NC House looks to clear most of its plate this week

The North Carolina state House returns to work this week to take what may be its last votes before the November election. 

House Republicans are set to give final consideration to two elections bills, one of them controversial. 

House Bill 958, which makes changes to a range of voting practices, is on the House agenda for Tuesday. The Senate passed its version of the bill along party lines  last week, and the House will decide whether to accept the Senate’s changes.

Among other changes, the Senate added a provision that would reduce the early voting period in primaries, run-offs, and special elections from 17 days to 10 days.

House Bill 834, which focuses on ballot counting and obtaining missing voter signatures, is also scheduled for a House vote Tuesday. That bill passed the Senate unanimously last week.

Budget changes

The House is set to consider bills that make changes to the state budget. One of those bills, House Bill 268, is a hodgepodge of changes that includes a provision that kicks Secretary of State Elaine Marshall off of a state commission that oversees local government finances, and another that would force a governor’s Cabinet appointees out of their jobs if the Senate does not approve them during a two-year legislative session. 

The House will also consider a separate, smaller budget bill that includes an appropriation for hyperbaric oxygen therapy and approves an “America’s Semiquincentennial” license plate. 

Hemp

A bill that would ban intoxicating hemp products is perched in the House, with the Senate having passed it in early July. The bill is the product of negotiations between senators and House members.

The bill would have North Carolina law match a federal law taking effect in November that outlaws consumable products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC derived from hemp. 

The bill also outlaws possession of hemp-derived consumables by people younger than 21. 

Businesses that specialize in sale of hemp-derived consumable products say the proposed THC limit will be a death blow. They are trying to prevent House approval. 

‘Doing nothing was not an option’: NC Senate votes to crack down on hemp

Veto overrides

The House has put a bill banning encampments by homeless people on its Tuesday calendar, teeing up a vote to override Stein’s veto. 

House Bill 437 passed the House with a veto-proof majority in April. The bill would require local governments to crack down on people sleeping on sidewalks, storefronts, or rights of way. Local governments would be permitted to set up homeless camps on public property for up to a year when there is insufficient space in shelters. 

Another veto override of a bill allowing residents 18 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit or safety training has remained on the House’s schedule without a vote for months. The Senate, which has a veto-proof majority, cancelled Stein’s veto of that bill last year.  

Adjournment

The House is set to vote Wednesday on the adjournment resolution the Senate passed last week. It provides for brief monthly sessions into November.  

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, told reporters last week that he did not anticipate any more Senate votes until after the election.