Hundreds of bills made it past the North Carolina General Assembly’s crossover deadline, the date by which bills must pass from the House to the Senate, or vice versa, to stay alive for consideration in the 2025-26 legislative session. Bills that failed to pass the crossover deadline may be re-introduced in a later session.
Macon County legislators, Rep. Karl Gillespie and Sen. Kevin Corbin talked with the Press about some of the bills they sponsored.
House of Representatives
HB184, titled “Promote North Carolina Sawmills,” seeks to do just that by providing “a grading system that would allow for individuals to cut and sell lumber produced on their property,” Gillespie said. “Most older homes in North Carolina were built with lumber that was locally produced, and this would allow that to happen again.”
HB382, titled “Elk Permit Auction/Raffle,” would direct the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) to issue a pair of elk permits for the 2026 hunting season, Gillespie said. One of these permits would be issued through a raffle conducted by the commission and one through auction with a conservation nonprofit to be selected by the commission.
“For hunting seasons after the 2026 hunting season,” Gillespie said, “WRC would be authorized to continue issuing elk permits through the raffle and auction program based on its evaluation of its elk management goals. This bill would also direct WRC to report to the legislature on the effectiveness of the auction and raffle programs.”
Gillespie added that proceeds from the raffle would go to the Wildlife Resources Fund for elk conservation and management.
HB512, titled “Emergency Care/Animals/Veterinary Practice,” would allow Emergency Medical Services to administer emergency treatment to injured police dogs without fear of legal liability. Gillespie said the bill was initially introduced in a previous session by Rep. Wayne Sasser but did not pass the Senate. Gillespie reintroduced the bill in the 2025-26 session following Sasser’s retirement.
The Press also asked about a pair of bills Gillespie was not the primary sponsor of but voted in favor of.
House Bill 379, “Application for a Convention of the States,” seeks a convention of the states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution in response to debt issues. Gillespie said the scope of the convention would be limited to “imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and limiting the terms of office for federal government officials and for members of congress.”
Gillespie said the convention application would “continue until the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the states have also made applications on the same subject.”
HB636, titled “Promoting Wholesome Content for Students” would require public schools to develop and maintain school library content boards. The boards would be required to consider requests for the removal of content from any resident of the county, even those neither affiliated with the system nor with students in the system.
Gillespie said, “Public schools are funded by all taxpayers, not just those with children in the system. That means every resident has a stake in how schools are run and the content they provide. Schools serve the entire community by shaping the next generation and it’s reasonable for any taxpayer to expect transparency, accountability and a say in the standards being upheld — regardless of whether they have children in the classroom.”
Senate
Sen. Kevin Corbin serves as the chairman of the Senate’s Education/Higher Education committee and several of his sponsored bills related to the community college system.
SB124, titled “Reduce Barriers to State Employment,” would require state-level human resources to “regularly” assess the requirements for public positions and to discern where practical experience is an effective substitute for a degree. Corbin said this change would help to address ongoing hiring issues on the state level that have led to more than 2,000 vacant jobs.
“The idea was for it to be a work in progress,” Corbin said, “to work with the State Employees Association and the State Employees Office … It just basically makes it easier to apply for and get state jobs. Makes it easier for the state to get and retain qualified people.”
Many of the community college-related bills were added to an omnibus, including portions of SB125 that would create, organize and administer a system of education institutions that offer two-year degrees and ensure that they are funded. SB133, titled “NCCCS Learning Management System,” would authorize the State Board of Community Colleges to ask for a new learning management system, basically letting them replace their current system with “Propel NC,” a modernized system that has been updated to 2025’s standards.
Corbin said the bill was also added to the omnibus, and the college board should complete its transition to a new learning management system by 2027. “North Carolina’s got one of the best community college systems in the country,” he said.
Other omnibus provisions in the bill would help community colleges save money by combining existing, similar courses and by sharing courses or programs with neighboring colleges, thus reducing the amount of classroom space needed, especially in classes with few students, according to Corbin.
SB229, titled “Authorize NIL Agency Contracts,” authorizes Name, Image, Likeness agency contracts and exempts them from college records requirements, effectively making it so that athletes do not have to disclose when they have entered these contracts. Corbin said this bill would help protect student athletes.
SB449, titled, “Fiscal Responsibility and K-20 Tech Planning,” would require school systems to evaluate long-term costs of technology when purchasing this technology. Corbin said this measure would require transparency and promote fiscal responsibility within public school systems.
SB528, titled, “Child Care Regulatory Reforms & Flexibilities,” would loosen restrictions on early childcare professional requirements, offering exemptions for degree requirements when commiserate experience is present and allowing more children per class if necessary in certain child care centers.
Corbin said that this bill was designed to address the state’s ongoing childcare shortage and “make it easier for childcare folks to keep and maintain their license.”
Budget
Discussing the ongoing budgetary process, in which both the N.C. House and Senate are negotiating their proposed budgets, Corbin said the negotiations were not moving quickly.
Corbin said the income tax rate was 7.5% when he started in the legislature nine years ago, but legislators have since reduced it to 4.25%, and it is scheduled to be reduced further to 3.99% in agreements from three years ago.
The main source of disagreement appears to lie in the tax schedule, Corbin said. Within the Senate budget, if the state reaches certain revenue requirements in future years, revenue triggers will automatically reduce the tax rate further. The House proposal raised the floor required for those triggers to activate, making it less likely to see the automatic tax rate reduction.
Corbin said based on his experience speaking with his education committee counterparts in the House, it should be possible to negotiate a budget once the tax schedule negotiations are complete. “That’s up to other people than me,” he said.
Corbin said they had hoped to have a budget by the end of the fiscal year (June 30), but “it does not appear that’s likely,”
It is expected that the N.C. General Assembly will adjourn for the summer break without a budget for the 2025-26 year beginning July 1. On Monday, the state Senate approved a bill that would authorize new spending in some areas of state government after June 30, according to a report from NC Newsline.