As this year’s North Carolina legislative session enters a hectic season of state budgets, crossover deadlines, and a flurry of controversial bills, our Ann Webb of Common Cause NC looks at key issues to watch in this new episode of “5 Things to Know.”

Number one:  The state budget season is in full swing. On April 17, the North Carolina Senate passed its budget. Budget analysts at the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center raised the alarm about tax cuts in this bill that will leave the state with an ongoing revenue shortfall, and lead to cuts to critical services like disaster relief, healthcare, and food security programs.

Next, we’ll be watching for the House to pass its version of the spending bill, and then the real negotiations will begin between legislative leaders behind closed doors in a handpicked conference committee. If this year is anything like past sessions, the final budget bill will be released and voted on in the coming months, with little-to-no notice to the public or legislators in the minority party. This process for passing a state budget lacks transparency and fails to allow for productive public input – we should all expect better from our General Assembly.

Number two: Beyond the budget, there is also a flurry of bills being passed as we approach the May 8 deadline for most bills to cross from one legislative chamber to the other.

This week, the House is pushing through three anti-immigrant bills, following a national trend of attacking our immigrant neighbors. These bills would make it easier for more people who have been accused but not convicted of crimes to be deported from state jails, require higher penalties for certain undocumented people who are convicted of crimes in North Carolina, and require state and local governments to verify the citizenship of everyone receiving or applying for benefit, potentially keeping eligible citizen children from accessing essential services.

Number three: The legislature is considering bills opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion – known as DEI – as well as anti-LGBTQ legislation, and bills to make it easier to ban books from schools. On Wednesday, after a contentious debate and before a packed House gallery, the House passed HB 171, a bill to prohibit state agencies from having programs for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Advocates are also tracking at least five anti-LGBTQ bills and have protested House Bill 636, passed by the House, which bans categories of books from schools and makes it easier for parents to require schools to remove books from schools.

Number four: North Carolina’s legislature is following the lead of the Trump administration’s “DOGE-bros” and giving State Auditor Dave Boliek even more power to recommend cuts to public jobs and budgets. In the Senate, this idea was included in the budget, in a program that would require the Auditor to use artificial intelligence technology to recommend public jobs and budgets to axe. The House’s bill similarly gives the Auditor unlimited ongoing access to state agency data well beyond current access.

Number five: Elections bills. Last but not least, we are also tracking more than a dozen bills affecting our voting rights, elections, and the state constitution. These bills could do a range of things from making Election Day a state holiday to cutting early voting and criminalizing voter registration drives. These bills are not required to meet the May 8 crossover deadline, so we will provide more detailed updates as they move forward in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned! We’ll continue to keep you updated from the legislature. Sign up below to get email updates and action alerts from Common Cause North Carolina: