Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 07/08/24

Legislative Wrap-Up

• The NCGA suspended the 2024 legislative “short session” after a flurry of votes on Thursday, June 28. While 33 bills were passed, often with little time for review (over process objections from members of both parties), many others were left in limbo for potential votes later in the summer or fall. Bills that did not end up passing both chambers include a bill to force sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, a bill legalizing medical marijuana, four out of five proposed constitutional amendments, and a bill to criminalize drug and alcohol use during pregnancy.

• Governor Cooper vetoed several bills this week and signed others into law. He vetoed a bill that would allow some off-road vehicles to drive on NC highways (HB 155), a bill to define how local governments adjudicate tenant-landlord disputes that he said would create “legal ambiguity” on eviction orders (HB 556), a bill that would limit how electrical and wastewater systems can be installed (SB 166), and a bill with bipartisan support in the NCGA that would prohibit payments to the state using “central bank digital currency” (HB 690). Bills Cooper signed into law include a bill defining antisemitism in state law (HB 942), the latest version of the North Carolina Farm Act (SB 355), and a bill that will create a digital “mobile driver’s license” system (HB 199).