North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 625–648 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Jay Chaudhuri
Hands Free NC replaces existing distracted driving laws with a comprehensive ban on using wireless communication devices while operating a motor vehicle. Drivers cannot hold devices in their hands, watch videos, or text, with exceptions for emergency calls and certain professionals performing official duties. Violations result in fines ($100-$200) and potential insurance points, with stricter penalties for school bus operators and repeat offenders.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Woodson Bradley
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment to remove the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor from the redistricting process and establish an independent North Carolina Citizens Redistricting Commission to redraw state legislative and congressional districts after each 10-year census. The commission would be composed of 15 citizens selected through a process designed to ensure partisan and demographic balance, and would follow specific criteria prioritizing equal population representation, constitutional compliance, and community preservation.
Elections & Voting
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill modifies how North Carolina taxes 1031 exchanges, which allow property owners to defer federal taxes when exchanging one investment property for another. The bill allows taxpayers to deduct from their North Carolina state income any gains from non-like-kind property received in a 1031 exchange, up to the amount of their original investment basis in the property sold.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Monika Johnson-Hostler
This bill requires all North Carolina public schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to every student at no cost. The state would appropriate $116 million annually beginning in fiscal year 2026-2027 to fund these meals, with the State Board of Education distributing funds to school food authorities based on school size, student need, and other factors.
Education
Introduced by Timothy Moffitt
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would allow North Carolina citizens to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit, provided they have not been convicted of violent crimes or certain drug felonies and have not been adjudicated mentally incompetent. The amendment would be submitted to voters in November 2026, and if approved, would replace current state law that prohibits concealed carry without a permit while maintaining an optional permit system for interstate reciprocity.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Allison Dahle
This bill creates a new Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority special registration plate in North Carolina and establishes how fees from this plate and other Divine Nine (historically Black Greek letter organization) plates are collected and distributed. Vehicle owners can purchase these plates for an additional $20 fee, with portions going to various state funds and the organizations' national foundations.
Local Government
Introduced by Allen Chesser
This bill makes two changes: (1) it allows Personal Education Student Account (PESA) scholarship funds to be used to pay for one-to-one classroom aides at private schools, with restrictions on who can serve as an aide, and (2) it appropriates $1 million for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $7 million for fiscal year 2026-2027 to increase and expand scholarships for children of wartime veterans.
This bill creates a state tax credit for North Carolina businesses that pay wages to help employees cover health insurance premiums. Eligible businesses can claim up to $400 per qualifying full-time employee, with a statewide cap of $5 million in total credits per year distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Introduced by Erin Pare
This bill removes groceries from North Carolina's local sales tax, reducing the local tax rate from 2% to 1% on food items. Currently, counties can levy up to a 2% local sales tax that includes groceries; this bill would exempt groceries from that tax while keeping the 1% tax on other items.
Introduced by Joyce Waddell
This bill creates a new property tax benefit for North Carolina homeowners age 65 and older who have owned and lived in their home for at least five consecutive years. Under this program, eligible seniors can defer paying taxes on the portion of their property tax bill that results from increases in their home's value above the value when they first applied for the benefit, though these deferred taxes become due if the property is sold or no longer used as a primary residence.
Introduced by Warren Daniel
This bill allows North Carolina citizens age 18 and older to carry concealed handguns without a permit, while still offering optional permits for reciprocity when traveling to other states. The bill maintains restrictions for people ineligible to possess firearms (such as convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, and those adjudicated mentally ill), increases line-of-duty death benefits for law enforcement families from $100,000 to $150,000, enhances penalties for assaulting emergency and law enforcement personnel, creates new felony charges for felons possessing or discharging firearms during felonies, and establishes a scholarship program for children of permanently disabled or killed law enforcement and first responder officers.
