A measure brought about by a lawsuit against the state from craft brewers easily cleared another legislative hurdle Wednesday, May 15. House Bill 363 and its companion, Senate Bill 246, would maintain the state alcohol regulation system’s current three-tier system — producers, wholesalers, and retailers — but add a new, mid-level classification of brewers to...
A pair of alcohol-related bills sailed through the N.C. House on Tuesday, April 16, without debate. House Bill 363, Craft Beer Distribution and Modernization Act, passed its third reading, 104-8. House Bill 389, Alcoholic Beverage Control/University Athletic Facility, passed 88-24. The craft beer bill maintains the current three-tier system — producers, wholesalers, and retailers —...
Editor’s note: This story was updated 11 a.m. Friday, March 15. A collection of lawmakers, lawyers, lobbyists, and brewers gathered for a news conference Thursday, March 14, to talk about a pair of bills that, if passed into law, would even further energize North Carolina’s thriving craft beer market. Collaboration, common ground, and a collective...
The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 214 Wednesday, March 13, to drop voter identification requirements from 2019 elections, and sent it to Gov. Roy Cooper. The bill removed student IDs as an acceptable photo ID for casting ballots. The first time university-issued student identification and state agency employee IDs could be used to vote would...
The House approved a bill Wednesday, Feb. 27, asking voters to enshrine eminent domain restrictions in the state constitution. The measure passed easily, by a 94-21 vote. House Bill 3 would restrict eminent domain in the state to “public use” and require just compensation to be decided by a jury. Reps. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell; Chuck...
The House Rules Committee gave a favorable report on Monday, Feb. 25 to a bill proposing a constitutional amendment limiting the use of eminent domain for economic development. Only one member, Rep. Darren Jackson, D-Wake, voted against the bill. House Bill 3 aims to enshrine eminent domain restrictions into the state constitution. Reps. Destin Hall,...
No one knows for sure, really, when the current session of the N.C. legislature will end. But Lee Lilley, Gov. Roy Cooper’s director of legislative affairs, did offer this: “The session ends when we get Medicaid expansion.” Lilley took the question during the News & Observer’s Community Voices series event, Wednesday, Jan. 30. Joining Lilley...
The nearly two-year battle over the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement may come to a close soon with the General Assembly essentially handing Gov. Roy Cooper a victory in the separation-of-powers struggle. Lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday, Dec. 12, to return the elections and ethics boards to two separate agencies with the governor having...
Republican lawmakers unveiled a new bill at a Tuesday, Dec. 11 news conference which would return the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to two separate boards after years of court battles over the merger. And then they made a major change while the bill was in committee. Sponsors initially included a controversial provision...
Too broad. Too narrow. Too lenient. Too stringent. These descriptors were tossed around the N.C. House floor during a Dec. 5 debate over a bill which codifies a new constitutional amendment requiring voters to present photo identification at the ballot box. Fifty-five percent of North Carolina voters on Nov. 6 affirmed a legislative proposal to...
After several court battles and a failed constitutional amendment, the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement may once again become separate boards. Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett on Monday, Dec. 3, introduced House Bill 1117, which would reconfigure and split the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. The Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics...
