Brooks Pierce Capital Dispatch: Legislators Consider Bills; House Overrides Vetoes; Work Continues on Budget
The North Carolina General Assembly this week considered a number of policy bills, the House overrode the Governor’s vetoes of some bills, and leadership continued working on the budget bill.
State Budget Bill
Legislative leaders continue to work on a new budget bill with discussions apparently now at the “corner offices” (Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall). These leaders earlier announced agreement on some key issues that had held up budget bill discussions last year. This includes state employee and teacher salaries and tax policy. The last comprehensive state budget bill was adopted in 2023.
Gov. Josh Stein sent his budget recommendations to the General Assembly on April 21.
Farm Act
Gov. Stein this week signed S 401, the Farm Act of 2025-2026, into law.
The law addresses various agricultural issues including water use, animals, crops, aquaculture, shellfish, and buildings used for agriculture.
Third-Party Litigation Funding
A new law (H 315) signed this week by Gov. Stein would prohibit certain external entities, not parties to a lawsuit, from providing financial support to a party in exchange for a share of the potential judgment or settlement. Among those supporting the bill were the NC Chamber, the NC Tech Association, and the NC Retail Merchants Association.
ABC Laws
A bill (H 198) making several changes to state alcoholic beverage control laws is now in a conference committee after different versions passed each house. Issues to be resolved in conference include building a new ABC Commission warehouse, ABC permit issues, and product sales matters.
Here’s the latest version of the bill.
Veto Overrides
The House on Wednesday overrode earlier vetoes of four bills by Gov. Stein. Since the Senate had earlier overridden the vetoes, three of these bills are now law:
- S 227 - Eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in public education
- S 558 - Eliminate DEI in public higher education
- S 153 - Addresses some immigration issues including requiring state agency cooperation with federal immigration officials
The House also voted to override a veto of one bill that will now go to the Senate for action:
- H 171 - Prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in state and local government
For more information, contact the Brooks Pierce Government Affairs Team, linked below:
Ed Turlington, Partner
Drew Moretz, Government Relations Advisor
Katelyn Kingsbury, Government Relations Advisor