Over at North State Journal, I've got a roundup of some of the more interesting bills filed within the first few weeks of this session that caught my eye.
When I wrote that article there were just over 200 bills filed. As of Friday, Feb. 21, there are now around 310. So, it looks like the “long” session may live up to its name since we haven’t even gotten to the budget yet.
Republicans have filed some bills that mirror Trump administration agenda items like ending DEI, protecting farmland from foreign ownership, and "No tax on tips."
Democrats have been filing the same type of bills they file every year on "marriage equality" and altering the NC Constitution by removing the provision recognizing marriage as between one man and one woman.
One of the bills sticks out to me since it was a Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) policy amendment to the student dress code called the "CROWN Act." CROWN stands for "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair."
"The Wake County Board of Education supports state and federal CROWN Act legislation that would provide protections for protective, natural, or cultural hairstyles. In particular, schools must permit protective, natural, or cultural hairstyles, including but not limited to braids, dreadlocks, locs, twists, tight curls or cornrows, Bantu knots, afros, and other culturally expressive hair ties or headwraps. Students are free to adopt hairstyles of their choice, whether short, long, shaved, braided, curled, twisted, knotted, or otherwise."
Monika Johnson-Hostler was on the WCPSS board when that Act was put into policy. She left the board to successfully run for the state House and is now doing the same thing she did as a school board member by signing on to HB 168, the North Carolina CROWN Act.
This sessions CROWN bill was filed by Rep. Amber Baker (D-Forsyth). This is the third time a CROWN Act has been filed by Democrats at the NC legislature; Baker has tried twice and the Senate filed one as well. None of them got beyond a first committee hearing.
The WCPSS policy links to the failed General Assembly bill and to the most recent attempt in Congress, but it's worth nothing Democrats in Congress had introduced a CROWN Act twice in the last four years. The bill only passed the second time around but later died in the Senate.
A bill filed in the Senate would protect arrest mugshots from being published and would make them non-public records, meaning no one could obtain them even through a pubic records request.
Senate Bill 129 was filed on Feb. 21 by Sen. Tim Moffitt (R-Henderson). There are no other sponsors listed on the bill at this time.
This bill, as a parent and a taxpaying citizen, is not only alarming, it represents the protection of criminals at the expense of public safety and the public's right to information.
As a reporter, this is an anti-transparency bill. It blocks access to information the public pays for and has a right to.
Imagine the hundreds of child predators and other educator arrests I've tracked and reported on over the last eight years. Now imagine them all with no mugshots.
More To The Story
Readers have asked about filing dates for the 2025 long session, so here they are.
Local bills had to filed in the House by Feb. 20 and introduced by April 3. In the Senate, the file date was Feb. 13 and the introduction date is Feb. 27.
Local bills are bills that have a limited reach of 15 counties or less. Few local bills are codified.
Public bills have to be filed by Mar. 6 and introduced by April 3 in the House. These types of bills have to be filed in the Senate by Feb. 27 and be introduced by Mar. 25. Public bills typically span all counties, see passage and are added to the state's General Statutes.
The biggest date to remember for the 2025 session is crossover on May 8. Crossover is the deadline for bills filed during the session to have passed at least one chamber in order to be considered for floor votes.
To look up any given bill, go to the legislature’s website and in the top right corner you will see a search box. There are toggles on the search box to look up previous session bills or do site-wide keyword searches.
The legislature also has this handy chart which shows the path a bill takes on its way to becoming a law.
Another useful tool on the General Assembly website is the Bills and Laws page. There you will find search parameters for daily activity on bills, bills awaiting the governor’s signature, votes on bills, fiscal notes and more.
House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) has made tracking the House activities pretty easy this year with a publicly published calendar.
Hall appears to be big into transparency, as he's also rolled out a "House Press" account on X and those on the Speaker's email distribution list are getting a "House Huddle" newsletter.