North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 505–528 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Caleb Theodros
This bill creates a legal process for people who were unlawfully detained by North Carolina state or local governments to seek compensation. People who have a court finding of unlawful detention can petition the Industrial Commission for monetary damages up to $750,000, plus potential educational assistance and job training.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Beth Helfrich
This bill appropriates approximately $371 million to improve public safety operations across North Carolina by: equipping public transit with emergency trauma kits and implementing fare enforcement measures ($10 million); hiring additional court staff in Wake and Mecklenburg counties ($60 million); providing salary increases for Department of Adult Correction employees ($250 million); raising State Highway Patrol pay ($40 million); funding juvenile justice staffing ($25 million); supporting the State Crime Lab ($4 million); and enhancing retirement benefits for correctional officers ($11 million).
Introduced by Thomas McInnis
This bill removes testing requirements for entry into teacher preparation programs, allows teachers to pass licensing exams within their first three years of teaching instead of before, permits teachers with positive student growth data to skip exams for permanent licensure, and streamlines out-of-state teacher licensing by requiring only three years of experience and good standing rather than additional testing.
Education
Introduced by Kandie Smith
This bill appropriates $10 million in state Highway Fund money to the Pitt-Greenville Airport for construction of a new general aviation terminal. The funds are classified as nonrecurring and become available July 1, 2025.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill directs the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan for a tiered Innovations waiver program to address the waitlist for individuals needing services. The tiered system would offer three benefit levels ($25,000, $75,000, and full waiver benefits) and requires a report back to the legislature by December 1, 2026, with $100,000 allocated for implementation.
Social Services & Welfare
This bill appropriates $3 million in state funds to the Town of Grifton for designing and building projects to reduce flood damage and improve community resilience. The money is available for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and takes effect July 1, 2026.
Introduced by Robert Reives
This bill appropriates a total of $34.25 million to support North Carolina's life sciences and biotechnology sectors, including funding for small business accounts, the Biotechnology Center, and a new reserve fund for emerging life science technologies. It also reorganizes the Advisory Council on Rare Diseases by moving it from UNC Chapel Hill to the Department of Health and Human Services, expanding its membership, and authorizing water and sewer infrastructure reimbursements for major manufacturing investments.
Introduced by Carl Ford
This is a local bill that applies only to North Carolina's 33rd Senatorial District. The bill text does not specify what changes or provisions it contains, only that it relates to that district and takes effect upon passage.
Local Government
This bill provides sales tax exemptions for certain nonprofit organizations and expands existing exemptions. It exempts diapers prescribed by Medicaid providers, exempts fundraising events held by nonprofits from entertainment tax, allows nonprofits to lease (rather than only own) property used for low-income housing and still qualify for property tax exemptions, and establishes a process for nonprofits to obtain sales tax exemption numbers with an annual cap of $31.7 million in state exemptions and $13.3 million in local exemptions.
Introduced by Sophia Chitlik
This bill creates a High-Skilled Talent Retention Fund within the North Carolina Department of Commerce that would provide grants to immigrant workers to help pay for costs associated with maintaining their employment-based visa status, such as visa renewal fees and legal processing costs. The bill allocates $1 million in recurring state funds to administer the program and cover eligible applicants' immigration-related expenses.
Business & Labor
This bill revises and consolidates the charter (governing document) of the Town of Pinetops in Edgecombe County. It updates the town's organizational structure, including how the mayor and five-member board are elected, establishes key administrative positions, and sets procedures for meetings, contracts, and financial management.
Introduced by Paul Lowe
This bill appropriates $6.5 million in state funds to the Department of Health and Human Services for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to help county departments of social services cover increased administrative costs in the Medicaid program. The funds are designated as nonrecurring (one-time) money and are exempted from certain standard funding requirement procedures.
