Archived Bulletins
2021
October 6, 2023
Former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil is credited with saying, “The House Republicans are not the enemy, they’re the opposition. The Senate is the enemy.” The Massachusetts Democrat was commenting on the state of affairs in 1980’s Washington, but there may not be a better truism about life in the current North Carolina General Assembly.
September 1, 2023
In the new Barbie movie, Ken receives a new occupation that he simply calls “Beach.” A friend asked me how I would describe my job similarly, and my answer was immediate: “North Carolina.” That’s because working as a lobbyist on behalf of N.C. municipal officials ultimately means working for North Carolina.
More precisely, our Government Affairs team works passionately so that you as local officials can make the best possible decisions for North Carolina—its businesses, residents, and visitors. Keeping you up to date on major state-level developments that affect your local decision-making is a big part of our mission here at NCLM.
August 25, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Another relatively quiet week at the General Assembly. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed SB 747 Elections Law Changes, setting up another potential veto override from the Republican supermajority. Otherwise, the still-delayed budget remains the key piece of outstanding legislation, and we expect that status quo to remain for at least a few more weeks.
August 18, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: After weeks of inactivity, legislators returned to Raleigh on Wednesday, overriding several of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes and passing into law a number of pieces of legislation, including controversial changes to state election procedures.
August 11, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Legislative leaders made clear this week that the budget would have to wait yet another month. "At this point, you’re talking about a September date for actual passage — signing into law and all of that. I think you should have significant progress made in the next couple of weeks, so you have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to be," Speaker Tim Moore told WUNC.
August 4, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The General Assembly was quiet yet again. Next week figures to hold more of the same, as votes aren't expected until the week of the 14th.
July 28, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Despite a mostly quiet week at the General Assembly, the League's advocacy efforts on behalf of cities and towns were in full swing.
July 21, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Business was mostly slow at the General Assembly, especially as it relates to the largest piece of outstanding legislation: the budget.
July 14, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The House took a few notable actions this week on legislation that relates to cities and towns, including HB378 Firefighters Criminal History Record Checks and two local land use bills. Those are covered in depth in this bulletin.
June 30, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It’s now official: budget negotiations will stretch into the new fiscal year. With Independence Day this coming Tuesday, Legislators will not return to Raleigh until the week of July 11.
June 23, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was a week of vetoes... and potential overrides. For cities and towns, one key piece of legislation is in the crosshairs: SB299 Reimburse Late Audit Costs with Sales Tax Rev. The House has yet to hold its override vote on the bill, but that is expected next week. Scroll down for more information on this legislation and where it stands.
June 16, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was a big week for North Carolina cities and towns at the General Assembly amid bigger, newsmaking topics this week, like the signing of the sports-wagering bill.
June 9, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was an active week for bills that cities and towns have been following this session, with mostly positive results and items to continue tracking. More broadly, work continued on the state budget, with negotiators from both chambers working toward a compromise version. Perhaps highest in the headlines from the General Assembly this week was its action on legislation that would allow for sports
wagering.
June 2, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: On municipal matters, it was a lighter week at the General Assembly, where lawmakers worked mostly on high-profile issues like sports wagering and shifting appointment powers with state boards and commissions. They also held a discussion-only hearing on this session's regulatory reform legislation, a bill that usually gains momentum late in the session.
May 26, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Last week, we shared insights into the Senate's draft budget, which the chamber adopted and sent to the House for consideration. The House, which previously issued its own state budget proposal, rejected the differing Senate version this week. Meanwhile, legislative committees were active with hearings on significant policy bills like sports wagering and a reorganization of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In the mix, bills of interest to cities and towns saw activity as well.
May 19, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The N.C. Senate unveiled and approved its draft of the state budget at $29.8 billion. The plan includes significant differences from the budget draft approved by the House a month ago. Meanwhile, a bill limiting abortions in the state went into law after Republican legislators, with their new supermajority, overrode the governor’s veto of it.
May 12, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was, by comparison, a much quieter week at the General Assembly, following the previous week's "crossover" deadline clamor that determined what bills would remain eligible this session. (Much of the public dialogue meanwhile centered on the abortion limitation bill that the chambers during crossover week sent Gov. Roy Cooper. He opposes the legislation and hopes lawmakers will sustain his expected veto amid a Republican supermajority that could override it). But, importantly right now for cities and towns, we're essentially at the midpoint of the 2023 session, and it's time to review.
May 5, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was, by comparison, a much quieter week for theGeneral Assembly. The expected lull came in the wake of the previous week's clamor, which saw gusts of legislative activity under the wire of the "crossover" deadline that determined which bills remain eligible for the remainder of the session. But we still have bills to discuss in the Bulletin.
April 28, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Arguably, it was the biggest week of the year (so far) for the League and its members -- for one, with the CityVision 2023 conference transpiring over the past days in Concord, with hundreds of municipal officials in attendance representing cities and towns of all sizes from across North Carolina. Meanwhile, the League's Government Affairs team was fast at work at the Legislative Building in Raleigh tracking bills on the move as the House's final bill-filing deadline approached and lawmakers' "crossover" deadline loomed just beyond.
April 21, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: State lawmakers returned from their customary "spring break" to buckle down on business as deadlines loomed. The House crossed a major bill deadline (and its final deadline for public bills is coming up April 25), prompting a big swell of bill filings -- 217 new bills in the House
alone in the past week. Meanwhile, earlier-filed bills continue to move through the legislative process.
