This Week at the Capital

This bill would create an Interstate Medical Licensure Compact in North Carolina, which is an agreement among participating states to streamline the process for physicians to obtain licenses to practice across state lines.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would bolster the state’s health care workforce and enhance access to health care by allowing qualified doctors to more quickly acquire multi-state licensure while maintaining the authority and standards of state medical boards.

This bill aims to ensure admissions deferment and provide in-state tuition for active duty service members and certain honorably discharged veterans in college admissions in North Carolina.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to support and retain military personnel and their families in North Carolina.

This bill would revive and expand the high-need retired teacher program to allow retired teachers to return to work in high-need schools.

Why we’re supporting: Empowering North Carolinians through excellent education is essential to securing a skilled talent pipeline and achieving a competitive, diverse, and world-class workforce.  This bill would expand North Carolina’s supply of educators, bolstering the state’s education and workforce development efforts.

This bill aims to enhance financial support for disabled veterans in North Carolina by increasing the property tax homestead exclusion. Eligible veterans would be allowed to exclude a portion of their property’s appreciation value due to housing grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill also introduces a prequalification process, enabling veterans to determine their eligibility for this property tax relief even before owning a permanent residence. These changes are designed to ease the financial burden on disabled veterans and facilitate their home purchasing process.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to retain and support  transitioning military personnel and their families in North Carolina.

This bill aims to simplify the process for active duty military members to renew their driver’s licenses remotely. The change is designed to ease the burden on service members who may find it difficult to return home for in-person renewals while fulfilling their military duties.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to support and retain military personnel and their families in North Carolina.

This bill would create an Interstate Medical Licensure Compact for physician assistants (PAs) in North Carolina, enhancing the ease of PA practice across stateliness. The bill benefits military families by simplifying PA licensure for active-duty personnel and their spouses, allowing them to practice wherever they are stationed.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would bolster the state’s health care workforce and enhance access to health care by allowing qualified PAs to more quickly acquire multi-state licensure. The bill also benefits military families by simplifying PA licensure for active-duty personnel and their spouses, allowing them to practice wherever they are stationed.

This bill would create an Interstate Licensure Compact in North Carolina for the practice of social work. Interstate Licensure Compacts are agreements among participating states to streamline the process to obtain licenses to practice across state lines.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would promote mobility and address workforce shortages by  eliminating the need for separate licenses across states.

This bill would enhance the penalties for assaulting utility or communications workers in North Carolina. The legislation specifies that if such an assault occurs while the worker is identifiable as a utility employee and performing their duties, it should be treated as a Class A1 misdemeanor.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would protect those who serve essential utility and communications services.

This bill would establish a new classification under the North Carolina State Building Code specifically for family child care homes.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would simplify regulatory compliance while maintaining high safety standards for child care, expanding access to child care and addressing growing workforce challenges.

This bill would permit 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.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would help educate and grow North Carolina’s workforce and support and retain military personnel and their families in North Carolina.

This bill would establish a two-year pilot program that expands the child care workforce academies currently operating in Johnston and Wayne Counties.

Why we’re supporting: The bill supports education and workforce development and strengthening North Carolina’s talent pipeline by providing training for child care workers.

This bill directly addresses funding structures, policy reforms, and innovations in child care.

Why we’re monitoring: This bill is in alignment with goals of the NC Chamber Child Care Coalition’s mission to expand access and improve the business climate for child care providers in North Carolina. 

This bill would increase the child care subsidy market rates to the seventy-fifth percentile as recommended by the 2023 Child Care Market Rate Study for children in child care centers and homes with a rating of one to five stars.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would expand access to child care and address growing workforce challenges.

This bill requires the Community Colleges System to establish the Workforce Diploma Program to assist eligible students to obtain a high school diploma and develop employability and career and technical skills.

Why we’re supporting: The bill supports education and workforce development and strengthening North Carolina’s talent pipeline.

