Why protesters gathered in downtown Raleigh — to read books on the lawn
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I’m Sophia Bailly. Here’s a rundown of the buzz and bustle around the Legislature.
Rep. Julie von Haefen apologized Tuesday evening on the floor of the state House of Representatives for a social media post that drew backlash and calls for her resignation.
On Saturday, the day of No Kings anti-Trump protests around the country, the Apex Democrat posted a video with an image of a protester holding what appeared to be a beheaded President Trump. After deleting the photo as well as her X account, von Haefen apologized online. Tuesday, she apologized to her colleagues and constituents. Ronni Butts has more.
Capitol Bureau Chief Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan has the latest on state budget talks. She learned that the budget likely won’t pass before the beginning of the new fiscal year — and before legislators go on a break. She explains the sticking points of the debate and what this delay means for state employee raises.
READ-IN TO PROTEST BANNING OF BOOKS FROM SCHOOL LIBRARIES
Dozens of people of all ages read banned books Tuesday on the Legislative Building’s lawn, protesting a proposal to make it easier to remove books from school libraries.
Legislation passed by the state House would require school districts to set up community library advisory committees to review book challenges from parents and non-parents. The Senate has not yet acted on HB636.
The progressive group Red Wine and Blue organized Tuesday’s read-in, which included visits to the offices of state lawmakers. The group brought several books to read but steered clear of some of the books with sexual content questioned by critics such as “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy.”
Instead, people — including a group of young children from a summer camp — could read from books such as “When Aidan Became A Brother.” The book has been challenged in some schools because it features a trangender child and is intended for young readers.
Morgan Taylor, 16, made the trip from Greenville to read the book “Blended.” Access was recently limited in New Hanover County elementary schools because a parent complained the book describes a police officer shooting an 11-year-old multiracial girl during a traffic stop.
Taylor has promoted giving students the ability to read diverse books as part of her campaign platform as 2025 Miss United States of America Teen North Carolina.
“I know that growing up, if I had lacked diverse books, I wouldn’t be the person that I am now,” said Taylor, who is Black. “I wouldn’t have the same understanding of myself and of my people and of my history.”
— T. Keung Hui
SOME FISHERMEN FEAR INCREASED REGULATIONS ON SHRIMP INDUSTRY
More than a dozen people requested to speak Tuesday on legislation that now includes an amendment prohibiting shrimp trawling within a half-mile of North Carolina’s shoreline.
House Bill 442 would reinstate recreational fishing for flounder and red snapper for the next four years, which speakers widely endorsed. But the last-minute amendment brought backlash, with some fishermen and shrimpers across the state flocking into the Legislative Building to share their concerns.
They left the Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee with lowered heads after it approved the bill despite their objections.
Supporters say the amendment would bring North Carolina in line with South Carolina and Virginia’s trawling regulations, protect coastal habitats and reduce bycatch.
Those without time to speak during the morning committee returned in the afternoon for the Senate rules committee, which approved the bill with a handful of members voting in opposition.
Before the afternoon vote, commercial fisherman Thomas Newman asked the committee to reconsider the amendment. He cited risks for trawlers venturing beyond the half-mile coastal mark, where the sea floor gets rockier.
“They can’t safely do it,” Newman said. “Some are going to try, and some are going to get hurt.”
Newman applauded the state as a global leader in sustainable shrimping practices. He didn’t want local fishermen to be left behind or punished by this amendment, he added.
The next step is for the bill to go to the Senate floor for a vote, if it is added to the calendar.
DISCHARGE PETITION FAILS TO APPEAR ON SENATE FLOOR
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch wants to force a vote in the GOP-led Senate on a House-passed bill that would deliver an additional $464 million in aid to Helene-ravaged Western North Carolina.
Batch sought to use a maneuver known as a discharge petition. But Republicans thwarted that strategy Tuesday — at least for now — by moving the bill to a different committee. A bill has to be in a committee for 10 days before a related discharge petition can be announced.
“Senator Berger wants the legislature to recess for two months while hurricane survivors are still living in uninhabitable homes, facing washed-out roads, and waiting for their classrooms to reopen,” Batch said in a news release Monday.
“He may be ready for a vacation, but our neighbors in Western North Carolina don’t get to take a break from this crisis,” she said.
To succeed, the petition needs the support of two-thirds of the 50-member chamber — meaning at least 30 senators must sign. The Senate currently has 30 Republicans and 20 Democrats.
If it receives the required signatures, a discharge motion would be brought before the Senate, which would need to pass it with two-thirds support. If the motion passes, then House Bill 1012 would be brought directly to the Senate floor for a vote, bypassing the usual committee process. So far, the bill has had no committee hearings in the Senate.
Eddie Sheehy, a spokesperson for Batch, said when Democrats shared information about the petition with the press Monday, they also sent it to Republican senators and invited them to support the petition and the House bill.
The House prefers to approve recovery aid separately from the state budget. The bill has stalled in the Senate, where leader Phil Berger has previously indicated Helene aid is wrapped up within the overall budget negotiations between the two chambers.
— Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi
NO AGREEMENT ON REDUCING HEALTH COSTS
Republicans remain divided over how to address rising healthcare costs in North Carolina, including reforms to prior authorization — the process insurers use to determine whether care is covered.
It doesn’t appear they’ll settle this debate soon. On Tuesday, the North Carolina House voted against going along with Senate changes to House Bill 434
Seven weeks earlier, the House passed HB434, named the “Care First Act,” nearly unanimously, with just one Democrat voting against it. That bill would require insurers to meet deadlines for certain decisions about whether a service is medically necessary. It would also mandate reports on decisions to deny prior authorization, and would authorize the North Carolina Medical Board to investigate improper denials and subpoena insurers or reviewers.
Sponsors include Reps. Tim Reeder, an emergency physician, and Grant Campbell, also a physician.
Meanwhile, the Senate passed its own bill on how to tackle health care costs — Senate Bill 316, titled “Lower Healthcare Costs.” The Senate’s bill includes some reforms — such as requiring 24-hour decisions for urgent services — and aims to improve billing transparency and reduce costs, as previously reported by The N&O. Compared with the House bill, the Senate’s version focused less extensively on prior authorization. The House has not heard SB316 in any committee.
Now back to HB434: When the Senate received it, it promptly stripped the bill’s language, replaced it with the language of its own bill, SB 316 and passed it.
The House rejected those changes on Tuesday.
— Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi
WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
The shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, which left one of the couples dead, has brought renewed attention on security for state lawmakers. Dawn Vaughan has a new story that explains what happens when someone tries to bring a gun to the Legislative Building.
The Carolinas formed a united front Monday in a joint letter from Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to President Donald Trump. The bipartisan letter asked Trump to refrain from lifting a moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the states’ coasts. The N&O’s Martha Quillin has the story.
McClatchy DC correspondent Danielle Battaglia dug through a 723-page investigation and other public records released because of a court fight over the 2019 death of a Winston-Salem jail inmate. John Neville lost consciousness on his jail cell’s floor after being pinned by officers and died later at a hospital.
The Senate advanced a bill Tuesday that would ban the sale of hemp to anyone under the age of 21, The N&O’s Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi reports. The bill would also prohibit hemp on school grounds and expand the definition of tobacco to encompass vaping products. Meanwhile, the House has yet to act on two similar bills in its own chamber.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled against Stein in his lawsuit challenging the legislature’s move to appoint the commander of the State Highway Patrol to another five-year term. The N&O’s Avi Bajpai has the story.
Today’s newsletter was by Sophia Bailly, T. Keung Hui and Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
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