North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 1825–1848 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Karl Gillespie
This bill allows small sawmills and certain other mills to sell ungraded lumber directly to homeowners for residential construction, provided the mill operator completes a state-approved lumber grading training program, the lumber meets building code standards, and code officials inspect the framing. The bill requires mills to mark and certify their lumber and register with the North Carolina Forest Service.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Brenden Jones
This bill designates November as Military Appreciation Month in North Carolina each year. The designation is a ceremonial recognition with no funding or operational requirements attached.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Julia Howard
This bill increases monthly pension benefits for North Carolina firefighters and rescue squad workers from $180 to $175 (effective January 1, 2026), clarifies pension eligibility rules for disabled and displaced members, provides survivor benefits for members killed in the line of duty, and adds a representative from the North Carolina State Firefighters' Association to the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Keith Kidwell
This bill allows North Carolina citizens age 18 and older to carry concealed handguns without a permit, while still permitting people to voluntarily obtain permits for reciprocity when traveling to other states. The bill maintains certain restrictions on who can carry concealed handguns, including those with felony convictions, domestic violence convictions, active criminal charges, and those deemed mentally unfit or addicted to controlled substances.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Donny Lambeth
This bill designates the Moravian cookie as North Carolina's official state cookie. Moravian cookies are thin spice cookies made with molasses, allspice, and ginger that have been produced in Winston-Salem since the 1950s and have historical roots in the Moravian settlers who founded Salem in 1766.
Introduced by Richard Carver
This bill allows the Town of Mooresville to give away or sell town-owned property at favorable terms to create affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents, veterans, and emergency responders. The town must approve any property conveyance by resolution and post notice on its website at least 10 days before the transfer occurs.
Housing
Introduced by Donnie Loftis
This bill raises North Carolina's legal sales age for tobacco products from 18 to 21 years old and establishes a state tobacco retail sales permit system administered by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. The permit system covers physical retail stores, delivery sellers, and remote sellers (online/mail order), with requirements for age verification, employee training, and compliance inspections.
Healthcare
Introduced by Grant Campbell
Bentley's Law requires courts to order defendants convicted of felony death by vehicle offenses to pay child support restitution to the minor children of the victim until age 18 and high school graduation. The court determines the restitution amount based on factors like the child's financial needs, the surviving parent's resources, and the child's standard of living.
Introduced by Allison Dahle
This bill would require North Carolina employers to provide employees working shifts of six hours or more with at least one paid 20-minute break scheduled near the middle of the workday. Violations would result in civil penalties of up to $100 for the first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses.
Introduced by James Roberson
The Skip the Stuff Act requires food establishments and third-party food delivery platforms in North Carolina to provide single-use foodware items (utensils, napkins, straws, condiments, etc.) only when customers specifically request them, rather than including them automatically with orders. The bill creates enforcement mechanisms through the Department of Environmental Quality with penalties up to $100 per day for violations, while allowing local governments to adopt stricter regulations.
Environment & Energy
Introduced by Frances Jackson
This bill requires the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to study how increased parent involvement can reduce repeat student disciplinary problems in schools. The study will examine requiring parents to attend meetings, counseling sessions, or joint counseling with their child as conditions for returning to class after discipline removal, as well as remote instruction alternatives and other evidence-based practices. The department must report findings and recommendations to the legislature by April 15, 2026.
Education
Introduced by Sarah Stevens
This bill creates new protections against deed fraud by requiring non-lawyers and non-financial professionals to show government ID when filing property documents, establishing a fraud alert system to notify property owners when documents are recorded in their names, and creating a faster court process to remove fraudulent documents from property records.
Local Government
Introduced by Kandie Smith
This bill requires North Carolina's Commission for Public Health to establish maximum contaminant levels (safety limits) for harmful chemicals in drinking water, including PFAS, PFOA, PFOS, hexavalent chromium, and 1,4-dioxane. The Commission must complete initial rulemaking by October 15, 2025, and annually review new scientific evidence to update these safety standards.
Introduced by Gladys Robinson
This bill establishes a three-year Safer Sex Supplies Grant Program that provides $9.6 million annually to UNC institutions, community colleges, and public high schools to distribute free condoms and lubricants to students. The program includes funding for health department coordination and requires participating schools to establish student health advisory committees and report on program outcomes through 2028.
Introduced by Danny Britt
This bill adds a new offense to North Carolina law that makes assaulting a utility or communications worker a Class 1 misdemeanor when the worker is readily identifiable (wearing company uniform or logo) and performing their job duties. The bill groups this offense with other enhanced assault penalties, such as assaults on sports officials, that already carry Class 1 misdemeanor charges.
Introduced by Lisa Grafstein
This bill requires Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Health and Human Services about emergency department stays, access to mental health and substance use providers, and retained funds from unused approved services. It also establishes minimum service standards requiring LME/MCOs to limit emergency department boarding to fewer than two patients per county and ensure 85% of patients can access approved services within 45 days.
This bill creates a new cabinet-level Department of Housing and Community Development in North Carolina state government. The department would be divided into four sections: Operations, Community Development, Housing, and a Policy and Legislative Office, with a governing board and an initial appropriation of $30 million.
This bill makes significant changes to North Carolina labor and employment law, including raising the minimum wage to $22/hour (adjusted annually for inflation), requiring paid sick leave and paid family leave, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, increasing unemployment benefits, and providing a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for state retirees. It also addresses wage theft penalties, workplace safety, and removes restrictions on public employee collective bargaining.
Introduced by Howard Penny
This bill directs North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles to create an optional autism spectrum disorder designation that can be added to a driver's license upon request. The designation would be stored in electronic records and made available only to law enforcement to facilitate safe interactions, with strict privacy protections and voluntary participation.
Introduced by Todd Johnson
This bill would authorize North Carolina's State Treasurer to invest up to 10% of public funds into Bitcoin as a long-term strategic reserve. The Bitcoin would be held securely by the state, managed by a new department within the Treasurer's office, and could only be used for emergencies, approved investments, infrastructure projects, or research with approval from the General Assembly.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Nasif Majeed
This bill allows North Carolina counties to give property owners the option to pay special assessments in semiannual (twice per year) installments in addition to the existing annual installment option. It increases the maximum number of semiannual installments allowed from 10 to 40 and annual installments from 10 to 20, giving counties and property owners more flexibility in how assessments are paid over time.
Introduced by Jennifer Balkcom
This bill creates three new criminal offenses for people with prior felony convictions who illegally possess firearms or weapons of mass death and destruction while committing other felonies. The offenses carry increasingly severe penalties depending on whether the person merely possesses the weapon, brandishes it, or discharges it during the commission of a felony.
This bill requires drivers subject to an inexperienced operator premium surcharge to maintain continuous liability insurance coverage that includes that surcharge, or demonstrate financial responsibility through other authorized means. It also requires insurance companies to notify the Division of Motor Vehicles when someone subject to the surcharge is added or removed from a policy, and clarifies that switching between insurance policies does not count as a lapse in coverage.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Carl Ford
This bill creates a second calculation option for the special separation allowance (a monthly payment) that state and local law enforcement officers receive when they retire after 30 years of service. Officers who qualify would be able to choose between two different formulas for calculating their allowance amount, with the choice being permanent and made before their first payment.