{"id":2625,"date":"2025-05-02T08:22:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/?post_type=article&p=2625"},"modified":"2025-08-11T16:21:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T20:21:48","slug":"5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/articles\/5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things to know about this year’s NC legislative session \u2013 so far"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2625","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-article"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","article_type":70,"authors":"","related_issues":[417],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_video","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_video":{"video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GeprCLErWng","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"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.\"\r\n\r\nNumber one: <\/b>\u00a0The 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<\/a> 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.\r\n\r\nNext, we\u2019ll 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 \u2013 we should all expect better from our General Assembly.\r\n\r\nNumber two:<\/b> 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.\r\n\r\nThis 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.\r\n\r\nNumber three<\/b>: The legislature is considering bills opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion \u2013 known as DEI \u2013 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.\r\n\r\nNumber four:<\/b> North Carolina\u2019s legislature is following the lead of the Trump administration\u2019s \"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\u2019s bill similarly gives the Auditor unlimited ongoing access to state agency data well beyond current access.\r\n\r\nNumber five<\/b>: 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.\r\n\r\nStay 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:"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_email_signup","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_email_signup":{"":null,"small_title":"","large_title":"","action_network_embed":"","disclaimer":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\n5 things to know about this year's NC legislative session \u2013 so far - Common Cause North Carolina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/articles\/5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 things to know about this year's NC legislative session \u2013 so far\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/articles\/5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause North Carolina\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-11T20:21:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/5-things-to-know-thumbnail-25.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"890\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/articles\/5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/articles\/5-things-to-know-about-this-years-nc-legislative-session-so-far\/\",\"name\":\"5 things to know about this year's NC legislative session \u2013 so far - 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