NO BUDGET VOTE EXPECTED BEFORE AUGUST

As Republican leaders in the House and Senate attempt to reach an agreement on tax cuts and other spending priorities, lawmakers in North Carolina are not expected to vote on a budget until mid-August, further delaying Medicaid expansion.

Any budget votes will probably be postponed until the middle of August, according to Representative Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), a senior chairman on the Appropriations Committee. Saine says this is a result of ongoing negotiations as well as previously planned vacations and national conferences.

Earlier in the session, the House and Senate passed their respective budgets; however, they are currently working on a compromise budget to send to Governor Roy Cooper. The $29.8 billion top-line spending figure was used in each chamber's budget draft, but there were significant differences in how they arrived at that figure.

Compared to the House budget, which also includes larger raises for state employees, the Senate budget calls for quicker and steeper tax reductions. The Senate's proposal would lower individual tax rates from the current rate of 4.75 percent to 3.99 percent in 2025, two years earlier than the current law allows, and then to 2.49 percent in 2030.

According to Saine, House negotiators want to link these tax cuts to state revenue totals, putting off tax reductions, for instance, until the state has collected a certain sum of money.

Other negotiations concern the Senate budget's inclusion of $1.4 billion for NCInnovation, a Durham-based business-led nonprofit.

Despite the fact that the fiscal year started on July 1, the state government continues to provide services at last year's levels of spending until a new budget is approved. Therefore, there are no service reductions or shutdowns.

Read more by WRAL News

VETO OVERRIDES EXPECTED NEXT WEEK

Next week, the North Carolina General Assembly is expected to take action that could begin overriding Governor Roy Cooper's vetoes of five bills last week.

The vetoed bills pertain to gender identity-related medical treatment for minors and doctors as well as building codes, women's sports, parents, schoolchildren, and their respective educators. The House has scheduled to take up four of the five bills for reconsideration on July 19:

• House Bill 574 would prohibit public middle and high schools, colleges and universities from allowing biological males to participate on female sports teams.
• House Bill 808 would ban gender transition procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones for minors.
• House Bill 618 allows the Charter School Review Board to take over responsibility from the State Board of Education for approving, amending, renewing and terminating charter schools, with the goal of streamlining the process.
• House Bill 488 amends the building code and land development regulations, increases the minimum cost for applicability of general contractor licensing requirements, provides for the reorganization of the state Building Code Council, and creates the Residential Code Council.

The fifth bill vetoed last week has not been scheduled for reconsideration by the Senate:

• Senate Bill 49: The Parents' Bill of Rights enhances public school transparency, outlines the rights and responsibilities of parents, and installs guardrails on curriculum dealing with gender identity and sexual orientation. Also, the law would subject state employees to disciplinary action if they attempt to encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from a parent.

Read more by The Center Square

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIKEY DEAD THIS SESSION

House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) stated on Tuesday that legislation that would have made marijuana use for medicinal purposes legal in North Carolina is likely dead for the remainder of this year's General Assembly session due to opposition from many other Republicans in his chamber

Senate Bill 3, which would have established the framework for patients with serious and terminal illnesses to lawfully obtain cannabis and smoke or consume it, was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate more than four months ago. With the exception of a committee hearing on the measure in early June, it has remained dormant in the House ever since.

Republicans in the House have debated the measure. Moore indicated that he agreed with recent remarks made by House Majority Leader John Bell (R-Wayne County), who said, in part, that there was not enough support for the bill to move forward. Bell also said he suspects the legalization issue will come up during the short legislative session, likely to begin in May.

Two weeks ago, senators attempted to put pressure on the House when the chief sponsor of the bill and Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick County), attached a floor amendment to a separate healthcare bill that was supported by the House, stipulating that it could only become law if his bill also became law.

Rabon's parliamentary move might be seen by House members as a shot across the bow in negotiations at the end of the session, but Moore claimed it has no bearing on the bill's current impasse.

Read more by Associated Press

CHANGES TO ABC LAWS DEBATED

Lawmakers may consider a number of changes to North Carolina's notoriously strict alcohol sales regulations in the coming weeks.

In addition to allowing for happy hours, alcohol deliveries, and price flexibility in other venues, the legislation would permit locals to open their shops on Sundays and all other holidays besides Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other significant changes would allow for drink specials that are currently prohibited, allowing establishments that serve alcohol to attract customers in ways they currently cannot. Profits and taxes from the ABC stores fill local governments' coffers, indicating that the changes might increase revenues in some municipalities.

The 36-page bill also includes provisions that would allow retailers to purchase liquor from any ABC store in their county, permit ABC stores to sell gift cards, relax the restrictions on the sale of alcohol on trains, and simplify the procedure for establishments that serve alcohol.

The amendments, which were incorporated into Senate Bill 527 regarding elevator safety requirements, would roll back regulations put in place in the 1980s to combat drunk driving. Last week, the House Committee on Alcoholic Beverage Control reviewed the bill solely for information and will now review it along with other committees.

On June 27, supporters of Senate Bill 527, including the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, testified that the measure would aid in modernizing the state's ABC system so that it is better in line with societal norms and customer demands.

The legislation is one of more than a dozen that were introduced during the 2023 legislative session with the intention of improving the state's ABC system, nearly all of which have remained in committees without any action.

Read more by The Center Square

BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW

On July 7, Governor Cooper approved 22 bills and allowed three more to become law without his signature. The majority of the non-contentious and technical laws Cooper signed were:

Three bills the governor did not sign will become law on their prescribed dates:

On July 10, Cooper approved 11 additional bills:

Read more by WGHP

NORTH CAROLINA LAWS EFFECTIVE JULY 1

On July 1, 2023, seven laws passed by the General Assembly became law. They are:

Senate Bill 41: Guarantee 2nd Amendment Freedom and Protections. The bill permits people with concealed carry permits and specific law enforcement facility employees to carry firearms on private property, including inside places of worship that have schools on the property, during times other than the days of worship services. Additionally, it does away with the Jim Crowe-era pistol permit, which required gun owners to obtain a separate permit from their local sheriff in addition to federal background checks. The legislation also kicks off a statewide awareness campaign about firearm safe storage.

Senate Bill 20: Care for Women, Children, and Families Act. This bill would prohibit abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, the diagnosis of a life-limiting fetal anomaly, or a medical emergency. Abortion with medication is also prohibited after 70 days (or 10 weeks) of pregnancy. It would also require those seeking abortions to see a provider in person for pre- and post-abortion appointments.

House Bill 190: Dept. of Health and Human Services Revisions. House Bill 190 amends Senate Bill 20 to "clarify the rules and provide some certainty" to the regulations, according to Governor Cooper's press release on the subject. The law clarified the state's fetal homicide law, the ability to "advise" pregnant women about abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy, 72-hour waiting periods, mandatory reporting of abortions involving minors, and time limits for medication abortion. Furthermore, any changes made by Senate Bill 20 to laws dealing with hospitalization of victims of rape or incest and their ability to receive an abortion after 12 weeks will not take effect until October 1, 2023.

House Bill 544: Limited Shark Fishing Tournament Moratorium. During the tourist season, this bill would prohibit onshore recreational shark fishing tournaments in certain southeastern waters.

House Bill 116: Modify Laws Affecting District Attorneys. House Bill 116 includes a slew of new provisions for district attorneys. For example, when district attorneys cannot participate in an investigation or prosecution due to conflicts of interest, they can now apply to the Administrative Office of the Courts for a qualified attorney to take over the investigation. Furthermore, it requires a dispute resolution fee to be paid in advance for a mediation referred by the General Court of Justice. This fee will be sixty dollars per criminal case mediation.