North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 2113–2136 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Joyce Waddell
This bill appropriates $100,000 in state funds to Johnson C. Smith University for a one-time grant in fiscal year 2025-2026. The money will support the university's Inclusive Tech-Innovation Pilot Project, which aims to use broadband technology to promote economic growth and community development in the surrounding area.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Donna White
This bill appropriates $1.5 million in state funds to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science to create a new biotechnology exhibit and laboratory. The funds are intended to showcase North Carolina's biotechnology industry and encourage student interest in STEM careers, becoming effective July 1, 2025.
Education
Introduced by Heather Rhyne
This bill requires Lincoln County Schools and Iredell-Statesville Schools to include a mandatory two-week winter break with no instructional days or teacher workdays in their school calendars. It also adjusts the earliest date schools can start the academic year from Monday closest to August 26 to Wednesday closest to August 13, while allowing schools that have experienced three or more weather closures before winter break to potentially use some winter break days for makeup instruction.
This bill appropriates $25 million per year for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to local health departments in North Carolina to support communicable disease response and prevention efforts. The funds will be distributed equally among counties (50%) and based on population served (50%), and can be used to hire staff, retain employees, and expand public health programs.
Healthcare
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill updates North Carolina's respiratory care licensing laws to reflect modern practice standards and create a new 'Advanced Respiratory Care Practitioner' (ARCP) license for therapists with specialized postgraduate training. The bill defines the scope of practice for both standard respiratory care practitioners and ARCPs, establishes requirements for the state licensing board, and sets educational and examination standards for licensure.
This bill requires that foster parents receive at least 48 hours verbal notice before a child in their care is returned to their parent following a court decision, and that foster parents be included in transition planning when it serves the child's best interest. The bill also clarifies existing notice requirements for court hearings.
Social Services & Welfare
Introduced by Marcia Morey
This bill removes language that protects workers' right to work without union membership and repeals restrictions on public employee labor organizing. It adds new language affirming labor organizations' right to enter into labor agreements, while maintaining existing prohibitions on requiring union membership as a condition of employment.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Julie Mayfield
This bill repeals two North Carolina laws that currently limit the use of auxiliary containers in counties and municipalities. Auxiliary containers are additional waste or recycling receptacles beyond standard service. The bill would remove state-level restrictions on how many of these containers local governments can require residents to use or manage.
Local Government
Introduced by Robert Davis
This bill clarifies and standardizes how North Carolina licensing boards consider criminal histories when deciding whether to grant, deny, or revoke professional licenses. It prohibits boards from automatically denying licenses based solely on convictions for crimes of 'moral turpitude' and instead requires boards to evaluate specific factors like the crime's seriousness, when it occurred, rehabilitation efforts, and how directly it relates to the licensed profession. The bill also adds transparency requirements, gives applicants advance notice of potential issues, and allows people with criminal histories to request advance guidance before completing training.
Introduced by James Dixon
This bill establishes the 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program and appropriates $475 million to help North Carolina farmers recover from verified crop losses caused by natural disasters in 2024. The program provides financial assistance to farmers in counties designated as agricultural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with funds transferred from state reserves and distributed based on acreage, county loss estimates, and yield/price averages.
Agriculture
Introduced by Lisa Grafstein
This bill allows North Carolina taxpayers to deduct labor organization membership dues from their state income taxes starting in 2026. The deduction would apply to dues, fees, assessments, or other required payments for membership in a labor organization.
Introduced by Jonathan Almond
This bill restores the authority of Cabarrus County and its municipalities to initiate down-zoning (reducing allowed building density or permitted uses on property) without requiring written consent from all affected property owners. The bill applies only to Cabarrus County and is retroactive to December 11, 2024, reversing a recent state law change that had restricted this local authority.
Introduced by Natalie Murdock
This bill allows the City of Durham to reduce speed limits to 25 miles per hour on residential streets that the city determines are experiencing congestion. The change would take effect December 1, 2025, and applies only to Durham.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Woodson Bradley
This bill requires North Carolina firearm owners to report lost or stolen guns to law enforcement within 48 hours, with penalties ranging from warnings to fines up to $1,000. It also exempts firearm safety devices (like gun safes and locks) from sales tax and funds a public education campaign about the reporting requirement.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Todd Johnson
This bill restores the ability of local governments in Union and Iredell Counties to initiate down-zoning (reducing development density or permitted uses on property) without requiring written consent from all affected property owners. It reverses a recent state law change from December 2024 that had restricted down-zoning authority in these counties.
Introduced by Brian Turner
This bill gives Asheville City Schools flexibility to start their school calendar earlier than the current state requirement. Currently, North Carolina law requires public schools to open no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, but this bill allows the State Board of Education to waive that requirement for Asheville City Schools, permitting them to open as early as the Monday closest to August 19 if they can show a need for extra makeup days due to weather closures.
This bill gives Chatham County Schools flexibility in setting their school calendar by allowing them to start the school year as early as August 10 instead of the standard August 26, and allows them to give assessments earlier if they conclude their fall semester before December 31. The bill applies only to Chatham County Schools starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
Introduced by Gale Adcock
This bill allows Wake County Schools to align their school calendar with the calendar of local community colleges that serve the county. It modifies state law to give Wake County's school board the flexibility to set opening and closing dates that match community college schedules, rather than following the standard statewide requirements.
Introduced by Ray Jeffers
This bill allows Durham County and Person County schools to start their school year as early as the Monday closest to August 10, instead of the current standard of August 26. It also permits these districts to give final exams and assessments before the end of the fall semester if their calendar concludes before December 31.
Introduced by Robert Reives
This bill restores the ability of local governments in Chatham County and its municipalities to initiate down-zoning (reducing the allowed density or uses of land) without needing written consent from property owners. It reverses a restriction imposed on December 11, 2024, and applies retroactively to that date.
This bill appropriates $100,000 in state funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to the McCrorey YMCA of Charlotte to support its Flying Classroom program, which provides educational experiences in science, technology, mathematics, and literacy through expeditionary and immersive learning.
This bill creates a new property tax benefit for North Carolina residents age 65 and older who have owned and lived in their home for at least five consecutive years. Eligible homeowners 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.
Introduced by Bobby Hanig
This bill establishes a legal presumption that joint custody and roughly equal shared parenting time is in a child's best interest in North Carolina custody cases. The presumption can be overruled if a court finds by clear and convincing evidence that shared parenting is not in the child's best interest, or if both parents agree to a different arrangement.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Timothy Moffitt
This bill changes when candidates can file to run for Mayor and Council Members in Hendersonville by aligning the municipal filing period with the filing period for county officers elected on a partisan basis, rather than using a separate filing schedule.
Elections & Voting