SB737/HB750: Address ESG Factors aims to tackle the use of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria by state agencies and state pension plan fiduciaries. There is a growing concern about the increasing use of ESG criteria to influence state investments and employment decisions. SB737 and HB750 are an essential step towards ensuring that state agencies and...
SB325: Limit Online Marketplace Regulations is a good piece of regulatory reform legislation that is based on free market principles. Businesses and consumers should be allowed to operate, innovate, and exchange goods without unnecessary and arbitrary government interference at the local level, which this bill addresses. SB325 recognizes the importance of online marketplaces as a tool...
SB 406/HB 823 Choose Your School, Choose Your Future are companion bills that are massive advancements for school choice in North Carolina! In part, these bills would remove income eligibility requirements for the Opportunity Scholarship Program and reward scholarships on a sliding scale. Household income would still determine the size of the scholarship to ensure that students needing it the most...
HB 618: Charter School Review Board would shift the authority to approve charters from the State Board of Education to the newly created Charter Schools Review Board. Under the Proposed plan, applicants to the Review Board can appeal decisions to the State Board of Education. In doing so, this bill has the potential to remove barriers and bureaucratic animosity towards school...
HB 756: Standards Advisory Commission creates the State Course of Study Advisory Commission. The purpose is to involve stakeholders in establishing a standard course of study and to make recommendations to the State Board of Education. Twenty members will be on the committee, 16 of the appointments will be made by the General Assembly to make recommendations to the...
HB 409: Regulation of Accessory Dwelling Units would allow ADUs, sometimes called mother-in-law suites or granny flats, by-right across the state. The bill would remove local regulations that make ADU impractical, such as owner-occupancy requirements, parking minimums, and conditional-use zoning. Local governments would still be allowed to regulate ADUs so long as they do not...
S.B.669: Solar Decommissioning Requirements solves a crucial problem: what to do with solar panels once their service life is over, and who is responsible? Unlike carbon-free baseload nuclear power facilities, which have a lifespan upwards of 80 years, solar panels require replacing around approximately 25 years. As North Carolina remains in the top 3 states for...
S.B. 678: Promote Clean Energy would amend the N.C. General Statutes to correct the definition of “renewable energy” to “clean energy,” adding nuclear power to this definition. Nuclear power is the most efficient and reliable carbon-free energy source available. N.C.’s nuclear operators have a proven track record for safety and maintaining the reliability of the...
SB 512: Greater Accountability for Boards/Commissions helps provide a check on unchallenged power of the governor’s office to single-handedly appoint allies onto these highly influential boards and commissions. Regardless of party, heathy tension among the branches of government providing checks and balances is good for policymaking. In particular, SB 512 takes critical first steps to reform the...
While the state budget in its entirety will not be graded for the Civitas Action Freedom Rankings, we do intend to grade floor amendments, in both chambers, that have a relevant impact on the economic prosperity of North Carolinians and an impact on freedom. Floor amendments that will be considered for grading will include, but not be...
HB 146: Taxpayer Protection Act contains a policy that is sometimes referred to as a “taxpayer bill of rights” or TABOR. Specifically, H.B. 146 would amend the North Carolina Constitution by adding a new article to limit the state’s annual budget growth to the sum of annual inflation plus the state’s population growth. Since 2013, conservative budget writers...
HB 304: Election Day Integrity Act will protect voter freedom and voting security. Civitas Action believes the provisions in this legislation properly balance necessary security for our elections while ensuring legal voter participation. The reliance on postmarks under current law is problematic for several reasons. There are problems with ballots returned without a postmark or with an...
SB41: Guarantee 2nd Amendment Freedom and Protection (Formerly SB40: Repeal Pistol Purchase Permit, rolled into a 2nd Amendment omnibus bill) is pro-freedom legislation. Repealing the pistol purchase permit will roll back the Jim Crow-era regulation that was put into place to limit gun ownership of black North Carolinians. Dubbed the “Klan’s favorite law,” the pistol...
HB 130: Preserving Choices for Consumers would prohibit cities and counties from adopting ordinances that would either ban or effectively ban certain consumer choices in home appliances based on what kind of energy source they need, regardless of whether “the energy source is derived from one or more of a variety of sources such as...
HB76: Access to Healthcare Options is a bad healthcare policy for North Carolina and would vastly grow the size of state government. Expanding Medicaid infuses more public dollars into the healthcare system, further distorting the market, which was a major criticism of Obamacare all along. The N.C. Senate’s proposal in HB 76 is a slight...