north carolina general assembly

Henderson County state representative Chuck McGrady will not seek re-election to his seat next year in the North Carolina General Assembly.  The Republican lawmaker announced his decision Monday via email and social media, saying after five terms it's time for him to “turn my focus back home to my friends and family.”

Ahead of Thursday’s crossover day in the North Carolina General Assembly, the state house has approved a bill that bans hand-held use of cell phones by drivers.  The fine for the offense would be $100.  The final vote in House Tuesday morning was 92-23.  It now moves on to the Senate. 

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Duke Energy Corp. is pushing North Carolina legislators to allow the country's largest electric company to line up profitable infrastructure projects years into the future and bypass lengthy regulatory battles.

The state Senate could take up legislation later this week after it was cleared by a committee Tuesday.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the North Carolina House unveiling its state government budget proposal (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

House Republicans say the teacher pay proposals in their state government budget plan focus on retaining veteran educators and recruiting newcomers to work in rural and low-wealth counties.

The chamber's budget-writers on Tuesday highlighted public education and other items in the two-year spending bill. Rep. Donny Lambeth of Winston-Salem says average teacher pay will rise 4.8 percent next year in the House plan

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a measure Thursday written by Republicans and backed by social conservatives that addresses a doctor's responsibilities if a later-term abortion results in an infant born alive.

Cooper announced his decision two days after the General Assembly sent him a measure telling health care practitioners to grant those newborns the same protections as other patients. Those who don't could face a felony and active prison time, along with fines and potential civil damages.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's legislature gave final passage Tuesday to a bill to require doctors and nurses to care for babies born alive during a failed late-term abortion or face big penalties, a measure opponents deemed legally unnecessary and a threat to abortion providers.

House lawmakers followed a day after Senate counterparts in approving the bill, which would mean prison time and big fines for medical practitioners who don't give children born despite a botched abortion the same protections as any other newborn.

With no discussion and little opposition the North Carolina Senate quickly passed S.B 154 that would allow sports and off-track betting at the Cherokee and Murphy casinos owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina House Republicans pushed legislation through their chamber Wednesday requiring all county sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents, particularly by complying with written requests to hold criminal defendants.

But the party-line 63-51 vote to force sheriffs to fulfill Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests signals that GOP lawmakers could find themselves short in overcoming any potential veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. The measure now goes to the Senate.

Asheville mayor Esther Manheimer says the city’s response has been delayed to a 2018 General Assembly measure forcing election districts to be created for future city council elections because Asheville did not have a city attorney for several months.  Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Manheimer says that all should change now that Brad Branham will take over as city attorney April 8th.

The North Carolina Democratic Party is calling on Western North Carolina Republican Rep. Cody Henson to resign after a criminal summons was issued against him this week by the Transylvania County's Sheriff's Office.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is ready to share his agenda to a North Carolina legislature that became more Democratic after November election results and to the public.

Cooper is delivering the biennial State of the State address on Monday evening to a joint session of the General Assembly at the Legislative Building.

Republicans still hold a majority in both the House and Senate but no longer have veto-proof control after Democrats picked up 16 additional seats. Cooper contributed to that improvement by raising millions of campaign dollars.

Henderson County Republican state representative Chuck McGrady is introducing a second bill in the General Assembly for this session that would create non-partisan redistricting in North Carolina.  This newest measure would leave the decision of whether changes are needed to redrawing of congressional and legislative election maps to voters via a proposed amendment to the state constitution.  If approved, it would be on the 2020 ballot.  Last week McGrady and supporters introduced a bill that would create an independent commission to handle redrawing of districts every ten years.  

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina legislature is weighing anew whether changing how liquor sales have been regulated for decades is worth boosting the number of retail outlets selling spirits with what critics call the risks of increased alcohol consumption.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Following a short break from the pomp of swearings-in, the North Carolina General Assembly returns to work in earnest Wednesday for a budget-writing session that traditionally lasts until early summer.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina Democratic legislator is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Thom Tillis.

State Sen. Erica Smith, from Northampton County in the northeast, announced her 2020 bid to unseat Tillis on Saturday through social media and at a Democratic Party gathering in Charlotte. Smith is a math instructor and ordained minister first elected to the legislature in 2014.

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller also announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination last week. Primaries are in March 2020.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Democratic Party says it spent over $16 million during the past two-year election cycle — millions more than its Republican counterpart — on the way to picking up more General Assembly and statewide court seats.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly opened a new two-year session Wednesday with Republicans still in charge but acknowledging Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democrats now have more pull thanks to their November election gains.

The House and Senate gaveled in at midday for one-day ceremonial and organizational meetings. Lawmakers will return in three weeks to begin the session in earnest.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The first half of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's term was confrontational even before it began, as Republican legislators rammed through laws swiping away some of his powers even before he got sworn in. He sued over those laws, issued a record number of vetoes — most of them overridden — and exchanged sharp rejoinders with the GOP.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Litigation challenging North Carolina legislative districts on arguments they excessively favor Republicans to the point of violating the state constitution will remain in state court.

A federal judge Wednesday ordered the case stay in Wake County Superior Court, where Democrats and election reform advocates filed their partisan gerrymandering lawsuit in November. U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan wrote she'd explain her reasoning later.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly has finalized legislation implementing the voter photo identification mandate approved in a statewide referendum last month.

The Senate voted 25-7 on Thursday to accept House changes to the measure and sent it to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a voter ID opponent. Republicans in charge of the legislature can override a Cooper veto if they stay united.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A voter photo identification bill won state House approval Wednesday, a proposal now also altered to try to improve absentee ballot security in North Carolina in light of fraud allegations in a congressional district.

The House version of legislation detailing how a new constitutional amendment mandating photo ID to vote in person is carried out starting in mid-2019 also directs the state elections board next year to figure out how people requesting mail-in absentee ballots also must offer ID.