North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 1849–1872 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Gale Adcock
This bill raises North Carolina's legal sales age for tobacco products (including vaping and e-cigarettes) from 18 to 21 years old. It creates a new permit system administered by the ABC Commission requiring retailers to be licensed to sell tobacco products, and establishes penalties for illegal sales to minors and underage possession.
Healthcare
Introduced by David Craven
This bill requires North Carolina public schools (traditional, charter, regional, and laboratory schools) to schedule daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance within one hour of the start of the school day, and requires the State Board of Education and local school governing bodies to begin their meetings with the Pledge. The bill specifies that no one can be compelled to stand, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge, and requires age-appropriate instruction on the flag and Pledge's meaning and history.
Education
Introduced by Dana Jones
This bill allows law enforcement, probation/parole, and correctional officers with advanced certifications to purchase up to four years of additional service credit in North Carolina's retirement systems by paying a lump sum equal to the full cost to the retirement fund. The officers must have at least five years of service and obtain the applicable advanced certificate before purchasing the additional service credit.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Allen Buansi
This bill appropriates $30,000 in state funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Durham and Orange Counties. The money is designated for programs covering teen recruitment and retention, emotional safety, youth leadership, trauma-informed practices, cultural responsiveness, and college and career readiness.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Benton Sawrey
This bill allows water and sewer authorities in North Carolina to obtain permanent registration plates for their vehicles instead of renewing plates annually. The change adds water and sewer authorities to the list of organizations eligible for permanent plates under state motor vehicle law.
Local Government
Introduced by Mary Harrison
This bill directs the North Carolina Institute of Medicine to conduct a comprehensive study on the advantages and disadvantages of legalizing medical aid in dying (MAID) in North Carolina, with findings due by April 1, 2027. The study will examine how MAID operates in the 11 U.S. jurisdictions where it is currently legal, including applicant processes, safeguards, patient demographics, and impacts on families and healthcare systems. The bill appropriates $150,000 for the study and requires at least one public hearing for community input.
Introduced by Lisa Grafstein
This bill repeals North Carolina's service tax by eliminating taxation on service contracts and removing related tax provisions. It makes conforming changes to tax code sections that reference service contracts and adjusts definitions and exemptions accordingly. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Amy Galey
This bill modernizes North Carolina's estate and trust laws by allowing electronic wills (wills created and signed digitally), updating rules for calculating spouse inheritance rights in trusts, clarifying procedures for challenging trusts after someone dies, and increasing the financial support amounts available to surviving spouses ($60,000) and minor children ($10,000) from a deceased person's estate. These changes take effect January 1, 2026.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Robert Davis
This bill appropriates $869,000 in state funds to complete remaining items for Phase One and Phase Two capital improvements at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, including a visitor center tower sign, interior partitions and doors, gun carriages, and an ammunition magazine for the reconstructed earthworks.
Introduced by Paul Lowe
This bill modifies North Carolina's Film and Entertainment Grant Fund by increasing the maximum grant amounts available for feature films, television series, commercials, and independent films. It also clarifies definitions and priority criteria for how the state distributes these grants to film and entertainment productions.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Paul Newton
This bill modifies North Carolina's carbon reduction requirements for electric utilities by removing an interim 2030 target and keeping only the 2050 carbon neutrality goal. It also creates a new cost recovery mechanism allowing utilities to increase rates outside standard proceedings for baseload power plant construction costs, if the project shows long-term savings for customers.
Environment & Energy
Introduced by Brad Overcash
This bill requires North Carolina state and local governments to use American-produced iron and steel products in public works projects funded with state money. The requirement applies to construction materials like pipes, structural steel, and other iron/steel components, with exceptions for cases where American products aren't available, cost more than 20% extra, or involve minimal foreign materials.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Steve Tyson
This bill reduces the early voting period for primary elections, runoff elections, and special elections from 17 days to 6 days, while keeping the early voting period for general elections unchanged. The bill also applies the 6-day early voting limit to municipal elections and special elections not held at regular times.
Elections & Voting
Introduced by Todd Johnson
This bill amends North Carolina's self-insurance laws to clarify definitions and rules for the Self-Insurance Security Association, which protects workers' compensation claims when self-insured employers become insolvent. Key changes include establishing a five-year deadline for filing claims against the Association, defining the Association Aggregate Security System that allows individual self-insurers to collectively secure their liabilities, and allowing the Association to require collateral from participating self-insurers based on their financial condition.
Introduced by Sarah Stevens
This bill makes multiple changes to North Carolina's child welfare laws, including shortening timelines for permanency planning (one year instead of reasonable time), establishing rules for a Regional Abuse and Medical Specialist program, requiring training for social services board members, and creating a private cause of action against the Department of Health and Human Services for operating programs without proper rulemaking procedures.
Introduced by Garland Pierce
This bill appropriates $50,000 in state funds to Hoke County for improvements and upgrades to Rockfish Park in Raeford. The funding is nonrecurring, meaning it is a one-time allocation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Introduced by Daniel Blue
This bill creates the Nursing Fellows Program at Winston-Salem State University to provide forgivable loans to nursing students pursuing Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degrees in Nursing Education. The loans can be forgiven if graduates work as nurses or nursing instructors in North Carolina, with $1.4 million in initial funding plus $100,000 for curriculum support services.
Introduced by Woodson Bradley
This bill restores North Carolina's state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which provides a tax credit to low- and moderate-income working individuals and families based on the federal EITC. The credit would be set at 10% of the federal credit amount for tax years beginning in 2025 and beyond.
Introduced by Charles Miller
This bill removes 11 specific properties (identified by parcel numbers) from the Town of Oak Island's corporate limits, meaning those properties will no longer be part of the town as of June 30, 2025. The properties will no longer be subject to municipal taxes beginning July 1, 2025, though any outstanding tax liens from before the change can still be collected.
Introduced by Becky Carney
This bill requires all North Carolina elementary schools (K-5) to provide students with at least one day of instruction in performing arts (music, dance, or theatre) and visual arts every five school days. Classes must be taught by licensed instructors, last at least 30 minutes, and follow class size limits. The requirement begins in the 2026-2027 school year.
Introduced by Kyle Hall
This bill appropriates $4.5 million in state funds for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts to purchase a building adjacent to the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem. The funds would be used in fiscal year 2025-2026 to acquire the real property and any improvements on the site.
This bill creates a new legal process for partitioning 'heirs property'—land inherited within families that has no written agreement governing its division. When property meets the definition of heirs property, courts must follow specific steps including determining fair market value through appraisal, allowing cotenants to buy out those wanting to sell, and preferring to divide the property physically (partition in kind) rather than force a sale, unless division would cause substantial harm.
Introduced by Julie von Haefen
H.B. 420 is a comprehensive education reform bill aimed at improving public schools in North Carolina through increased funding and structural changes. It allocates nearly $3 billion for teacher and principal salary increases, teacher recruitment programs, early childhood education expansion, school facility improvements through a $2 billion bond, and support services for low-performing schools. The bill also adjusts how school performance is measured by balancing student growth and proficiency scores.
Introduced by Norman Sanderson
The NC REACH Act requires all students earning bachelor's degrees at UNC schools and associate degrees at North Carolina community colleges to complete at least three credit hours of American history or American government instruction. The courses must include reading seven specific foundational documents (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, Federalist Papers essays, MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail, Gettysburg Address, and NC State Constitution) and a final exam worth at least 20% of the grade. The bill also aligns similar requirements for high school Founding Principles courses.