April 14, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: Following last week's packed slate at the 2023 General Assembly, lawmakers this past went on a planned "spring break," quieting the hallways at the Legislative Building until they regroup this coming Monday. But, for cities and towns, impactful proposals afloat in the meantime require attention and action.
April 7, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was a boisterous week in North Carolina politics. For one, making national headlines, Rep. Tricia Cotham of the N.C. House switched her political affiliation from Democratic to Republican, a move her former party decried as it gave the latter a powerful supermajority in the General Assembly. Meanwhile, the House gave final approval to its biennial budget proposal and sent it over to the Senate for review as a number of bills we've been tracking also saw movement. It was a busy week for bill filing too, as it marked the Senate's final filing deadline.
March 31, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The N.C. House released its state budget proposal. As we point out below in this Bulletin, it once again has a local infrastructure focus. Among its contents, the budget bill proposes to spend $1 billion on roads and transportation, along with $1 billion for water and sewer infrastructure across the state. Meanwhile at the General Assembly, news coverage centered on this week's veto override that put new gun legislation into law and the House's passage of a sports-betting bill.
March 24, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The League and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners released an extensive report examining the housing affordability crisis in North Carolina, “Local Governments Responding: The Housing Crisis in North Carolina,” based on a survey of planning and inspections staff in the fastest growing communities in the state.
March 17, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The chambers kept a busy clip this week, but less-so on issues of direct significance to city and town governments, as the 2023 legislative session continued on Jones Street in Raleigh.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Senate made news by passing Medicaid expansion after years of debate over the subject; the House still needs to give approval and has the bill on its calendar for next week. Meanwhile, the House this week considered more bills on controversial topics that received Gov. Roy Cooper's veto stamp in past sessions.
March 10, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: With the 2023 General Assembly running on all engines, lawmakers continued filing and moving bills -- with some activity reflecting filing deadlines -- while House leadership indicated their draft of a proposed state budget may debut soon, possibly in April.
WHAT IT MEANS: It's a key point in the General Assembly's session work -- House and Senate leaders have agreed on a state spending target, which creates an axle for budget negotiations and ideally puts lawmakers on track to adopt a final two-year plan this summer. According to the Insider State Government News Service, majority leaders agreed to a 6.5 percent increase in the budget for the first year of the biennium -- coming out to $29.7 billion -- and a 3.75 percent increase in the second year, or roughly $30.8 billion. In remarks, House Speaker Tim Moore noted focuses of the chamber's plan would include teacher and state employee pay raises, infrastructure and workforce development.
March 3, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The filing of bills and shaping through legislative committees continued at the General Assembly, with a big piece of news materializing in an agreement between majority-party leaders toward
Medicaid expansion, an issue with years of preceding discussion. While most of the bills moving through the process were not of direct interest to cities and towns, we have highlighted some that are, which you'll see below in this Bulletin. Meanwhile, the House continued work on its to-be-released state budget proposal.
WHAT IT MEANS: With regard to budget development, municipal leaders should let their lawmakers know now if they have any requests to include in the plan (as lawmakers urged ongoing communication about context and needs from local officials during last week's successful Town & State Dinner.)
February 24, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: With the 2023 General Assembly session underway and gaining steam, the League held its fifth Town & State Dinner on Wednesday, uniting municipal and legislative officials from across the state for conversation and common ground as the lawmaking session unfolds over the coming months. The event was a tremendous success in relationship-building for the betterment of North Carolina and its variety of communities.
WHAT IT MEANS: More than 500 attendees discussed issues with their lawmakers and other fellow officials over dinner at the Raleigh Convention Center, and House and Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle took to the stage for feature conversations moderated by municipal leaders.
February 17, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: After a couple weeks of limited activity at the legislature for cities and towns, the radar began to blip. Some of the latest bill filings include measures of interest to municipalities, which we'll review
below in this Bulletin.
WHAT IT MEANS: Generally, things are picking up, with a variety of ideas in the mix; importantly, some bill-filing deadlines are just ahead, including for local bills. Keep it in mind as you talk to your legislators: Senate members have until Feb. 23 to request the drafting of local bills; House members have a March 1
deadline. Other deadlines apply for different kinds of bills.
February 10, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: It was a new week for the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh, where lawmakers continued to file bills and meet with their assigned committees, but still in the shallow end of the overall session.
WHAT IT MEANS: In the details, both the House and Senate this week initiated their appropriations committees, where lawmakers received information from legislative staff about the state budget development process. This is standard for the early weeks of the long session.
Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the filing of bills for items that may be of interest to cities and towns.
February 3, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: The 2023 legislative session continued this week, at a pace typical for this part of the calendar. It's the long session of the General Assembly, which tends to ramp up slowly and methodically. But there are some important deadlines ahead.
WHAT IT MEANS: Bill-filing, for one aspect, continued this week, with proposals on a spread of issues, some of which have been considered in prior sessions but didn't become law. Neither chamber held floor votes this week, and the few committees that met to discuss bills didn't have anything of municipal interest on the calendar.
January 27, 2023
WHAT HAPPENED: After a brief break, the General Assembly gaveled back into business at the Legislative Building in Raleigh to formally kick off the 2023 long session that will unfold over the months to come.
WHAT IT MEANS: The long session is the heavy-lift of the legislative biennium, with new proposals for committees to vet -- lawmakers are now filing bills -- and the development of the state's spending plan. As you'll read in this Bulletin, the League has approved its slate of goals for the new biennium, based on input and shaping from the state's cities and towns. We break them down by category below.