It's been a busy few weeks at the General Assembly in Raleigh, but the session's far from over. Last week was the crossover deadline, which is generally when bills either advance from one chamber to the other or die on the vine. Here to bring us up to speed on some of the key pieces of legislation out there is Bryan Anderson, a Raleigh-based reporter who closely follows the North Carolina General Assembly.
Marshall Terry: So, Bryan, were there any major surprises last week in terms of bills that either did or did not advance?
Bryan Anderson: The biggest thing of consequence, that advanced was certainly the abortion bill and that went through the House, the Senate, the first and only committee vote, all in under 48 hours. So I wasn't necessarily surprised that the abortion bill happened. It was more the manner in which it did, kind of caught a few people off guard.
There are some bills that didn't make crossover deadline that were of note, including the school choice, or expansion of school vouchers bill. But I've been told that, you know, there's appropriations in that bill, so it'll happen. It's just not going to happen by crossover.
Terry: Well, let's pick it up with the abortion ban bill. Republicans say they had the votes to override Gov. Cooper's veto. Is it a done deal at this point?
Anderson: Nothing's ever a done deal in North Carolina politics to start with, but it appears that Republicans do have the votes. And Gov. Cooper has really tried to amp up pressure on four Republican lawmakers, in particular: John Bradford, Ted Davis and Tricia Cotham on the House side, and then Michael Lee on the Senate side. Michael Lee has said he's going to vote to override the veto. So it's pretty much a foregone conclusion on the Senate. The real open question on the House side for an override is, what's Ted Davis going to do?
He's the only Republican who didn't attend the floor abortion bill vote. And House Speaker Tim Moore has said he's got all 72 Republicans for an override. But Ted Davis in the past has voiced his independence from Speaker Moore on this issue. But all signs are pointing to an override as of now.
Terry: Now, the other bill that you mentioned specifically, just a moment ago, is that bill that would send hundreds of millions of dollars to parents for private-school vouchers. Are we likely to see that pass?
Anderson: I've reached out to the leadership in the House side in particular, and I was told that that is indeed something that's going to be taken up probably in the coming weeks or months.
And, basically, the reason it didn't happen during crossover week is you have a flurry of other bills that don't deal with money and spending. So those are sort of the crossover priority, if you will. There's also opportunities for gut and amends and ways to get around this rule. But the bottom line is we certainly expect this dramatic expansion of school vouchers — what Republicans and the state call the Opportunity Scholarship, and that's how it's known. We do expect something to happen on that front soon, but exactly when remains to be seen.
Terry: Now, another big issue that has emerged as a major flashpoint recently is trans rights and drag performances. Where do bills restricting drag shows, gender transition procedures and trans athletes stand?
Anderson: I guess to take it up first with the trans athletes bill, that bill has cleared chambers and is going to advance. The bill that dealt with gender assignment surgery for trans people, which would prohibit these gender-affirming cares for minors, that one cleared the House, so that's still alive.
What never happened was this drag performance ban bill. And basically what it would do is something similar to what's happened in Tennessee. And this bill would have basically said that if you want to perform drag in a public space or in front of minors, that's going to be punishable by the most serious misdemeanor — a Class A1 misdemeanor, which could come with a 150-day jail sentence. Your second violation and every subsequent violation would be considered a felony. So under this proposed bill, you would have been treated as a domestic abuser, sexual battery/assault abuser — other crimes that seem no way related or comparable to drag performances. But that bill never even got a committee hearing. So it certainly got a lot of news and attention, but there doesn't seem to be any appetite for it.
Terry: Finally, gun rights have been a big issue in the legislature. Lawmakers repealed North Carolina's requirement that people buying handguns get a permit from county sheriffs in addition to federal background checks, overriding the governor's veto on that one. Are there any other gun bills still in play?
Anderson: There's two gun bills, one still alive and one that didn't make the cut. And so one that didn't make the cut was this concealed handgun permit bill that basically would have said, hey, if you want a concealed handgun permit, you no longer need the prior approval of a local sheriff. That bill did make it up to the floor of the chamber, but it was pulled sort of at the last second and didn't survive crossover week. So, but it appears that bill has been defeated.
There is another bill that is more widely supported. It's Senate Bill 650, and that's called the Gun Violence Prevention Act. That was unanimously supported in the Senate, and that's still alive and cleared. That's not really a controversial bill.
