North Carolina General Assembly · 2025–2026 session
Showing 2161–2184 of 2,338 bills
Introduced by Sarah Crawford
This bill allows North Carolina taxpayers to deduct labor union membership dues from their state taxable income, starting with the 2026 tax year. The deduction would apply to dues, fees, assessments, or other required payments for union membership.
Taxes & Budget
Introduced by Mujtaba Mohammed
This is a local bill that relates specifically to North Carolina's 38th Senatorial District. The bill text does not specify what changes or provisions apply to the district—it only establishes that any provisions would apply only to that district and become effective upon passage.
Local Government
Introduced by Natalie Murdock
The NC CROWN Act prohibits employers in North Carolina from discriminating against employees or job applicants based on natural hairstyles and hair characteristics associated with race, such as braids, locks, twists, and bantu knots. The bill expands the definition of race-based discrimination to explicitly include hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles as protected characteristics under state employment law.
Business & Labor
Introduced by Deb Butler
This bill requires North Carolina's Governor and legislature to work together each year to create a five-year budget assessment that projects the costs of maintaining current services, analyzes new programs or policy changes, evaluates employee compensation needs, and examines how different economic scenarios might affect the state budget. The Governor's budget recommendations must now include a detailed five-year fiscal analysis consistent with this new assessment process.
This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would remove North Carolina's current constitutional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. If passed by voters in November 2026, the amendment would take effect January 1, 2027, and would allow the state to legally recognize marriages between same-sex couples.
Other / General Government
Introduced by Amber Baker
This bill, known as the CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), expands North Carolina's employment discrimination protections to explicitly include hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles like braids, locks, and twists as protected characteristics under race discrimination law. The bill adds these protections to the state's existing anti-discrimination statute and ensures employees cannot be fired or denied employment based on natural hairstyles.
Introduced by Timothy Moffitt
This bill makes booking photographs (images taken by law enforcement when someone is arrested or booked into jail) confidential and not accessible to the public. Law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from publishing or releasing these photos, with limited exceptions for missing person investigations or when a court orders release for immediate law enforcement needs.
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Introduced by Robert Reives
This bill gives Chatham County Schools flexibility in their school calendar by allowing them to start students as early as the Monday closest to August 10 (instead of the standard Monday closest to August 26) and permits assessments to be given before the fall semester ends if the calendar concludes before December 31.
Education
Introduced by Renee Price
This bill provides scheduling flexibility for three school systems—Caswell County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City, and Orange County Schools—by allowing them to align their school calendars with local community colleges and to administer final exams and state assessments earlier if their fall semester ends before December 31.
Introduced by Lindsey Prather
This bill gives Buncombe County Schools flexibility to set their own school calendar opening and closing dates without needing approval from the State Board of Education. Currently, state law requires schools to open no earlier than late August and close no later than early June, but this bill removes that requirement for Buncombe County only.
Introduced by Dennis Riddell
This bill gives Alamance County Schools additional flexibility in setting their school calendar by allowing earlier start dates without needing State Board of Education approval. Specifically, it allows Alamance-Burlington Schools to begin the school year as early as the Monday closest to August 19 (instead of August 26) if the district can demonstrate it has experienced eight days of weather-related or emergency closures in any four of the last ten years.
Introduced by Brian Biggs
This bill restores the authority of Randolph County and its municipalities to initiate down-zoning (reducing development density or permitted uses on property) without requiring written consent from affected property owners. It reverses a restriction that was put in place on December 11, 2024, and applies only to Randolph County.
Introduced by Marcia Morey
This bill creates Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) in North Carolina, which allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose a danger of harming themselves or others. Family members, law enforcement, healthcare providers, and others can petition for these orders, which can last up to one year and be renewed. The bill also requires courts to order seizure of firearms when someone fails to surrender them under existing domestic violence protective orders.
Introduced by Jennifer Balkcom
This bill requires parents or guardians to give written permission before child autopsy records, photos, videos, or audio recordings can be shared. It creates an exception allowing disclosure without consent when necessary for public health, safety, legal compliance, or research, and allows courts to override parental wishes if they find good cause after reviewing the materials in private.
Introduced by Benton Sawrey
This bill increases the property tax homestead exclusion for disabled veterans in North Carolina from $45,000 to $76,500 of their home's appraised value. This means disabled veterans would pay property taxes on a smaller portion of their home's value, resulting in lower tax bills starting in 2026.
Introduced by Eddie Settle
This bill requires all North Carolina public schools, charter schools, and university-affiliated schools to display the United States and North Carolina flags on school grounds and in every classroom, and to schedule daily Pledge of Allegiance recitation with age-appropriate instruction about the flag's meaning and history. The bill provides $1 million in funding for the 2025-2026 school year and $100,000 in ongoing funding for schools to purchase flags, while clarifying that no student can be compelled to stand, salute, or recite the pledge.
This bill makes it illegal to leave a firearm unattended in a motor vehicle unless both the vehicle is locked and the firearm is either secured with a trigger lock or stored in a locked container. Violation is classified as a Class 2 misdemeanor, with the law taking effect December 1, 2025.
Introduced by Jim Burgin
This bill requires North Carolina state agencies to use zero-based budgeting on a rotating schedule, starting in 2025. Under this approach, agencies must justify all spending from scratch rather than basing budgets on previous years' appropriations, and must document the costs, outcomes, and necessity of each activity they perform.
Introduced by Julie Mayfield
This bill creates the Swannanoa Valley Tourism Development Authority, a new local organization in Buncombe County that would receive a portion of hotel occupancy taxes collected from three townships (Broad River, Black Mountain, and Swannanoa). The Authority would use these funds to promote tourism and support tourism-related projects in the Swannanoa Valley area.
Introduced by Terence Everitt
This bill allows local governments in North Carolina to use inclusionary zoning policies to increase affordable housing options. It also appropriates $10 million in state funding to the Housing Finance Agency for a Workforce Housing Loan Program starting July 1, 2025.
Housing
Introduced by Matthew Winslow
This bill establishes the Orphan Roads Maintenance Program Grant, which allocates $75 million in state funding to help counties and municipalities improve subdivision streets that don't meet state highway standards. Eligible roads must be improved to meet Department of Transportation standards before being transferred to state or local maintenance responsibility, with counties required to provide 25 cents in matching funds for every dollar awarded, up to $250,000 per subdivision.
Transportation & Infrastructure
Introduced by Rodney Pierce
This bill allows Warren County Schools, Weldon City Schools, Halifax County Schools, and Roanoke Rapids Graded School District to start the school year as early as the Monday closest to August 19 (instead of August 26) if they can show good cause, such as frequent weather-related closures. The bill gives these four specific school districts more flexibility in setting their school calendars while maintaining state requirements for total instructional days.
Introduced by Dean Arp
This bill restores the ability of local governments in Union County and its municipalities to reduce zoning allowances (down-zone property) without getting written consent from all affected property owners. It reverses a December 2024 state law that had required unanimous property owner consent for down-zoning and makes this change retroactive to that date.
Introduced by Bill Ward
This bill allows Camden County Schools to start their school year as early as the Monday closest to August 19, instead of the current requirement that school start no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26. The change applies only to Camden County Schools beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.