Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 6/13/22

Education Policy

• On Thursday the NC House approved a bill that would remove North Carolina’s two virtual charter schools from pilot program status and grant them new five-year charters. SB 671 would also provide guidelines for “remote academies” (online or virtual school). Though the bill passed the NC House 73-22, some representatives expressed reservations about passing it quickly given the below-average performance of the state’s virtual schools.

• On Wednesday Republicans in the NC House passed a bill that would shift appointment power over seats on one county’s community college board from the governor to leaders of the NCGA. SB 256 would allow the speaker of the NC House and president pro tempore of the NC Senate to fill four seats on the Rockingham County Board of Trustees – seats that the governor currently has the power to fill. Rockingham County is in Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger’s district. The bill now goes back to the NC Senate, where it is expected to pass. Because it is a local bill, it cannot be vetoed by the governor.

Health Care Policy

• On Monday the NC Senate passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana. SB 711 would allow trained physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with specific medical conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, and PTSD. The bill also decriminalizes the medical use of marijuana and the cultivation and distribution of marijuana, though criminal penalties for nonmedical use of marijuana remain. Though the bill now goes to the NC House, it is unclear whether the House will take up the bill before the end of this legislative session.

• “Millions of North Carolinians would be eligible for discounted or free hospital care, even after their insurance was billed, under proposed legislation debated this week.” – Lynn Bonner, NC Policy Watch (see also WRAL)

• On Tuesday the NC Senate rules committee moved forward a bill that would let state health officials develop a state health plan for children in the foster care system. “Children in foster care currently receive health care through Medicaid at the local level, which makes it difficult for them to retain their doctors and therapists when they move to any number of places.” – Bryan Anderson, WRAL

Women’s Rights and LGBTQ Rights

• “House and Senate Democrats have filed House Bill 1119 and Senate Bill 888, identical proposals to codify the abortion rights granted in the Roe case in state statute. It would allow abortion until viability, usually around 23-24 weeks, as well as after that if the doctor deems it necessary. It would also remove restrictions on abortion passed by Republican majorities over the past decade, including the 72-hour waiting period, the counseling mandate, and the ultrasound requirement.” – Laura Leslie, WRAL

• On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would strengthen domestic violence protections. HB 615 would allow a judge to extend a protective order to fill a gap between the date it expires and an upcoming court date to consider its renewal.

Criminal Justice

• “North Carolina lawmakers have advanced a proposal that would temporarily suspend the state’s automatic erasing of certain criminal records…The proposed process would be like a recycle or trash bin on a typical computer. Currently, in most districts, a file is permanently removed from electronic records by default and becomes inaccessible. House Bill 607 seeks to have files placed into a system that is inaccessible to the public but would be accessible upon request to people with dismissed charges.” – Bryan Anderson, WRAL

• On Monday the NC Senate approved a bill that would define organized retail theft as a crime and increase penalties for people who run organized retail theft rings. SB 766 passed 43-0 and now goes to the House.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 6/06/22

Economic Policy

• In a news conference on Thursday NC Senate Democrats advocated for a $200 gas tax rebate using some of the state’s budget surplus. On May 26 Democrats had introduced the Gas Tax Rebate Act, SB 897, which would issue a $200 debit card or check to North Carolina residents over 18 who hold a valid driver’s license. The primary sponsors of the bill are NC Senators Dan Blue (Wake), Sydney Batch (Wake), and Michael Garrett (Guilford). Sen. Phil Berger, Republican leader of the NC Senate, expressed reluctance to support the measure, saying Republicans would prefer longer-term tax cuts.

Environmental Policy

• On Thursday NC state legislators discussed a bill that would let the NC Department of Environmental Quality set safety limits on chemicals known as PFAS in drinking water. HB 1095 would also require manufacturers responsible for contaminating public drinking water sources with PFAS to pay for cleanup and upgrade their facilities to stop future contamination, requirements that would be set to apply retroactively from the beginning of 2017. The bill has bipartisan support and the support of Governor Cooper. However, the NC Chamber and other business advocacy groups oppose the bill, and Republican speaker of the House Tim Moore said he didn’t expect the bill to pass the NC House this year.

Health Care Policy

• On Thursday the NC Senate passed a Medicaid expansion bill in a 44-1 vote, following a 44-2 preliminary vote on Wednesday. Democrats celebrated the change of heart of their Republican colleagues, who have blocked Medicaid expansion in North Carolina for the past decade. Under the bill, HB 149, up to 600,000 people currently ineligible for government health insurance would be enrolled in Medicaid, with 90% of their costs covered by the federal government and 10% covered by hospitals. To become law, the bill still has to pass the NC House, where it appears so far to have more Republican opposition than in the Senate.

