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Voting Rights
On Thursday the NC Supreme Court ruled that voters who were falsely accused of voter fraud cannot sue their accusers for defamation. The five Republican justices ruled unanimously that people and organizations who make claims of voter fraud in election protests are immune from defamation lawsuits. Both Democratic justices on the court had recused themselves due to previous employment with the organization representing the plaintiffs, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
On Thursday a group of Republican lawmakers proposed an amendment to the NC Constitution that would reword language specifying that only citizens may vote in elections. While the current language already means that only citizens may vote – it specifies eligible voters as “every person born in the United States and every person who has been naturalized, who is 18 years of age” – Republicans want to change the language to “only a citizen of the United States, who is 18 years of age.” The push comes in the wake of Republicans’ fearmongering about immigrants voting, and critics say putting the proposed amendment on the ballot may just be an attempt to scare uninformed Republican-leaning voters to the polls. Another concern is that the changed language reflects a growing movement among Republicans against birthright citizenship granted in the 14th Amendment.
Education Policy
On Wednesday the NC House’s Local Government Committee approved a bill that would allow Wake County’s leadership academies (early college high schools) to identify a new university partner without going through a competitive process. The bill is a response to the academies’ being forced to break with their original partner, Saint Augustine’s University, over accreditation problems. HB 900 is supported by a bipartisan group of Wake County legislators, who say that the academies’ current solution of sending students to Wake Technical Community College is causing problems for families whose children attend the schools. However, the leadership academies indicated that they plan to continue using Wake Tech for the fall, even if the bill passes.
Economic Policy
On Tuesday the NC House Pensions and Retirement Committee approved three bills that would make multiple changes to state pension laws. HB 988, 989, and 1020 include a provision to allow part-time state employees to access the state’s 401(k) program, a change to require the government to fix mistakes in which an employee’s service years are undercounted, a simplification of the rules for employees to purchase credit toward their years of service when they want to retire early, and a change to the way eligibility is calculated for people who move between state entities and a pair of university health care entities that left the state health and retirement plans last year.
On Thursday the NC House Personnel Committee unanimously approved a bill that would provide veterinary care for retired state service animals. HB 1042 would set aside $300,000 for this purpose, allowing handlers of retired service animals to submit reimbursements for up to $1500.
Environmental Policy
On Thursday Governor Cooper vetoed a bill that would have allowed billboard companies to cut down more trees near billboards. HB 198, an omnibus transportation bill, included provisions that Cooper supports, but Republicans added a provision that would allow companies to cut in a wider radius around billboards and remove protections for redbuds. Republican leaders in the NC Senate said they expect to override Cooper’s veto.
Justice
On Wednesday the NC House rejected a proposal by the NC Senate to repeal a law that allows people to wear masks in public for health reasons. The exemption that allows masking for health reasons was added to NC law during the pandemic, but Republicans in the NC Senate added an amendment that would make any public mask wearing illegal to HB 237, a bill inspired by recent protests that aims to increase penalties for committing crimes while masked. The bill is now stalled, though it is likely a committee of Republican legislators from both chambers will convene to try to work out a compromise.
On Wednesday the NC House Judiciary 2 Committee approved a bill that would repeal current policy requiring automatic expungement from criminal records of “dismissed” or “not guilty” charges. SB 565 was introduced to improve implementation of the Second Chance Act of 2020, which expanded eligibility for criminal record expungement and made expungement automatic for “dismissed” or “not guilty” charges, and the bill initially had support of second chance advocates. These advocates and others oppose the new House version of the bill, however, over concerns about the added administrative burden people will face if expungement is not automatic.
On Tuesday members of the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina called on state legislators to support a bill that would grant state recognition to the Tuscarora Nation. HB 970 would also grant the Tuscarora Nation representation on the Commission for Indian Affairs. The group has fought for tribal recognition for years, but identical bills have repeatedly failed in the NCGA.
On Tuesday the NC Senate Judiciary Committee considered a proposal to prevent public and family access to autopsy reports in criminal cases until criminal charges are filed. The proposal, an addition to HB 250, would change existing law, which allows public access of the text of autopsy records. HB 250 would modify the “death by distribution” law, which requires autopsies in cases where charges are brought against drug suppliers of drug death victims.
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