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NC Republicans prohibit the state joining an organization meant to keep voter rolls clean
State House and Senate Republicans agree that North Carolina will not join a multi-state effort to maintain accurate voter rolls. Both chambers included provisions in their budget proposals that prohibit the state from participating in the Electronic Registration Information Center and eliminate what was to be next year’s $35,000 membership fee. Republican states started abandoning […]
NC Senate budget proposal receives bipartisan support, though Democrats’ amendments are sidelined
The Senate on Wednesday took a crucial 36-13 vote to pass its version of the next state budget, with seven Democrats joining Republicans in pushing the spending plan to its next phase. After another vote scheduled for today, Senate and House negotiators will write a compromise version of the budget that the legislature will pass […]
NC legislature overrides governor’s veto of abortion ban to make new restrictions law
Republican state legislators overturned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a 12-week abortion ban Tuesday as hundreds of spectators packed the chamber galleries or watched from the hallway. Cooper’s veto was canceled in party-line votes in both the House and Senate. The GOP has veto-proof majorities in both chambers. Cooper dramatically vetoed Senate Bill 20 […]
NC Senate proposed budget has smaller employee raises, would have legislators appoint some judges
The $29.7 billion proposed state budget Senate Republican leaders released Monday afternoon has smaller raises for teachers and state employees than the House wanted. The Senate budget proposes average teacher raises of 4.5% over two years, and 5% raises for state employees over two years. Beginning teacher salaries would go from $37,000 to $39,000 starting […]
Monday numbers: Report says NC youth aging out of foster care need more services
Youth aging out of foster care aren’t receiving all the support available to them as they transition to adulthood, according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Using information from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services databases, the report (Fostering Youth Transitions 2023) examines the reasons children entered foster care and the […]
Crowd cheers Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoes abortion ban
A crowd cheered Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoed a Republican-authored abortion ban in an unusual rally that capped off a week of attempts to pressure a small group of GOP legislators into letting the veto stand. Some bills are signed in public ceremonies, but bill vetoes don’t usually draw enthusiastic audiences. For Senate Bill […]
New NC Board of Elections chairman in place as voter photo ID law is implemented
Alan Hirsch, a former deputy attorney general and policy advisor to former Gov. Mike Easley, is the new chairman of the State Board of Elections. “I know that we will all work together for the benefit of our state and the integrity of the elections process,” Hirsch said Wednesday after the board elected him chairman. […]
Black state senators: An abortion ban will worsen Black maternal mortality rates in NC
Black women face high rates of pregnancy-related death and will likely feel the brunt of an abortion ban in North Carolina. Yet, none of the Black women elected to the state legislature, all of whom are Democrats, had any input into the Republican-authored bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks. “We were not invited to […]
NC’s 12-week abortion ban would limit access and create chaos, Duke doctors say
Duke University doctors said the 12-week abortion ban North Carolina Republicans approved this week will make abortions harder to get but won’t make people safer. “This is just an ideological bill – the abortion part – about limiting access,” said Dr. Jonas Swartz, a Duke OB/GYN said this week. Swartz, Dr. Beverly Gray, and Jolynn […]
Republican bill banning most abortions in NC after 12 weeks heads to Gov. Roy Cooper
A Republican bill banning most abortions in North Carolina after 12 weeks of pregnancy won Senate approval in a 29-20, party-line vote Thursday. The state House passed the bill late Wednesday night, so it will soon land on Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. Cooper, a Democrat, has said he will veto the measure. The bill will […]
NC House passes 12-week abortion ban along party lines. The NC Senate votes Thursday.
House Republicans voted for new restrictions on abortion as members of the public heckled them and House Democrats filed a formal protest. The bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks passed along party lines Wednesday night, with 71 Republicans voting for it, including Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County, and 46 Democrats voting against it. […]
NC Republican abortion bill creates new hurdles throughout pregnancy
The new abortion restrictions that North Carolina Republican lawmakers are ready to adopt are more complicated than the post-12-week ban they described at a news conference Tuesday evening. The bill also imposes new restrictions on access for people who seek abortions throughout their pregnancies, including those who use abortion pills. New licensing requirements for abortion […]