Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 7/10/23

Voting Rights

• Colleges, universities, governments ask to have their IDs approved for voting (Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline)

• New voting machines in NC touted as safe and secure: The North Carolina State Board of Elections has approved the use of new voting machines that will be available to counties next week. (Laura Leslie, WRAL)

• No Labels party seeks to get on NC ballot for 2024 presidential election: The state is considering whether to allow the No Labels party on the 2024 ballot for the presidential election. (Laura Leslie, WRAL)

LGBTQ Rights

• NC Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes three GOP bills limiting how schools, doctors can help transgender kids: The bills are largely focused on how schools and doctors should, or shouldn't, treat transgender teenagers and other children (Will Doran, WRAL) and Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes three bills critics say will harm transgender youth (Greg Childress, NC Newsline)

Education Policy

• Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes bill that strips State Board of Education of most charter school oversight (Greg Childress, NC Newsline)

• Gov. Cooper approves bill requiring school threat assessment teams (Chantal Brown, NC Newsline)

• State Board of Education signs off on seven new charter schools (Greg Childress, NC Newsline)

Health Care Policy

• New fiscal year, but still no Medicaid expansion in NC. Here's why: Gov. Roy Cooper called on the Republican-led state legislature to decouple the already passed Medicaid expansion from the unresolved state budget. Medicaid expansion is a top priority of Cooper's. (Brian Murphy, WRAL)

• Setting politics aside, NC lawmakers approve bill to increase survival from cardiac arrest (Clayton Henkel, NC Newsline)

Criminal Justice

• Cooper signs Innocence Inquiry Commission, Pretrial Justice Act bills into law: Gov. Roy Cooper signed two bills into law Friday that could make it harder for people wrongly convicted of crimes to clear their name and allow people to be jailed for up to two days without having been convicted of anything. (Kelan Lyons, NC Newsline)

Child Welfare

• Cooper signs the “Loving Homes Act” into law: Gov. Roy Cooper signed a bill into law Friday that allows couples to foster a child or siblings even if their household exceeds the maximum number of kids. (Chantal Brown, NC Newsline)