This bill appropriates $400 million in state funds to provide grants to North Carolina's economically disadvantaged "Tier One" counties for projects supporting self-sufficiency, infrastructure, education, and workforce development. Counties can receive up to $10 million each and must submit proposals to the Department of Commerce for approval, with annual reporting required to track how funds are used.
Introduced by Mujtaba Mohammed
This bill restores several benefits and compensation for North Carolina educators and state employees beginning in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. It reinstates education-based salary supplements for teachers, restores longevity payments (annual bonuses based on years of service), preserves retiree medical benefits for educators hired after January 1, 2021, and expands the NC Teaching Fellows Program to include one additional higher education institution.
Introduced by Allen Buansi
This bill allows victims of domestic violence to obtain an absolute divorce in North Carolina without waiting the standard one-year separation period. Victims can qualify by obtaining a domestic violence protection order, a conviction against their spouse for a domestic violence offense, or by proving domestic violence to a judge at a hearing. The bill also provides $50,000 in funding to Compass Center to support domestic violence victims.
Introduced by Lindsey Prather
This bill increases funding for the Innovations waiver program by $240 million to add 6,635 new slots for individuals with disabilities or long-term care needs. It simultaneously modifies the Opportunity Scholarship Program to prioritize lower-income families and reduces that program's funding by $240 million, redirecting those funds to the Innovations waiver expansion.
Introduced by Woodson Bradley
This bill increases teacher salaries across North Carolina using a new monthly salary schedule for the 2026-2027 school year, reinstates education-based salary supplements for teachers with advanced degrees, establishes a $5,000 student teaching grant program to help future teachers during their training, and requires a study on long-term educator compensation strategies. The bill appropriates $1.693 billion in state funding for these initiatives.
Introduced by Ted Alexander
This bill authorizes North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles to create and issue a special license plate commemorating America's 250th anniversary (semiquincentennial), featuring the phrase 'America 250' and related imagery. Vehicle owners would be able to voluntarily purchase this plate if they choose to.
Transportation & Infrastructure
This bill creates a new cabinet-level Department of Housing and Community Development in North Carolina state government. The department would be organized into four divisions (Operations, Community Development, Housing, and Policy/Legislative) with a mission focused on housing production, community revitalization, broadband expansion, and assistance to low- to moderate-income residents. The bill appropriates $30 million in recurring annual funding starting in fiscal year 2026-2027.
Housing
This bill proposes five constitutional amendments to be voted on by North Carolina voters in November 2026. The amendments would: (1) tie legislators' salaries to teachers' average starting salary, (2) limit consecutive service to 16 years per chamber, (3) change State Senate elections from every 2 years to every 4 years, (4) cap legislative sessions at 120 days in odd years and 90 days in even years, and (5) withhold legislator pay if the state budget isn't passed by June 30.
This bill requires health insurance plans in North Carolina to cover home dialysis services for all patients who need dialysis treatment. It specifically mandates coverage of staff-assisted home dialysis for people who are blind, visually impaired, cognitively impaired, neurologically impaired, or have mobility limitations. The bill allocates $100,000 to implement these coverage requirements starting in 2026.
Healthcare
This bill reenacts North Carolina's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which expired in 2014. The credit would provide eligible working individuals a refundable state tax credit equal to a percentage of the federal EITC they claimed, with the credit taking effect for tax years beginning January 1, 2026.
Introduced by Sarah Crawford
This bill creates a grant program at North Carolina community colleges to train students as tax preparers through the federal Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, while also providing funding to United Way of North Carolina to expand VITA services. The bill aims to help low-income North Carolinians claim federal tax credits they are eligible for but currently do not claim.
Introduced by Tracy Clark
This bill establishes a 24-hour civil rights helpline within the North Carolina Department of Justice to receive, document, and investigate complaints from people harmed by federal troops or federal law enforcement actions, including immigration enforcement. The Attorney General would maintain a secure database of reports, publish annual public reports with aggregate data and trends, and hold yearly public hearings to present findings.