NC Capitol Wrap

A bill moving in the House would preclude North Carolina public schools from teaching that systemic racism exists in the U.S. The Senate passed the annual farm bill, including a provision that would create blanket permits for hog farms to create methane production operations. Lawmakers could soon be armed inside the legislature under a House proposal. And the zipper-merge would be taught in driver's education classes as the appropriate way to move two lanes of traffic into one.

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A bill filed by House Speaker Tim Moore that would charge people involved in a riot that causes serious property damage or someone's injury or death with a felony is on a fast track to passage. Two bills restricting abortion – prohibiting them if a fetus has Down syndrome and requiring doctors to care for infants born after a botched abortion – advanced through the legislature. And the House not only approved allowing cities to create "social districts" where people can consume alcohol in public, they also approved doubling the size of permitted growlers for drinking, to 4 liters. That's more than a gallon of beer, for those not on the metric system.

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Measures making changes to North Carolina's election system advanced in the House, including one bill that would require mailed absentee ballots to arrive at the county elections office by Election Day to count. The House repealed the state system requiring people to obtain a permit from the local sheriff before buying a handgun. And another bill moving through the House would prevent any sort of disciplinary action against state or local government workers for not getting vaccinated against coronavirus.

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With the deadline for policy-related bills to clear either the House or the Senate only nine days away, lawmakers are furiously filing legislation and moving much of it through the pipeline with little discussion. One bill that did get plenty of discussion would ban abortions where the fetus has Down syndrome, which bill sponsors say discriminates against the disabled. Also, scores of people rallied outside the legislature, demanding passage of a proposal that would prohibit businesses, schools and other entities from requiring people to be vaccinated,

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Social issues ruled the day at the General Assembly, as bills to increase the age to marry from 14 to 18 and to repeal a law allowing people to sue over adultery both got derailed in committee. Lawmakers also watered down a proposal to allow someone in a same-sex dating relationship to obtain a domestic violence protection order against their abuser.

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Gov. Roy Cooper delivers his biennial State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly, and House Speaker Tim Moore provides the GOP response.

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A feud within the House Republican caucus spills into the public, some changes are suggested to public records, wounded veterans are honored and one lawmaker keeps pushing for North Carolina to have a 12-month time zone.

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The 2022 primary is still about a year off, but the field for the open U.S. Senate seat is getting crowded. Families criticize lawmakers for trying to put limits on transgender students and athletes. House members back a plan to allow business owners who received PPP loans, including some lawmakers, to deduct the expenses in their state taxes.

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The push for medical marijuana picks up an important backer, the odds on gambling in North Carolina improve and lawmakers continue to push controversial social issues.

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Gov. Roy Cooper rolled out a $27.3 billion budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts in July, including raises and bonuses for teachers and state workers. How much of that, plus the governor's renewed call for Medicaid expansion and a major infrastructure bond, come to pass in the GOP-controlled legislature remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the Senate passed legislation to end the practice of prosecuting children younger than 10 in juvenile court, and lawmakers grilled state elections officials over changes they made to absentee voting rules last fall.

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