The General Assembly came back to Raleigh this week to take up the override of Governor Stein’s veto of fourteen bills passed before the legislature abruptly suspended the 2025 Session in late June.

While the GOP holds a majority of the seats in both chambers of the state legislature, only in the Senate is there the three-fifths supermajority (30 of 50 seats) needed to override a gubernatorial veto on a party-line vote.

In the House, Republicans hold 71 of 120 seats, so one shy of the needed margin. But, as House Speaker Destin Hall said back in January when the current session kicked off, the GOP has ‘practical’ super majority as one of a small number of House Democrats would be likely to join in with Republicans on a veto override given the specifics of the legislation in question.

That’s exactly what came to pass as a handful of Democratic House members sided with GOP members in that chamber to override the gubernatorial veto of eight bills.

One of the bills Governor Stein had vetoed, HB 96, dealt with enhancing the process by which unwanted squatters can be removed from a property, but had a provision added just before was passed in June to loosen laws regarding the regulation of animals sold in pet shops.

The message attached to Stein’s veto of that bill stated the pet shop provision was why he was opposed, so a ‘clean’ version, SB 55, with just the language regarding squatters was passed by both chambers this week and sent to Governor Stein for his signature, rather than attempting an veto override vote.

After two days of work, the legislature passed an adjournment resolution that has them scheduled to return to Raleigh on August 26^th and once a month after that, should there be action needed on the remaining vetoed bills not taken up this week by the House, or progress made on a state budget that necessitates a vote.

We’ll send out a Raleigh Report should any state legislative action actually take place.

Also this week

• While there is still no sign of progress relative to the impasse between the state House and Senate on a state budget, legislators did this week pass a ‘mini budget’ that contained a number of spending provisions the two chambers do agree on, including additional funds for public schools, community colleges and state university to account for enrollment growth.
  
  
• In the ongoing efforts to address complaints about long wait times at DMV, the House advanced legislations (HB 245) to expand use of remote services including allowing a second consecutive online renewal and for issuance of full provisional license under the graduated driver’s license (GDL) law.

IIANC lobbyist Joe Stewart, who also chairs the board of the traffic safety non-profit, NC Alliance for Safe Transportation (NCAST), was featured in the WRAL TV story on the proposal.

• A combined House and Senate oversight committee also got an update on the state’s recovery efforts in western NC from the Division of Emergency Management and from the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western NC (GROW NC).

The House also rolled out a proposal to create a permanent independent commission to deal with the aftermath of natural disasters in the state, combining a number of existing agencies under a board appointed by legislators and the Governor.

Finally...

In the contest to fill North Carolina’s US Senate seat being vacated by Thom Tillis, after months of speculation former governor Roy Cooper has now formally announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination next March, with former state and national Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley this week officially kicking off his effort to seek the GOP nomination.

Others may enter the race, but Cooper and Whatley (who got a public endorsement of his campaign from President Trump) are the likely frontrunners. Political ads have already started to appear even though the official candidate filing period doesn’t open until December.

As it has in past election years, the IIANC’s Governmental Affairs program will provide regular updates for IIANC members on all the hot races to watch in 2026.

This week IIANC lobbyist Joe Stewart joined IIANC member Senate Vickie Sawyer on her weekly radio show, We’re Just Saying, broadcast on a Mooresville station. Stewart and Senator Sawyer recapped for listeners the actions taken this week by the state legislature.