The NC Chamber had made significant progress on the 2025 Legislative Agenda, with ten bills signed into law and two vetoes of pro-growth policy successfully overridden. Let’s break it down. 

Pro-Business Policies Signed into Law 

P3 Cap Raised
The NC Chamber was pleased to see a long-supported provision that increases the cap on public-private partnership agreements for DOT and the Turnpike Authority included in an omnibus piece of legislation signed into law on July 1. The cap on P3s has been raised from three to six. The policy was included in our 2025 Legislative Agenda as P3s are a critical tool for investing in infrastructure to support our state’s growing population, as well as its economic growth. Learn more about the value of public-private partnerships. 

Interstate Licensure Streamlined
The signing of H231 and H67 creates an Interstate Licensure Compact in North Carolina for the practice of both social work and medical licensure. Interstate Licensure Compacts are agreements among participating states to streamline the process of obtaining licenses to practice across state lines. This policy will promote mobility and address workforce shortages by eliminating the need for separate licenses across states. The NC Chamber has long been supportive of these compacts to accelerate workforce transitions. 

Barriers Removed for Child Care Businesses
Signed into law on July 1, H412 directly addresses funding structures, policy reforms, and innovations in child care. It includes policies that the NC Chamber has been championing for a couple years now, based on research from the NC Chamber Foundation. Learn more. 

Added Certainty in Corporate Governance
Signed into law on July 1, H388 / S267 amends the North Carolina Business Corporations Act to include provisions for officer exculpation, allowing articles of incorporation to limit or eliminate personal liability for officers under certain conditions. Emergency bylaws and powers are clarified, allowing for specific actions during emergencies, such as postponing shareholder meetings and using remote communication. These provisions help businesses by reducing legal uncertainties and potential liabilities surrounding corporate governance.   

Connecting Military Personnel with Education
H373, signed into law last month, permits constituent institutions of the UNC System to provide discounted tuition to persons receiving military tuition assistance or persons enrolled in an employer-sponsored financial support program. This policy will help educate and grow North Carolina’s workforce and support and retain military personnel and their families in North Carolina. 

Protecting Safety and Reliability of Utilities
H247 improves safety and damage prevention related to underground utilities in North Carolina through clearer responsibilities for both facility operators and excavators on marking and notifying before any excavation. 

Redevelopment of Contaminated Properties Incentivized
Passage of S387 makes several revisions to the Brownfields Property Reuse Act, which is designed to encourage redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties. The bill modifies tax incentives and fee structures for properties undergoing environmental cleanup and redevelopment. The changes provide more clarity and financial incentives for cleaning up and redeveloping contaminated properties in North Carolina. 

Preventing Workplace Violence 
S311, signed into law, continues to allow employees to engage in mass picketing, while minimizing workplace violence against employees who choose not to participate, in addition to protecting the lineworkers that serve our communities. North Carolina is the first state in the nation to pass this protection from mass picketing activities. 

Increasing Pharmacy Access
S479, also signed into law, makes pharmacy access fairer, improves cost transparency, protects independent pharmacies, and ensures consumers and policymakers have the information and safeguards necessary to navigate prescription drug benefits, especially in rural areas where many small businesses are located. 

Successfully Overriding Vetoes That Threaten Economic Growth

The vetoes of S266 and H402 were threats to North Carolina’s economic growth and the NC Chamber successfully advocated for an override vote of both bills.  

The veto message for Senate Bill 266: The Power Bill Reduction Act suggested a cost to ratepayers that was determined by an analysis comprised of worst-case scenarios.  The research wildly overexaggerates gas prices and completely ignores the cost to build infrastructure and ensure reliability.  

S266 also maintains a commitment to carbon emission reduction. The interim reduction target that was in place was a constraint on the planning process as it required significant levels of new renewable resources to be front loaded into the plan, which increases costs to customers. If the 70% interim target was left in place, recent changes in federal tax policy for renewable energy sources could actually have a significant upward cost impact, whereas implementing the policies in S266 create savings significantly higher than the Public Staff’s original $13-billion estimate.  

This is an incredibly nuanced issue, and our state cannot afford to cherry pick its data.  S266 upholds North Carolina’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as set forth in House Bill 951. While some may prefer a more accelerated timeline, preserving this goal in a bipartisan framework is a meaningful step forward for both sustainability and economic certainty.   

Despite a veto message referencing environmental protections, House Bill 402: Limit Rules With Substantial Financial Costs actually focuses on the regulatory process and ensures that rulemaking bodies operate within the authority that was granted to them by the state legislature. We are pleased that the override of this veto will restore certainty in the rulemaking process. 

While Feds Were Unsuccessful, NC May Still Act

Though Senator Thom Tillis’ efforts to curb dark money in courtrooms were not successful, the issue is still very much alive in North Carolina. The NC Chamber continues to advocate for a state ban on third party litigation investment and is hopeful to see movement on the issue via the provision in H315 later this month. Learn more about outsiders secretly using courtrooms as a trading floor.

For more information on the bills the NC Chamber is tracking, members can review their weekly edition of This Week at the Capital in the Business Matters newsletter. Not a member? Let’s talk.