This bill aims to revive and enhance a program allowing retired teachers to return to work in high-need schools in North Carolina. Under this bill, retired educators can work without losing their retirement benefits while being employed as “high-need retired teachers.”

Why we’re supporting: This bill would help broaden the teacher talent pool in high-need areas.

This bill would introduce changes to North Carolina’s workplace violence prevention laws by specifically addressing the issue of mass picketing. The bill defines mass picketing and includes it under unlawful conduct.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would support a safer environment for workers and their employers.

This bill would incentivize individuals with active duty service in the armed forces to become teachers.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would expand North Carolina’s supply of educators, bolstering the state’s education and workforce development efforts.

This bill makes various child care regulatory reforms and provides flexibility in school-age child care.

Why we’re supporting: The bill would expand access to child care and address growing workforce challenges.

This bill aims to help people with court-related debt by removing the ability of the government to suspend driver’s licenses for unpaid fines or missed court appearances. It plans to reinstate licenses automatically and without fees for those affected.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would help remove barriers to employment due to court debt.

Businesses and the people they employ are the real payors to the health care system, and they want accessibility, predictability, and affordability in their health care. Increased costs in the system, through any means, but also including additional mandates, do not help us maintain our competitive position as a state.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would avoid increased costs in the health care system.

Businesses and the people they employ are the real payors to the health care system, and they want accessibility, predictability, and affordability in their health care. Increased costs in the system, through any means, but also including additional mandates, do not help us maintain our competitive position as a state.

Why we’re supporting: This bill would avoid increased costs in the health care system.

The legislation increases weekly unemployment insurance benefits and authorizes an employer tax credit for contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber is always vigilant about unemployment policy as we recognize it is your business’ money that is funding this system. This bill would help maintain the balance, integrity, and solvency of North Carolina’s unemployment system and give employers tax credit for contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

This legislation amends the workers’ compensation act definition of “injury and personal injury” regarding breakage or damage to eyeglasses and hearing aids.

Why we’re opposing: Workers’ compensation is an area where years of collaboration from all stakeholders yielded results for North Carolinians. The NC Chamber was key to an effort to modernize North Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws to ensure greater certainty for businesses while providing for injured workers’ medical needs, getting employees back to work as soon as possible, and ensuring that those permanently disabled receive needed benefits. Any policy that disrupts the balance of the workers’ compensation system is concerning for business.

This bill would grant labor organizations the full right to negotiate labor agreements and eliminate existing restrictions on public employees’ ability to organize.

Why we’re opposing: To be as competitive as possible in attracting new companies and enhancing the economic prospects of all North Carolinians, the NC Chamber continues to advocate to protect North Carolina’s right-to-work statute and ensure every person in North Carolina can pursue gainful employment without the requirement to join a union or pay union dues.

The legislation aims to regulate pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) by prohibiting spread pricing and ensuring uniform standards for specialty pharmacy accreditation. It mandates that PBMs cannot charge insurers more than they pay pharmacies for drugs and must base insureds’ out-of-pocket costs on net drug prices after concessions.

Why we are monitoring: We have concerns about the wide-ranging impact of this bill on the business community (large and small employers) and the many ways the bill either sets price floors, requires mandatory reimbursements, or takes away contracting flexibility from businesses. Provisions in this bill have the serious potential to drive up health insurance and health care costs for businesses and their employees. We continue to monitor and research this bill as it moves through the process.

This bill supports union membership by allowing North Carolina taxpayers to deduct the amount they pay in labor organization membership dues from their taxable income. This would make union dues eligible for a tax break.

Why we’re opposing: To be as competitive as possible in attracting new companies and enhancing the economic prospects of all North Carolinians, the NC Chamber continues to advocate to protect North Carolina’s right-to-work statute and ensure every person in North Carolina can pursue gainful employment without the requirement to join a union or pay union dues.

