North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 289–312 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by DeAndrea Salvador
This bill requires the North Carolina Utilities Commission to obtain approval from the General Assembly before allowing electric utility rate increases that would raise a utility's authorized rate of return on equity. The bill also directs the Utilities Commission to study the cost of equity capital for electric utilities and report findings by January 1, 2027.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Kevin Corbin
This bill directs the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to conduct a study examining whether North Carolina should implement a year-round school calendar statewide. The department must analyze educational outcomes, summer learning loss, testing, community impacts, employment, and other relevant factors, then report findings and recommendations to the legislature by February 1, 2027. The bill appropriates $50,000 to fund this study.
Education
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill requires NC State University's Board of Trustees to study whether a new veterinary medicine college should be established at another North Carolina university. The study must examine the need for additional veterinarians in the state, the costs and benefits of creating a new vet school, and potential locations, with results due to the legislature by March 15, 2027. The bill appropriates $300,000 in state funds to conduct this study.
Introduced by Jay Chaudhuri
This bill makes sweeping changes to North Carolina's child care system by increasing subsidy payment rates to the 75th percentile, establishing a $110 million recurring funding stream, creating multiple pilot programs for child care access, establishing a new North Carolina Child Care Finance Agency to help fund child care facility construction, and providing tax exemptions and subsidies for certain worker categories including child care employees.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Ya Liu
This bill prohibits homeowners associations (HOAs) from restricting residents' ability to install and maintain solar panels, grow edible or pollinator gardens, or build accessory dwelling units (like guest houses or rental units) that comply with building codes and zoning laws. The bill applies to both condo associations and traditional HOAs, and includes $100,000 for educational outreach about these new rules.
Housing
Introduced by Lisa Grafstein
This bill aims to reduce healthcare costs and protect patients through four main changes: capping annual prescription drug cost-sharing at $2,000 per person, preventing surprise bills when using in-network facilities, requiring hospitals to publish pricing information for common procedures, and establishing protections against medical debt including limits on collections practices and good-faith price estimates for scheduled procedures.
Healthcare
Introduced by Caleb Theodros
This bill directs North Carolina's Department of State Treasurer to study whether the state could accept digital asset payments (like certain cryptocurrencies) for state fees, and to study costs associated with residents sending money internationally. The bill appropriates $50,000 for these studies and requires reports back to the legislature by January 2027, but does not require the state to actually accept digital assets.
Technology & Privacy
Introduced by Mujtaba Mohammed
This bill appropriates $8.4 million in recurring state funding to create and support specialized courts that serve people in the criminal justice system with substance use disorders and mental health conditions. These drug treatment courts and mental health courts would provide court-supervised treatment plans and monitor participants' progress as an alternative to traditional criminal prosecution.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Amber Baker
This bill establishes a temporary pilot program through the Department of Health and Human Services to place high-need youth in lower-level care settings with support services instead of psychiatric residential treatment facilities, and directs the department to study reforms to licensure requirements and youth placement practices. The study is due by October 1, 2026, and the program receives $100,000 in funding.
Introduced by Kanika Brown
This bill appropriates $1 million in state funds to Forsyth County for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to help create a joint emergency operations center between Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. The center is intended to improve coordination and emergency response capabilities for the city and county.
Introduced by Sophia Chitlik
The Make Enf. Liable & Transparent (MELT) Act would require judicial warrants (rather than administrative warrants) for federal immigration enforcement in North Carolina, repeal a 2025 law expanding jail cooperation with immigration authorities, provide $4 million in grants to immigrant legal services organizations, establish transparency requirements for law enforcement (facial coverings, identification, body cameras), prohibit immigration enforcement in courthouses, schools, hospitals, and places of worship, and create penalties for impersonating federal officers.
Introduced by Chris Measmer
This bill allows Cabarrus County to publish notices of public hearings and meetings through electronic means, such as the county's website, instead of only using traditional newspaper publication. The bill maintains that electronic notice cannot replace state-required mail notices or property postings, and does not change the timing requirements for publishing notices.
