NC lawmakers leave with six veto overrides still on the table, likely until 2026
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- GOP passed a redrawn congressional map and small spending bill, gaining one seat.
- Six GOP veto override attempts on guns, immigration and DEI now likely delayed until 2026.
- Leaders left budget talks unresolved, leaving taxes, teacher pay, Medicaid funding open.
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I’m Avi Bajpai.
State lawmakers returned to Raleigh for a few days this week and took up a limited amount of business for which GOP leaders in both chambers were in agreement, something that has become increasingly rare this year.
Senate and House Republicans, mired in a dramatic monthslong dispute over the state budget, reconvened the General Assembly to quickly pass a redrawn congressional map intended to yield their party one extra seat in the U.S. House in next year’s midterms, and sent a small-scale spending bill to Gov. Josh Stein that includes $2.5 million for the legislative police department.
The Senate adjourned on Tuesday, and the House on Wednesday, with any kind of deal on major budget items like taxes or pay raises for teachers and state employees, or Medicaid rebase funding, remaining elusive.
House Speaker Destin Hall noted at the end of session on Wednesday that it was likely the House wouldn’t return for any more legislative business during the rest of the year.
That means that one other significant piece of unfinished business for Republicans — six pending veto overrides on high priority bills dealing with guns, immigration, and diversity, equity, and inclusion — will probably stay untouched until next year’s short session.
Republicans sent Stein several bills that the Democratic governor, who will complete 10 months in office next week, has been happy to sign into law. But he’s not hesitated to take out his veto pen.
During voting sessions in late July, Republicans overrode eight of Stein’s vetoes, enacting bills dealing with immigration, guns, regulations, the auditor’s powers and the environment. The Senate, where the GOP has a supermajority, voted to override four more vetoes. That puts the ball entirely in the House’s court to take action next.
Where do the vetoed bills stand?
Stein most recently vetoed House Bill 87 in August. That bill, which would opt North Carolina into a federal school-choice tax credit program passed as part of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was the 15th bill Stein has blocked this year.
The bill passed the Senate along party lines in July, but in the House, Republicans were joined by two Democrats in voting for it: Reps. Carla Cunningham and Shelly Willingham.
In June, Willingham explained his decision-making on whether he votes with the GOP majority to defeat a veto like this: “If I vote for a bill, if I’m voting to support it, and (if) it goes to the governor, and he happens to veto, then when the bill comes back, I’m going to vote to sustain my vote.”
Five other vetoed bills pose greater political hurdles for Republicans, who are one seat short of a supermajority in the House and therefore need at least one Democrat to join them in voting to override a veto.
Three of the bills target DEI programs and policies in state government, public education, and public colleges and universities.
Republicans often look to exploit disagreement a handful of swing-voting Democrats may have with the rest of their party on vetoed bills, but these three anti-DEI measures (House Bill 171 and Senate Bills 227 and 558) notably passed the legislature earlier this year strictly along party lines.
The N.C. Legislative Black Caucus, made up of 41 lawmakers from both chambers, all of whom are Democrats, has also publicly committed to backing up Stein’s vetoes of the three anti-DEI bills.
That’s noteworthy because the pledge by all members of the Black Caucus includes powerful party leaders like House Minority Leader Robert Reives and Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, but also a variety of swing-voting House Democrats who are known for occasionally bucking their party on major bills and drawing pushback, including Cunningham, Willingham, and others like Reps. Nasif Majeed and Garland Pierce.
A fourth bill, Senate Bill 153, requires state law enforcement agencies to work closely with federal immigration authorities. It, too, passed the legislature along party lines. The lack of Democratic support in the House during passage of the bill could make it difficult for the GOP to override this veto.
And the final bill, Senate Bill 50, would make it legal to carry a concealed handgun in North Carolina without obtaining a permit, as is currently required under law, and lower the age from 21 to 18.
That bill’s prospects may be even worse considering it passed with two House Republicans breaking ranks with their party and voting against the bill, further complicating the math for leadership.
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