iNorth Carolina Republicans filed House Bill 76, a Medicaid expansion bill, in the state House Wednesday, kicking off this year’s debate over whether to extend healthcare to hundreds of thousands of the state’s working class.
Around half a million North Carolinians would gain access to health insurance if the state expands Medicaid. Nearly every other state has already done so, through a process laid out in the Affordable Care Act.
ANTI-RIOT BILL MOVING QUICKLY
House Bill 40, a bill increasing punishments for violent protests following the 2020 demonstrations over George Floyd's murder, passed the North Carolina House on Wednesday despite harsh criticism from social justice advocates. Some bipartisan support signals a potential override of any veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who issued one that blocked similar legislation two years ago.
Like the 2021 proposal, the new bill was spearheaded by Republican House Speaker Tim Moore, who has cited rioting and looting that he saw firsthand in downtown Raleigh in June 2020 amid otherwise peaceful protests as an impetus for the legislation.
The bill, which has one House Democrat as a chief sponsor, cleared the chamber 75-43 with six Democrats and all Republicans present voting yes. It now heads to the Senate.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Medical marijuana will be back up for discussion this legislative session. It’s back with the same name: The N.C. Compassionate Care Act.
If medical marijuana becomes legal in North Carolina, people with certain medical conditions, like cancer, could get prescribed the drug. “I have a lot of veterans, a lot of people I know, who this could make a big difference in their life going forward,” Rep. Garland Pierce (D-Hoke) said.
VOTER ID AND REDISTRICTING REHEARINGS
The new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rehear redistricting and voter identification cases less than two months after the court’s previous edition, led by Democrats, issued major opinions going against GOP legislators who had been sued.
The rehearings ultimately could lead to new opinions that reinstate the photo ID mandate, and strike down precedent from the Supreme Court in February 2022 that declared the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. That landmark redistricting ruling prevented maps drawn by Republican legislators that were expected to secure long-term Republican advantages in the General Assembly and within the state’s congressional delegation.
SAFE SURRENDER BILL ADVANCES
On Thursday, the North Carolina Senate will vote on Senate Bill 20, the “Safe Surrender Infants” bill, which aims to expand the state’s newborn safe surrender law. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jim Burgin, R-Lee, cleared the Rules and Operations Committee on Wednesday after being approved by the Health Care and Judiciary Committees.
Senate Bill 20 would amend House Bill 275, the “Infant Homicide Prevention Act,” which was signed into law in 2001. The bill would decriminalize the act of parental abandonment for a newborn not more than seven days old, as long as the infant is not a victim of neglect or abuse.
Currently, the law prefers that the infant be placed in the temporary custody of a healthcare provider, law enforcement officer, social services worker, or emergency medical services worker.
The main change in SB20 is that it removes the option of surrendering to any individual in an effort to help prevent human trafficking.