Local Government
This bill establishes the North Carolina Small Business Capital Access Program, a comprehensive initiative to help small businesses and companies in underserved communities access funding through loan guarantees, direct investments, technical assistance, and other support mechanisms. The bill creates a new Office of Small Business Capital Access within the Department of Commerce, an oversight board, and a $50 million fund to implement six main program components. It also modifies state tax credit laws to provide incentives for investments in eligible businesses that receive assistance from the program.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Tim Longest
This bill creates a new regulatory framework for home equity investment loans in North Carolina, classifying them as residential mortgage loans and imposing consumer protections including mandatory legal counsel, housing counseling, required disclosures, and limits on the amounts companies can charge. It also prohibits mandatory arbitration clauses in covered mortgage transactions and applies to companies making, brokering, purchasing, or servicing these loans.
Introduced by Cynthia Ball
This bill creates a Municipal Winter Road Operations Cost Share Program that reimburses North Carolina municipalities for up to 75% of costs related to snow and ice removal, including equipment purchases, staffing, and contracted services. The state would provide $10 million annually plus $20 million upfront for equipment, with municipalities required to contract with private snow-removal providers and maintain GPS tracking and public plowing maps.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Kandie Smith
This bill proposes two separate constitutional amendments for North Carolina voters to decide on in November 2026. The first would decriminalize possession of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use, and the second would allow patients with qualifying medical conditions to possess cannabis for medical purposes. Both amendments would require the General Assembly to pass additional laws specifying the details of possession limits and regulations.
This bill appropriates $6.1 million in state funds to Forsyth Technical Community College to build a law enforcement driving training center in King, North Carolina. The facility will include a driving pad, roadway, and instructional building to train law enforcement officers in basic and continuing education programs.
This bill establishes a one-year grant program to help North Carolina public schools create Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). The Department of Public Instruction will distribute up to $1.25 million in grants, providing up to $2,000 per school without a PTA (capped at $30,000 per school district), which must be matched with local funds at a 2-to-1 ratio.
Introduced by Bobby Hanig
This bill appropriates $5 million to provide first grade students with tutoring based on reading science methods, clarifies that schools can offer tutoring virtually, and requires schools to publicly report detailed reading proficiency data for grades 1-3 including student performance rates and reading camp attendance.
Introduced by Woodson Bradley
This bill speeds up housing development in North Carolina by streamlining environmental reviews for residential construction, setting 60-day decision deadlines for state agencies, exempting certain small housing projects from extended reviews, and requiring local housing authorities to publicly track permit processing times and project backlogs.
This bill appropriates $7.118 million in recurring state funds to expand reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals across North Carolina's 17 local reentry councils. The funding supports new staff positions (housing and support specialists), rental assistance, transportation vouchers for those on post-release supervision, education navigators at community colleges, and professional development training for agencies serving people with criminal records.
This bill increases accountability requirements for private schools that accept North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship vouchers. It requires these schools to submit annual financial audits, standardized test performance data, graduation rates, staff background checks, and facility/safety information to state authorities. It also directs the State Auditor to review at least three private school audits each year and report findings to the legislature.
This bill designates the censored version of 'Raise Up' by North Carolina rapper Petey Pablo as the official hip-hop song of North Carolina. It also appropriates $6.5 million to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for a music heritage and tourism initiative that includes promotional campaigns, festivals, a hip-hop music trail, and a mobile app across several North Carolina cities.
Other / General Government
This bill creates a new regulatory framework for large electricity customers (those using 50+ megawatts) in North Carolina, requiring utilities to file special tariffs for these customers with long-term contracts, upfront infrastructure costs, and exit fees. It also establishes a surcharge on large customers to fund grid modernization projects that benefit other residents, requires utilities to report on grid planning, and mandates large customers report their energy and water usage annually.
Environment & Energy