This bill would eliminate the interim date for carbon reduction by certain electric public utilities and allow an alternative cost recovery mechanism for construction work in progress for baseload electric generating facilities.

Why we’re supporting: As our state continues to experience exponential growth, it is more important now than ever before that North Carolina has a comprehensive, environmentally responsible strategy in place to ensure every corner of the state has access to reliable and affordable energy. We must keep all generation and storage solutions available to support grid modernization and improve access to renewables, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. This legislation does not pose a threat to organizations with renewable goals of their own as programs and tools will remain available to meet those goals.

This bill creates government mandates that are harmful to the business community.

Why we’re opposing: The NC Chamber opposes burdensome mandates on North Carolina employers that restrict their ability to predictably manage their operations. We believe the best way to ensure North Carolina remains a leading state to live, work, and raise a family is not by imposing mandates on employers, but by better aligning our talent development systems with the needs of our modern workforce to connect more North Carolinians with high-paying jobs.

The legislation aims to allow an “association, organization, society or other entity” to collectively represent an aggrieved person and all persons similarly situated to the person aggrieved as a result of a state agency rule.

Why we are supporting: This bill increases public transparency and engagement in the rulemaking process.

This bill 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.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to provide businesses with more predictability, including by clarifying and updating provisions related to officer exculpation, emergency bylaws, forum selection, and mergers. These changes can help businesses by reducing legal uncertainties and potential liabilities surrounding corporate governance. Businesses thrive on certainty and predictability in the legal system.

This bill aims to enhance oversight over regulations by modifying how rules proposed by state agencies are approved and enacted. This bill mandates that rules expected to significantly impact the economy must receive explicit approval from the General Assembly before they can take effect, specifically if their financial impact exceeds $1 million.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports regulatory reforms that create consistency in rule adoption across rulemaking bodies, encourage education over regulation to achieve compliance, and increase public transparency.

This bill would introduce comprehensive updates to the health insurance utilization review process in North Carolina. It revises definitions and criteria related to utilization review, including chronic conditions, clinical peer standards, and emergency services.

Why we are opposing: The NC Chamber opposes efforts that could increase costs through mandates and other unnecessary market intervention.

This bill would impose a tax on the state net income of every C Corporation doing business in North Carolina. The tax equals 2.25% of the taxpayer’s State net income.

Why we’re opposing: North Carolina leads the nation with one of the broadest-based and most competitive tax structures for business and individuals of all income levels, while maintaining reliable and stable revenues. We are focused on advancing tax modernization efforts that further improve North Carolina’s overall business climate by streamlining burdensome regulations, ensuring fair tax administration, improving outdated systems, and simplifying complicated policies.

The legislation introduces definitions and regulations for pharmacy deserts, independent pharmacies, and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs).

Why we’re monitoring: This bill is a vastly different bill regulating PBMs than in the past and as such we are monitoring it and doing our research to determine our stance.

This bill mandates additional food labeling and prohibits the use of specific substances, such as certain artificial colors and preservatives, in food products for human consumption.

Why we are opposing: The NC Chamber opposes measures that would harm the regulatory environment for the food manufacturing sector.

This bill amends G.S. 133-17 to allow individuals aggrieved by certain agency determinations to seek judicial review. It establishes that after exhausting all administrative remedies, individuals can file a petition in the superior court within 30 days of receiving the final agency determination. The court will conduct a de novo review without a jury, and may affirm, reverse, or modify the agency’s decision if it violates constitutional provisions, is not in accordance with the law, or is affected by other legal errors. The burden of proof lies with the aggrieved party. Appeals to the appellate division are permitted, and stays of determinations can be requested pending appeal outcomes.

Why we’re supporting: Taxpayers and the regulated community need transparency, predictability, and certainly in the legal and regulatory system. Processes like this enhance the state’s legal and regulatory climate, not only allowing for additional review of a decision in front of a regulatory agency, but by providing balance to the overall system.

