long session.  Our committee schedule was published showing the assigned time slots, one vote was held on the House floor on Wednesday, and various specific-interest caucuses were announced. The committee schedule lets the committee chairs and members…

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly appeared to be a lull with no voting sessions, but lots of activity was occurring behind the scenes.  The House Speaker was appointing members to House committees, as well as chairs and vice chairs of those committees.  Central staff members in bill drafting and research were working…

Last Wednesday was the first day of the 2023 – 2024 General Assembly.  As is the tradition, the members of the N.C. House of Representatives and Senate were sworn into office.  Chief Justice Paul Newby administered the oath to the 120 House members just after noon Wednesday.  I was seated in seat number 4 for…

The North Carolina General Assembly had adjourned July 1st, after passing the 2022 budget adjustments by a strong bipartisan vote in both the House and Senate.  However, last week the Governor signed the budget bill on Monday, the 11th, after waiting ten days.  (FYI, according to the N.C. Constitution, had it not been signed or…

This past week at the North Carolina General Assembly was filled with bills that had been waiting for consideration and the 2022-2023 budget adjustments on which we had worked since May.  This produced a long week that kept us in Raleigh from Monday until Friday.  On Friday, we took the final votes in the House…

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly saw some historic activity.  While the national political news overshadowed our work, we were working on issues important to your state.  We had bills in the N. C. House dealing with retail theft, sports betting, law enforcement in voting places, business regulations, and honoring a beloved deceased…

Last week at the North Carolina General Assembly was the third week of what is known as the “short session”.  We were deep into meetings on the 2022 – 2023 budget, and we voted on several bills concerning arson laws, sex offender laws, virtual learning, and sales tax policy.  The state budget in North Carolina…

The past two months at the North Carolina General Assembly have been very different, to say the least.  Our schedule has been fairly light, as far as voting sessions.  It has also been mostly reactive, as far as the court orders on the voting district maps.  So, I felt the information in any one week…