North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 385–408 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill reforms North Carolina hospital authority boards by increasing the minimum number of commissioners from six to eight and the maximum from 30 to 38, requiring at least four public members (who cannot be healthcare providers or their spouses) and at least four elected officials from counties or municipalities within the hospital's service area. The bill also allocates $50,000 to help hospital authorities comply with these new requirements by December 1, 2026.
Healthcare
Introduced by Michael Garrett
This bill directs the State Education Assistance Authority to study whether North Carolina should create a student loan forgiveness program for graduates of public universities and community colleges in the state. The study must examine program structure, costs, eligibility requirements, and how it might help retain graduates in North Carolina, with a report due by October 1, 2027. The bill appropriates $150,000 to conduct this study.
Education
Introduced by DeAndrea Salvador
This bill amends the Town of Pineville's charter to allow the town to establish a reserve police division and compensate reserve officers when they are called to work active duty shifts. Previously, the town could only have auxiliary police under state law; this creates a new option for reserve officers with defined compensation.
Local Government
Introduced by Mary Harrison
This bill updates the mileage reimbursement rate and per diem (daily meal and lodging allowance) for North Carolina legislators starting in 2027 to match the 2025 federal rates set by the Internal Revenue Service. The bill appropriates $100,000 to cover implementation costs and the increased expenses from these updated rates.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Michael Lee
This bill updates North Carolina's definition of electric-assisted bicycles by creating three classes (Class 1, 2, and 3) based on motor assistance and speed capabilities, ranging up to 28 mph for Class 3. It permits e-bikes on roadways and paths statewide while allowing cities and counties to impose local restrictions, helmet requirements, and speed limits.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Zack Forde-Hawkins
This bill provides North Carolina state employees, public school employees, and community college employees with paid bereavement leave of up to 40 hours when an immediate family member dies and up to 8 hours when a colleague dies. The bill appropriates $2 million to fund this benefit, effective July 1, 2026.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Laura Budd
This bill establishes new rules for how electric utilities provide service to large data centers (facilities using over 20 megawatts of power). It requires utilities to file special rate plans with the NC Utilities Commission that ensure data centers pay the full cost of infrastructure needed to serve them and that other customers are not burdened with those costs. The bill also repeals certain tax provisions related to data centers.
Introduced by Chris Measmer
This bill establishes expedited permitting timelines for new or expanded wastewater treatment systems in North Carolina's fastest-growing counties. The bill sets specific deadlines for administrative review (30 days), technical review (90 calendar days), and overall approval or denial (90-120 days depending on public hearings), and appropriates $10,000 to the Department of Environmental Quality to implement these requirements.
Introduced by Beth Helfrich
This bill creates a new North Carolina law allowing people to sue individuals (non-government entities) in state court for violations of federal constitutional rights and seek damages, attorney fees, and other relief. It also appropriates $150,000 to educate the public about these new rights.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
This bill exempts menstrual hygiene products (tampons, pads, menstrual cups, and similar items) that are certified as free of intentionally added PFAS chemicals from North Carolina's state sales tax. It also creates a certification program through the Department of Commerce to verify which menstrual products meet PFAS-free standards, and appropriates $100,000 to the Department of Revenue for implementation.
Introduced by Donny Lambeth
The Dominique Moody Safety Act creates a Child Welfare Case Escalation Team within the Division of Social Services to provide additional oversight of high-risk child abuse and neglect cases that involve complex histories. The bill also requires child protective services workers to gather photographic or video evidence during investigations, establishes new protocols for home visits, and funds training programs for CPS employees on recognizing abuse and neglect.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Sophia Chitlik
This bill expands access to doula and midwifery services in North Carolina by requiring Medicaid to cover doula services during pregnancy and postpartum, establishing a licensing system for Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), and creating a licensure process for birth centers. The bill appropriates $1.55 million for implementation and support services.
This bill limits the North Carolina State Board of Chiropractic Examiners to charging no more than $2,000 in total costs (including attorney fees and investigation costs) to a chiropractor in disciplinary actions, and voids any agreements requiring higher payments. It also requires the Board to keep detailed meeting minutes that include summaries of reports, public comments with speaker names, specific motion language, individual member votes, and to publish draft minutes within 15 business days.
This bill creates a licensing system for health-related chatbots in North Carolina and establishes safety and privacy requirements for all chatbots meeting certain size thresholds. Health chatbots would need state approval based on technical competence, security, and effectiveness, while all covered chatbots would be required to clearly identify themselves as artificial, protect user data through encryption and deletion options, and comply with a 'duty of loyalty' to prioritize user safety and well-being.
Technology & Privacy
This bill creates a new 7% income tax on individual income above $1 million per year in North Carolina. All revenue collected from this tax, minus administrative costs, would be distributed to the state's public school fund and allocated to local school districts based on the number of students they serve.
Introduced by Todd Johnson
This bill creates a new licensing and permitting system for individuals and firms that install and service portable fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems in North Carolina. It requires digital reporting of all inspections and maintenance activities through a system using location verification, and mandates digital tagging (QR codes) on fire sprinklers and fire alarm systems to track inspection history.
This bill creates a seven-member North Carolina-Ireland Trade Commission to encourage bilateral trade, investment, and cultural exchanges between North Carolina and Ireland. The commission will be administratively housed in the Department of Commerce, meet at least twice yearly, and submit annual reports to the General Assembly. The state will appropriate $10,000 in nonrecurring funds to support the commission's administrative operations.
Introduced by Kyle Hall
This is North Carolina's 2026 state budget bill, which appropriates approximately $35.4 billion in General Fund spending for the fiscal year 2026-2027 and sets salary schedules for state employees, teachers, and officials. The bill includes funding for education, health and human services, transportation, and other state operations, along with various policy changes affecting education, taxation, and state administration.
Introduced by Julie von Haefen
This bill increases child care subsidy payment rates to the 75th percentile of the 2023 market rate study, with automatic increases whenever new studies are completed. It also establishes a statewide rate floor for child care providers in counties with rates below the state level. The bill appropriates $60 million from the General Fund, $20 million from the Child Care Block Grant, and $160 million from the General Fund to fund these increases, beginning July 1, 2026.
Introduced by Monika Johnson-Hostler
This bill appropriates $200 million in annual state funding to expand the NC Pre-K program so that all income-eligible four-year-old children in North Carolina can participate, beginning in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Currently, the program serves some eligible children but cannot accommodate all who qualify.
This bill allows people injured during civil immigration enforcement to sue individuals who violate the U.S. or North Carolina Constitution during that enforcement, and removes various legal immunities that might otherwise protect defendants. It also funds a $50,000 educational pamphlet about rights during immigration enforcement encounters.
This bill establishes the Learning and Enrichment in Afterschool Programs (LEAP) Grant Program, which provides funding to community organizations, schools, and local governments to offer afterschool and summer youth activities. It creates an advisory council to guide the program and appropriates $19.5 million for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, with grants directed toward rural and underserved communities.
Introduced by Steve Jarvis
This bill establishes a program allowing the Department of Environmental Quality and Environmental Management Commission to use artificial intelligence as a decision-support tool to help staff review and draft environmental permits. The bill requires that humans independently review all AI-generated work, prohibits permits from being approved based solely on AI output, and mandates transparency by informing applicants when AI was used and requiring annual performance reports.
Environment & Energy
This bill makes four operational changes to how North Carolina's Department of Administration manages state property and facilities. It requires quarterly reports on state-owned facilities needing repairs, allows faster sales of seized vehicles with low value, permits electronic signatures on property transactions, and expands options for advertising state property leases beyond just newspapers.
Other / General Government