NC Policy Update | neighborsoncall

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 04/29/24

Governance

NC Gov. Cooper presents his budget as the legislative “short session” begins – Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline
NC General Assembly’s “short session” convenes today [April 24, 2024] – Staff, NC Newsline
With $1 billion budget surplus, NC lawmakers return to Raleigh for 2024 session: State worker raises, Medicaid, child care, private school vouchers and more could be part of the 2024 budget debate as the short session kicks off April 24. – Will Doran, WRAL
Marijuana, immigration, election laws: NC's 2024 legislative session not just about the budget: State lawmakers will use the 2024 session to spread around a $1 billion budget surplus and possibly tackle contentious policy debates around immigration, marijuana, child care and changes to election laws ahead of the November election. – Will Doran, WRAL

Education Policy

Bill seeks to speed Wake schools' hunt for university partnership with leadership academies: The proposed legislation follows the Wake County Public School System's decision to end the leadership academy programs' partnership with Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh amid accreditation struggles. – Will Doran, WRAL

Gun Violence Prevention

Gun safety advocates again call on lawmakers to consider red flag law in NC: Proposed legislation would give a judge the power to take guns away from someone deemed to be at risk of harming themselves or others. Opponents say it would violate due process. – Laura Leslie, WRAL
NC Republicans face pressure to eliminate concealed carry permit requirement – Michael Hyland, CBS17

Immigration

Governance

In advance of the start of the legislative session on April 24, multiple committees in the NCGA have held hearings with various state agencies. Personnel shortages were a common theme: the health care system and courts system have both struggled to fill positions, and while enough teachers are being hired, the Department for Public Instruction points out that public teaching jobs in North Carolina have an 11.5% attrition rate. Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, mentioned in a hearing that more funding is needed to modernize the State Election Information Management System.

Education Policy

On Wednesday a committee of the UNC System Board of Governors (BOG) voted to approve a policy that would replace the UNC system’s current Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy. The new policy would remove language about diversity, equity, and inclusion, instead emphasizing “equality” and “commitment to institutional neutrality and nondiscrimination.” UNC-Chapel Hill students who tried to attend the meeting were not allowed in the building, in potential violation of open meetings law. If the policy is approved by the full BOG in its May 23 meeting, many DEI initiatives and job roles across the system may be changed or eliminated by September 1. All current members of the BOG were appointed by Republicans in the state legislature.

Health Care Policy

On Tuesday the NC House Substance Abuse Committee unanimously voted to add the drug tianeptine to the list of controlled substances. The highly addictive drug, known as “gas station heroin,” is currently available in convenience stores and vape shops but would be removed from shelves if the NCGA votes to reclassify it. The FDA recently issued warnings about the drug, leading to voluntary manufacturer recalls, but because it isn’t illegal some stores have chosen to continue selling it.

Voting Rights

On Thursday the NC Supreme Court heard a lawsuit that would determine whether people who wrongfully accuse others of voter fraud may be sued for defamation. The suit stems from the 2016 gubernatorial election, when supporters of Republican Pat McCrory, who narrowly lost to Democrat Roy Cooper, falsely accused many Democratic voters of committing voter fraud. While the voters seeking to sue these supporters for defamation have won in lower courts, the NC Supreme Court seems likely to rule instead in favor of the Republicans who made the false accusations, a decision that lawyers for the Democratic voters say could embolden political operatives to make false voter fraud accusations in future elections.

Education Policy

Republican leaders at the NCGA are planning to allocate additional funding for charter school vouchers during the next legislative session, potentially as much as $300 million. That figure was the shortfall in the so-called Opportunity Scholarship program this year as legislation opened the program to all families, including wealthier families and those with children already in private school, bringing in a record 72,000 applications. Critics of the voucher program, including Governor Cooper, have denounced the Republicans’ intention to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to help rich families attend private schools while public schools aren’t fully funded.

Immigration

A key Republican priority during the next legislative session beginning April 24 is passing legislation requiring North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is the fourth year in a row the legislature has tried to pass such legislation. In 2019 and 2022, Governor Cooper overrode these bills with enough Democrats in the NCGA to sustain his veto, and in 2023, when Republicans would have been able to override his veto, the bill didn’t get through the NC Senate before the end of the session. The bill, HB 10, would require sheriffs to hold undocumented immigrants without a warrant at the request of ICE.