North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 937–960 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Erin Pare
This bill increases access to stop loss and catastrophic insurance coverage for small employers in North Carolina by lowering the threshold of what qualifies as a small employer from businesses with fewer than 12 employees to those with fewer than 5 employees. Stop loss insurance protects employers from unexpected large medical claims by their employees.
Healthcare
Introduced by Grant Campbell
This bill allows active duty military members stationed outside North Carolina, along with their spouses and dependent children, to renew their driver's licenses remotely two consecutive times instead of just once. The exception applies when the license is not REAL ID compliant or is being converted from REAL ID compliant to non-compliant status.
Local Government
Introduced by Francis Iler
This bill authorizes the creation of the Gullah Geechee Greenway/Blueway Heritage Trail in Brunswick County, a 21-mile multiuse trail with 9 segments that will feature historical sites and cultural landmarks related to Gullah Geechee heritage. The state is authorized to support, promote, and facilitate the trail's establishment on state and other public and private lands, while respecting the rules and policies of non-state property owners.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Steve Tyson
This bill requires residential property wholesalers to be licensed as real estate brokers and gives homeowners a 30-day right to cancel purchase contracts with wholesalers without penalty. It also requires wholesalers to disclose the homeowner's cancellation rights in 14-point font on the contract and refund all payments within 10 business days if canceled.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Jarrod Lowery
This bill adds three new definitions to North Carolina's environmental law related to advanced recycling: 'mass balance attribution' (a tracking system for recycled materials), 'recycled products' (items made from recyclable materials using this tracking method), and 'third-party certification system' (international standards for verifying the recycling process). The bill clarifies that these recycled products must still meet all existing air, water, and hazardous waste regulations.
Environment & Energy
Introduced by Jonathan Almond
This bill requires that an autopsy be performed in any case where human remains are found in connection with a fire incident. Currently, autopsies in fire-related deaths are discretionary; this law would make them mandatory, effective October 1, 2025.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Dennis Riddell
This bill designates the second week in November as SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) Awareness Week in North Carolina and encourages local school boards to provide seizure awareness training for teachers and school personnel who work with students who have epilepsy or seizure disorders.
Education
Introduced by Sarah Stevens
This bill clarifies how North Carolina courts should decide where to place children in out-of-home care in abuse and neglect cases. It requires courts to make written findings of fact explaining their placement decisions, particularly regarding whether keeping a child in their home community is in the child's best interest and whether the social services department made reasonable efforts to prevent placement.
Introduced by Robert Reives
This bill directs the NC Collaboratory at UNC Chapel Hill to study how different changes to North Carolina's county tier designation system might affect rankings, programs, and business conditions across all 100 counties. The study will examine three types of changes: modifying ranking criteria, changing how tier designations are assigned, and adjusting the timeframe for rankings. The Collaboratory must submit a preliminary report by December 31, 2025, and a final report by December 1, 2026.
Introduced by Ray Pickett
This bill allows local governments in North Carolina to let nonresidential (business) developments pay system development fees in installments over up to three years instead of all at once, if the development's water flow needs are between 325 and 2,500 gallons per day. Interest accrues on unpaid installments at a rate set by the Secretary of Revenue.
Introduced by Kyle Hall
This bill makes several administrative and technical changes to North Carolina's environmental regulations, including allowing the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to use school and public buildings for hearings, clarifying rules for hazardous waste recycling facilities, modifying brownfields property fee structures, refining solid waste recycling definitions, expanding eligibility for water project financing, and adjusting wetland mitigation and stewardship practices.
This bill makes three main changes to North Carolina traffic laws and license plate regulations. It increases minimum speed requirements on interstates and primary highways, restricts large trucks from using the leftmost lane on certain highways, and creates a new collegiate insignia license plate option with a full-color background design.
Introduced by Phillip Shepard
This bill modifies North Carolina moped regulations in two ways: it clarifies that mopeds are presumed to be designed for one person unless the manufacturer states otherwise, and it requires mopeds to stay in the right-hand lane on highways with speed limits over 35 mph (except when turning left). Violating the lane requirement can result in a traffic obstruction citation.
Introduced by Buck Newton
This bill creates a formal legal process for removing Registers of Deeds from office through superior court proceedings for causes such as neglect, misconduct, corruption, or felony conviction. It also requires third-party vendors or contractors whose security breaches affect North Carolina government entities to pay for or reimburse the costs of notifying affected individuals and associated legal fees.
Introduced by Edward Goodwin
This bill requires the POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) flag to be displayed alongside the U.S. flag at all state-owned buildings and public schools in North Carolina, as long as the flag can be attached to an existing flagpole. The state will purchase flags for state buildings, while local school boards may accept donations or use available funds to purchase flags for schools.
Introduced by Richard Carver
This bill extends annual report filing deadlines for North Carolina businesses (corporations, LLCs, and limited liability partnerships) that are majority-owned by active-duty military members who are deployed. Affected businesses can file their annual reports up to 90 days after their owner's deployment ends, rather than on the standard due date, if they submit an affidavit of deployment beforehand.
Introduced by Reece Pyrtle
This bill prohibits payment card networks (like Visa and Mastercard) from using special merchant codes that identify firearms purchases or merchants, and from maintaining records of North Carolina residents who own firearms. The bill allows the Attorney General to enforce violations with civil penalties up to $5,000, and permits affected merchants, customers, and firearm owners to sue for damages up to $10,000 per violation.
Technology & Privacy
This bill requires adults age 18 and older who have never held a driver's license to complete a driver education course before obtaining a license in North Carolina. The course must include at least three hours of instruction on state traffic laws, the effects of alcohol and drugs on driving, and high-risk driving behaviors like distracted and fatigued driving. The course can be taken online or in person at licensed driving schools.
This bill makes three main changes to North Carolina criminal law: it allows prosecutors to take depositions (recorded testimony) from witnesses in exceptional circumstances to preserve their testimony before trial, it establishes new rights for sexual assault victims regarding evidence collection kits and court proceedings, and it makes minor modifications to how the Conference of District Attorneys operates.
This bill prohibits the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS chemicals (a type of 'forever chemical') for training and practice purposes by firefighters and emergency responders in North Carolina. It allows PFAS-containing foam to still be used in actual emergencies but requires safe containment and disposal when used for testing, and mandates the use of non-fluorinated alternative foams for training instead.
Introduced by Julia Howard
This bill gradually reduces the property tax exemption for solar energy systems in North Carolina over four years, starting in 2026. By July 1, 2029, solar systems will no longer receive any property tax exclusion and will be taxed at full appraised value like other property.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Michael Lee
This bill establishes a High School Redesign Commission to study ways to better prepare students for college and careers, and creates four pilot programs in North Carolina schools using competency-based education (learning measured by skills mastery rather than time spent in class). The bill also funds evaluations of these programs through 2030.
Introduced by Heather Rhyne
This bill regulates pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) in North Carolina by prohibiting spread pricing (charging insurers more than they pay pharmacies), restricting certain fees and concessions, establishing standards for specialty pharmacy accreditation, clarifying patients' right to choose their pharmacy, and strengthening audit protections for pharmacies. The bill also requires PBMs to report concession data to the Insurance Commissioner.
Introduced by Cody Huneycutt
This bill requires health insurance plans in North Carolina that cover transcranial magnetic stimulation (a noninvasive brain treatment for depression and mental disorders) to reimburse all properly licensed healthcare providers and facilities equally, without penalizing claims based on the provider's medical specialty. Insurers retain the right to decide whether to cover the treatment, which conditions it covers, coverage requirements, and reimbursement rates.