• On Thursday the NC Senate voted to approve a bill legalizing medical marijuana. SB 711 would allow 10 suppliers to sell marijuana via 80 dispensaries to patients with specific medical conditions (including cancer and ALS) and a prescription from specially certified doctors. The 35-10 vote is the first of two required votes; the Senate will vote again on the bill on Monday. After that, the bill will be sent to the NC House, where it appears to have less support. On Tuesday the NC Senate had also moved toward permanent legalization of hemp with a unanimous vote to approve SB 762, the 2022 Farm Act.

Women’s Rights

• On Tuesday Democratic state lawmakers introduced a bill that would eliminate the sales tax on feminine hygiene products and would fund public schools to provide free menstrual products to students. A previous grant program included in last year’s state budget provided limited funds on a first-come, first-served basis to schools in the state to provide menstrual products to students, but many schools that applied for the grant did not receive it because the funding ran out in less than a week. HB 1087 (SB 832), the Menstrual Equity for All Act, would provide $500,000 in recurring funding for this program.

Education Policy and LGBTQ Rights

• On Wednesday the NC Senate passed the controversial “Parents’ Bill of Rights” in a nearly party-line vote. HB 755 would ban teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity from K-3 curricula; require schools to notify a student’s parents if that student begins questioning their gender identity in school or brings concerns about emotional or mental health, including sexual orientation, to a teacher; and ban health care providers from providing any health care, including mental health services, to minors without parental consent. Education and LGBTQ+ advocates say the bill could put some students at risk by requiring schools to out them to their parents, and advocacy groups have called on Governor Cooper to veto the bill if it passes the House.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 5/30/22

Economic Policy

• Planning for adjustments to the 2022-23 budget is underway at the NC General Assembly. A Republican budget writer in the NCGA said the total spending figure will be between $29.5 billion and $30 billion. Legislators are considering raises for state employees and teachers beyond the 2.5% already allocated, though it is unclear whether they will match Governor Cooper’s request for an additional 2.5% for state employees and 7.5% for teachers through a salary schedule adjustment. They are also considering additional tax cuts, a reserve fund for capital projects, and an additional $100 million for broadband expansion.

• On Tuesday the rules committee of the NC Senate passed the 2022 Farm Act (SB 792), which is expected to pass the full Senate next week. Of note in the bill is a passage that distinguishes hemp from marijuana based on its level of the psychoactive ingredient Delta-9 and excludes hemp from North Carolina’s list of controlled substances. North Carolina’s 2015 law legalizing the hemp industry is set to expire at the end of next month; this provision in the Farm Act will prevent hemp from being outlawed in the state when that happens. In addition, the bill initially included a “right to repair” provision that requires manufacturers of farm equipment to sell parts, manuals, and diagnostic tools to end users and independent shops at the same price that dealers receive. “Right to repair” is a national movement with significant support from farmer advocacy groups, but the provision received even more opposition from dealers, leading to an amendment to the bill to send the issue to a study commission instead.

Environmental Policy

• On Thursday legislators in the NC House introduced a bill to limit PFAS levels in drinking water. “HB 1095 would authorize the state’s Environmental Management Commission to adopt a maximum contaminant level for one or more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS] compounds” (Lisa Sorg, NC Policy Watch). These compounds are known health hazards, with links to thyroid problems, kidney and testicular cancers, immune disorders, and reproductive and fetal development issues. Other states, including Michigan and New York, have already adopted maximum contaminant thresholds for types of PFAS compounds.

Health Care Policy

• On Wednesday, Republicans in the NC Senate, previously fiercely opposed to Medicaid expansion, introduced their own bill that would expand coverage to more than 500,000 low-income adults. HB 149 would expand Medicaid coverage to adults up to 138% of the federal poverty line, bringing in people who have long been left in the coverage gap. The bill also includes measures that face significant opposition from industry groups, including a provision that would allow advanced practice registered nurses to work without supervision from a doctor and a change to the Certificate of Need law that governs the building and expansion of hospitals. However, the Republican senators who introduced the bill said it was unlikely to pass the NC House during the short session.

Gun Violence Prevention

• On Wednesday Governor Cooper called for stronger laws to prevent gun violence following a school shooting in Texas that killed 19 children and 2 adults. Cooper spoke in support of universal background checks and asked the state legislature to close permit loopholes and to pass legislation allowing judges to take guns away from violent offenders and people with severe mental illness. Republicans in the General Assembly do not seem inclined to respond to Cooper’s plea for legislation.

Education and LGBTQ Rights

• On Wednesday the NC Senate Education Committee held the first hearing for a Republican-sponsored bill similar to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. HB 755, which was introduced on Tuesday and called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, would prohibit the mention of sexual orientation or gender identity in the K-3 curriculum. While sponsors of the bill stressed that its text is limited to school curricula, rather than Florida’s broader language that could limit LGBTQ teachers from mentioning aspects of their home life, critics including teachers and community advocates said the bill could harm LGBTQ students by, among other things, requiring teachers to out students to their parents.