Introduced by John Bell
This bill aims to lower healthcare costs and increase price transparency in North Carolina through multiple measures: requiring hospitals and surgical facilities to publicly report pricing information on common procedures, mandating clear billing disclosures to patients about out-of-network providers, establishing good-faith cost estimates for scheduled procedures, limiting facility fees charged by hospitals, and strengthening prior authorization and appeals processes for health insurance.
Healthcare
This joint resolution amends the rules governing what legislation can be considered during North Carolina's October 2025 legislative session. It specifies which types of bills are permitted to be debated and voted on during this reconvened session, including veto overrides, appointments, election matters, impeachment, Medicaid funding, and budget issues.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Michael Lee
Senate Bill 449 is a comprehensive budget adjustment bill that implements multiple changes across state government. It modifies disaster recovery programs for Hurricane Helene, makes technical adjustments to education funding and policy, authorizes staff and equipment funding for various agencies, adjusts health insurance contributions, reallocates capital project funds, and makes various other regulatory and administrative changes.
Introduced by Benton Sawrey
This bill adjusts Medicaid funding by increasing appropriations by $90 million and requires local managed care organizations to transfer $18 million to the state over two years. It also reduces funding for mental health services, eliminates vacant state positions to save $34 million annually, and cuts capital reserves by $42 million while directing the state to develop a cost-savings plan for Medicaid.
This bill appropriates approximately $881 million for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $1 billion for 2026-2027 to provide salary increases to state employees, teachers, and public school personnel. It includes a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for most state employees and 10.5% for state law enforcement officers, establishes new teacher salary schedules and bonus programs based on student performance, and provides $40 million per year in bonuses to local law enforcement officers.
Introduced by Vickie Sawyer
This bill directs North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services to terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its associated entities, and to arrange for other Medicaid providers to deliver services that Planned Parenthood currently provides.
Introduced by Heather Rhyne
This bill appropriates $190 million from the Medicaid Contingency Reserve to adjust North Carolina's Medicaid funding for enrollment changes, service costs, and implementation of a new Children and Families Specialty Plan. It also requires local managed care organizations to transfer $18 million to the state in fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.
This bill appoints four individuals to various state boards and commissions, including positions on the College of The Albemarle Board of Trustees, the Acupuncture Licensing Board, and the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf Board of Trustees. The appointments are made on the recommendations of the Senate President Pro Tempore and the House Speaker, and the bill also corrects a previous appointment from an earlier 2025 law.
Introduced by Ted Alexander
This bill redraws North Carolina's 14 congressional districts by changing which counties and specific census blocks are included in each district. The bill modifies the boundaries of Congressional Districts 1 and 3, adding and removing various counties and subdivisions to realign the districts' geographic composition.
This joint resolution amends the legislature's adjournment schedule by changing when the North Carolina General Assembly will reconvene after its October recess. Instead of reconvening on an earlier date, lawmakers will now return on Monday, November 17, 2025, at 10:00 A.M.
This omnibus regulatory reform bill makes numerous changes to North Carolina law to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses and property owners. It includes modifications to permitting processes for wastewater systems, surveys, and development projects; exemptions from certain building codes and fees; changes to hearing notice requirements; and rules affecting hearing aids, food service, flag displays, swimming pools, and various environmental regulations.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Sarah Stevens
Iryna's Law modifies North Carolina's criminal justice system in multiple ways: it changes pretrial release conditions to make release harder for certain defendants (especially those charged with violent crimes), expands sentencing factors, requires mental health evaluations for some defendants, modifies death penalty procedures, extends probation terms for juveniles convicted of serious crimes, provides funding for additional prosecutors in Mecklenburg County, and creates a study on mental health in the justice system.
Introduced by Mitchell Setzer
This bill makes a series of budget adjustments and policy changes affecting disaster relief, education, labor, airports, and other state operations. It appropriates $65.5 million for Tropical Storm Chantal recovery, extends funding deadlines for various education and community college projects, makes technical corrections to education laws, and provides funding for economic development projects and state agencies.