This bill introduces updates to North Carolina’s revenue laws by making various technical and administrative changes. The bill introduces tax reforms, including new procedures for taxing partnerships at the partnership level for federal adjustments. It also seeks to provide tax parity for short-term car rentals by extending certain taxes to peer-to-peer rentals. Additionally, it modifies personal income tax laws and clarifies deductions and operations for taxing entities. This bill is designed to align state taxes more closely with federal policies.

Why we’re monitoring: The NC Chamber supports efforts to align state partnership audit procedures with federal standards, but are reviewing this bill to ensure there are no unintended consequences with the existing language. We are also supportive of parity between rental cars on the market to ensure maximum dollars flow to transportation needs across our state.

This bill introduces various changes to North Carolina’s tax laws. It modifies personal income tax deductions and additions related to S Corporations and net operating losses, effective for taxable years beginning January 1, 2025. It aligns state partnership audit procedures with federal standards, requiring partnerships to report and pay state taxes on federal adjustments. The bill also updates sales tax regulations for remote sellers and marketplace facilitators, effective upon enactment.

Why we’re monitoring: The NC Chamber supports efforts to align state partnership audit procedures with federal standards, but are reviewing this bill to ensure there are no unintended consequences with the existing language. We are also supportive of parity between rental cars on the market to ensure maximum dollars flow to transportation needs across our state.

This legislation increases workers’ compensation benefits and ties the maximum compensation amount to the consumer price index.

Why we’re opposing: Workers’ compensation is an area where years of collaboration from all stakeholders yielded results for North Carolinians. The NC Chamber was key to an effort to modernize North Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws to ensure greater certainty for businesses while providing for injured workers’ medical needs, getting employees back to work as soon as possible, and ensuring that those permanently disabled receive needed benefits. Any policy that disrupts the balance of the workers’ compensation system is concerning for business.

This bill would make numerous changes to laws impacting consumer legal funding contracts in North Carolina. It legalizes and provides a regulatory framework for consumer legal funding contracts and would permit consumer legal funding companies to pay non-recourse loans to an individual who is experiencing financial hardship during litigation. The bill establishes rate caps and charge maximums on these types of loans, while also expressly requiring that these types of loans be subject to disclosure and discovery during a case.   

Why we’re monitoring: We opposed the bill in 2023 (SB 176 2023) due to our concern that third-party litigation funding would increase the number of or prolong frivolous lawsuits. We have been engaged in negotiations to ensure that the bill filed this year would include several needed changes in order for us to remain neutral on the legislation. While we tend to not support anything that prolongs the litigation process or creates friction while settling a case, we believe the framework presented in this bill will lead to a balanced understanding of consumer legal funding and its impact on litigation in North Carolina.

This bill introduces a new criminal offense for the unlawful distribution of deepfakes, defined as deceptive images or recordings depicting individuals in actions or speech they did not perform. It is illegal to create, distribute, or solicit deepfakes without the depicted individual’s consent, especially for harmful purposes or to influence elections. Violations are classified as Class 1 misdemeanors, and courts may order the destruction of such deepfakes. Additionally, affected individuals can pursue civil actions for damages, including actual and punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Why we’re monitoring: We are monitoring this comprehensive AI regulatory reform legislation to ensure a balanced approach that fosters innovation without over-regulating industry. Our AI Working Group is dedicated to analyzing this and other bills, providing expert insights, and advocating for policies that support responsible AI development while maintaining North Carolina’s competitive edge in technology and business.

This bill would task the Legislative Research Commission with studying the potential abolition of contributory negligence in North Carolina. The contributory negligence standard is based on the notion that a plaintiff generally should be ineligible to recover damages from a situation caused or exacerbated by their own negligence, while the comparative negligence standard allows damages to be assessed based on an allocation of negligence among the parties involved.

