North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 145–168 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Buck Newton
This bill makes multiple changes to North Carolina criminal law, including increasing penalties for firearm discharge, creating a new offense for shoplifting preparation, increasing penalties for peeping offenses involving minors, raising penalties for disrupting religious services, allowing law enforcement to obtain cell phone location data in emergencies, requiring written explanations for no probable cause findings in DUI cases, increasing penalties for providing alcohol to minors, allowing oral drug screening tests, prohibiting rideshare drivers from driving after consuming alcohol, and creating pathways for license restoration for repeat DUI offenders.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Celeste Cairns
This bill gives the Town of Pine Knoll Shores authority to place and maintain navigation markers and aids in local waterways (canals and Bogue Sound) according to federal standards. The town must notify the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers at least six weeks before placing any markers, and state or federal rules take precedence over local ordinances if there is a conflict.
Local Government
Introduced by Phil Rubin
This bill proposes two constitutional amendments to be voted on in November 2026. The first amendment would limit the General Assembly's power to reorganize executive branch functions in ways that weaken the Governor's authority to execute state laws. The second amendment would require bills to address only one subject (with exceptions for budget and tax bills) and mandate at least 48 hours of public notice and bill text availability before final passage.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Marcia Morey
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment to establish the Judicial Standards Commission in North Carolina's Constitution and changes how it operates. The amendment would require the Commission to have judges, lawyers, and non-lawyer citizens as members, and would make disciplinary hearings and sanctions public instead of confidential.
Introduced by Michael Lee
This bill makes significant changes to K-12 education in North Carolina by establishing new commissions and programs to redesign high schools, expanding advanced teaching roles and teacher apprenticeships, creating competency-based education pathways, and implementing various student support and teacher development initiatives. The bill appropriates millions in state funding for these programs and grants schools new flexibilities in how they operate.
Education
Introduced by Deb Butler
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would require North Carolina Supreme Court Justices to recuse themselves from cases where they have financial interests, personal relationships with parties involved, or previously sponsored the law being challenged. It would also require Justices to publicly disclose large financial transactions ($10,000+), non-salary income, and who funds their travel.
Introduced by Brian Biggs
This joint resolution urges the U.S. Congress to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and return education authority to individual states. The resolution argues that education is not a federal responsibility under the Constitution and that states are better positioned to manage education policy for their communities.
This bill allows North Carolina public schools to use up to three additional days of remote instruction (or 15 hours) when they experience a second emergency after exhausting their initial remote instruction allowance. Schools must report to the State Board about any additional remote instruction days used and the emergency circumstances that required them. The bill appropriates $5,000 to the Department of Public Instruction for administrative costs.
Introduced by Ray Pickett
This bill adopts an interstate compact that allows school psychologists licensed in one state to practice in other participating states without repeating all licensure requirements. The bill also appropriates $1 million to East Carolina University for a virtual school psychology training program.
Introduced by Kyle Hall
This bill removes the satellite annexation cap for the City of King, allowing it to annex noncontiguous areas without the 10% size limit that normally applies to other cities. It also removes the Town of Rural Hall from the Forsyth County Countywide Fire Service District, ending Rural Hall's obligation to pay fire service taxes to the county effective July 1, 2026.
Introduced by Ted Alexander
This bill creates a new statewide human trafficking reporting and response system allowing the public and professionals to report suspected trafficking through multiple channels with AI-assisted analysis and real-time routing to law enforcement. It also imposes a 10% excise tax on materials deemed harmful to minors sold at physical retail locations, with proceeds funding anti-trafficking efforts and domestic violence services, while making technical clarifications about employee training requirements and government device usage.
Introduced by Julia Greenfield
This bill changes how North Carolina's State Board of Elections is organized and led. It makes the Board an independent agency (rather than part of the Secretary of State's office) and shifts appointment power from the State Auditor to the Governor, effective July 1, 2027.
Elections & Voting
Introduced by Joe Pike
This bill requires the North Carolina Department of Justice to collect and track complaints from homeowners association members about disputes with their associations, publish complaint data online, and submit annual reports to the General Assembly. The Department will not resolve disputes but will gather information to identify trends in HOA complaints across the state.
Introduced by John Torbett
This bill creates a new Child and Family Welfare Ombudsman Office within the Department of Health and Human Services to serve foster youth, birth families, and foster parents. The office would investigate complaints, help resolve licensing issues, provide education about foster care laws, and submit annual reports on recurring problems in the foster care system.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Lisa Barnes
This bill removes two specific parcels of land (identified by Nash County parcel numbers) from the Town of Red Oak's municipal boundaries, effective June 30, 2026. After this date, those properties will no longer be subject to Town of Red Oak municipal taxes, though any outstanding tax liens from before the change remain collectible.
Introduced by Brad Overcash
This bill reduces the early voting period for North Carolina elections from the current period (beginning the third Thursday before an election) to a shorter period (beginning the second Thursday before an election). It also standardizes early voting periods for special elections and municipal elections to 10 consecutive days.
Introduced by Mike Schietzelt
This bill updates North Carolina's property tax exemptions for affordable housing by creating a new separate exemption for rental housing owned by nonprofits and modifying the existing exemption for owner-occupied affordable housing. It establishes specific eligibility requirements based on whether the rental housing receives government funding, sets income and rent limits for tenants, and requires annual compliance reporting.
Housing
Introduced by Brian Echevarria
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would require the North Carolina General Assembly to pass laws limiting how much local governments (counties, cities, towns, and special districts) can increase their property tax levies each year. The amendment would be submitted to North Carolina voters in the November 2026 general election, and if approved by a majority of voters, would become part of the state constitution.
Taxes & Budget
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would lower North Carolina's maximum income tax rate from 7% to 3.5%. The amendment would be submitted to voters in the November 2026 election, and if approved, would take effect for tax years beginning January 1, 2027.
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would change how the Governor fills vacancies in eight statewide elected offices (Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, and three Commissioners). Under the new process, when a vacancy occurs close to an election, the Governor must choose from a list of three candidates nominated by the political party of the officer who left office. The amendment would be decided by voters in November 2026.
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would protect workers' rights to employment without being required to join or pay dues to labor unions. If approved by voters in November 2026, it would establish as state policy that employment cannot be denied based on union membership or non-membership.
Business & Labor
This omnibus bill makes numerous changes to North Carolina's alcohol laws, gaming regulations, and ABC Commission operations. Key provisions include allowing premixed cocktails to be sold like other beverages, creating a service business permit for complimentary alcohol service, expanding game night and raffle allowances for nonprofits, adding two members to the ABC Commission, and implementing various technical corrections and regulatory adjustments throughout the ABC system.
Introduced by Dean Arp
This bill requires all North Carolina public schools to provide parents and guardians with information about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes at the beginning of each school year. The information must include descriptions of the diseases, risk factors, warning signs, screening processes, and recommendations to consult with healthcare providers if students show symptoms or receive a diagnosis.
Introduced by David Willis
This bill modifies North Carolina's Principal Fellows Program, which provides forgivable scholarships to help prepare school leaders, and adds a new stipend for administrative interns. The bill appropriates $5 million to expand the program and creates financial support for people in administrative internship programs.