Why we’re opposing: Contributory negligence is a longstanding aspect of North Carolina law that contributes to a well-established interplay of checks and balances on our civil liability system. This system of checks and balances helps promote the fair and reasonable treatment of both plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury cases and sets our competitive legal climate apart from those of most other states. Components of this system also ensure that “contributory negligence” does not bar a plaintiff’s recovery in just cases, like when a defendant is found to have engaged in willful or wanton misconduct. Moving away from the contributory negligence standard would raise litigation costs on job creators, and threaten businesses and individuals alike with higher liability insurance rates, damaging legal predictability and undermining the reestablishment of a top-10 business legal climate here in North Carolina. One noted 1991 study concluded that any state abandoning contributory negligence should expect to see significant liability cost increases across their tort systems.

This bill would allow local governments in North Carolina to borrow money to speed up local transportation projects funded under the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

Why we’re monitoring: The NC Chamber is committed to innovative solutions for funding transportation projects in our growing state. The needs in our infrastructure system are only growing and greatly outpace the revenue we commit to transportation projects as a state. Ideas as an infrastructure bank should also be reviewed for their ability to leverage private dollars and other public dollars to fund projects.

This bill aims to improve safety and damage prevention related to underground utilities in North Carolina. Key provisions include clearer responsibilities for both facility operators and excavators about marking and notifying before any excavation.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to improve the safety and reliability of utilities in North Carolina.

This bill would require PFAS manufacturers to pay public water system costs incurred by public water system to remove contamination from water. Retroactive payments would be required starting on Jan. 1, 2017.

Why we’re opposing: Rather than working with the regulated community to balance economic growth and environmental stewardship, the bill discourages businesses from coming to and expanding in North Carolina because of the omnipresence of PFAS in consumer and commercial goods. The bill would disincentives public water systems from working with the regulated community to ensure North Carolinians have clean drinking water.

The bill would modify the calculation of transportation goods unit pricing costs by requiring the Department of Transportation to adopt procedures to streamline project delivery. This includes consolidating environmental review processes, expediting multiagency reviews, and accelerating right-of-way acquisitions.

This bill would prohibit local governments from enacting, adopting, or enforcing environmental ordinances and regulations that are more restrictive than those of state or federal law.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts that prevent a patchwork of regulations across the state and create predictability, consistency, and clarity.

This bill aims to expand the definitions of clean energy and renewable energy facilities to allow more facilities achieve clean energy and energy efficiency portfolio standard.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts that encourage an all of the above energy strategy to meet increasing energy demands in the state.

This bill aims to reform local government regulations concerning development in North Carolina in order to enhance housing availability and streamline local government processes.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to address challenges to housing availability to improve opportunities for the state’s workforce. Addressing North Carolina’s housing crisis is also a critical investment in our state’s future and one that could generate $489 billion in economic activity and nearly 2.2 million jobs. 

This bill would initiate a study to explore alternative methods for highway funding in North Carolina. The study would examine options such as implementing a fee structure for electric and hybrid vehicles to ensure equitable contributions to highway maintenance and construction, and the possibility of a vehicle miles traveled fee, access user fee, or a flat fee based on average annual mileage.

Why we’re supporting: The NC Chamber supports efforts to introduce a modernized transportation funding structure in North Carolina to keep our residents and visitors safe, improve our quality of life, and meet the demands of a growing state in an increasingly competitive business environment.

The bill mandates a study to explore alternative methods for highway funding in North Carolina, aiming to supplement or replace the current gas tax system.

Why we’re supporting: It’s important that we drive the long term transportation funding discussion ahead as a state and start to look at bold and transformative solutions like the Access User Fee to replace outdated methods of funding our transportation infrastructure.

The bill would establish a state infrastructure bank in North Carolina. The NC Chamber Foundation recently released a white paper to educate North Carolina leaders and stakeholders on the potential benefits of a state infrastructure bank.

Why we’re supporting: This type of sustainable and innovative funding mechanism could accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure projects by leveraging private and federal funding.