NC bills regulating homeless camps, farmland sales head to Stein; elections bill advances

State lawmakers are sending Gov. Josh Stein a bill that would allow North Carolina municipalities to regulate homeless camps by moving them to designated spaces — one of several approvals in a flurry of legislative action at the Republican-controlled General Assembly Tuesday. 

The House voted 73-40 to pass House Bill 437, which would ban what it calls “unauthorized sleeping” in public spaces. Instead, local governments could direct homeless people to a designated space — so long as it’s not located near residential areas, commercial properties or schools. Local governments would be required to provide security, toilets and water. The bill would also impose harsher restrictions on people who attempt to sell drugs in homeless shelters.

Supporters of the bill say it will improve public safety, while opponents say it criminalizes homelessness while doing little to address the cause of the problem.

Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, said the bill is “punitive” to homeless people because it “relocates them out of sight” without offering permanent assistance with housing, counseling, or treatment for mental illness or substance abuse.

Rep. Brian Biggs, R-Randoph, has said the bill is necessary because homeless people who reside on public sidewalks can hurt local businesses. He said state lawmakers can no longer stand idly by as local efforts to deter public sleeping fail.

“This is not a topic that we often like to talk about, but it is an issue statewide,” Biggs said.

Protecting NC farmland

The House also voted to send Stein a bill that seeks to protect the state’s farmland and military facilities. The House of Representatives voted 111-2 to approve House Bill 133, which would ban investors tied to foreign adversaries of the United States from buying farmland and property within 50 miles of military installations across the state. 

Bill sponsors say the proposal serves as a compromise between members of the House of Representatives and Senate who filed competing proposals to protect U.S. farmland in recent months. Rep. Jennifer Baucom, R-Henderson, said the bill was “three years in the making.” The goal is to reduce potential risks near military installations, and to protect the nation’s food supply. 

“Our farmland is one of North Carolina's greatest resources and, once it’s gone, we can’t get it back,” Baucom said. 

The legislation defines adversarial foreign governments using a federal list tied to International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which includes countries such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. Military installations named in the bill include Fort Bragg, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and other military and National Guard facilities.

The bill would give the state Attorney General authority to investigate potential violations and seek court-ordered divestiture of prohibited land holdings. Property acquired in violation of the law could be placed into receivership and sold, with proceeds used to cover costs and remaining funds directed to the state.

Elections bill advances

The House voted 66-47 to pass House Bill 958, a 37-page bill that would make changes to general election administration, voter registration, how elections are conducted and campaign finance laws. The bill goes next to the Senate, where its fate is unclear. Though both chambers are controlled by Republicans, Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Tuesday that his caucus has “not committed to taking up the House bill."

House Republicans say the bill will improve election integrity. Democrats say the bill makes unnecessary changes that could make it harder to vote. 

Democrats homed-in on a provision that would permanently bar so-called “never-resident” voters from ever casting a ballot in state elections. Never-resident voters are people who are U.S. citizens — and were born to North Carolina parents — but who have never lived in the U.S., such as children of military personnel or religious missionaries. 

The legislature voted years ago, with broad bipartisan support, to let those people vote in state elections, but Republicans have since sought to revoke their ability to vote. Republican Jefferson Griffin challenged ballots cast in a 2024 state Supreme Court race by overseas voters, including never resident voters, as part of his effort to overturn his narrow loss to Justice Allison Riggs.

The bill would codify a ruling in a recent state court case, Kivett v. North Carolina State Board of Elections, in which a judge ruled those voters are not eligible to vote in state and local elections. North Carolina law requires a direct residency link for participation outside federal contests, the court determined.

Rep. Amos Quick, D-Guilford, said the bill aims to address concerns born out of “false narratives” that elections are influenced by bad actors. “This bill offers confusion for men and women in uniform so we can tinker with their ballots,” Quick said. 

The bill also adds new rules for voters, including a requirement to submit photo identification with absentee ballots and tighter limits on acceptable forms of ID for certain categories of overseas voters. Among the other changes proposed in the bill:

• People registering to vote would have to confirm that they are U.S. citizens.
• People would have to belong to a political party for at least a year, up from 90 days, in order to run for office with that party designation. Waivers could be granted by the political party the candidate is hoping to represent. 
• Political appointees to election boards would be paid more. 
• Elections in all 100 counties would be audited over a six-year period by the state auditor.
• The exemption for reporting campaign finance contributions would increase making fewer contributions, loans and expenditures public.

Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, said he worked with several Democrats to change the bill in hopes of making it more palatable for more members. Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, thanked Blackwell for removing part of the bill that would have barred state Board of Elections and county board members from supporting or opposing candidates and encouraging or influencing voter turnout. Blackwell removed that proposal after Harrison identified problems with the language, she said. 

Mental evaluations for criminal suspects

The Senate voted 45-3 to pass House Bill 1104, which attempts to shift some mental evaluations out of emergency departments and expand the number of people who can conduct them. The bill would also allow more North Carolinians who are under involuntary commitment orders to undergo mental health treatment outside of psychiatric facilities. 

The House must approve the Senate’s changes to the bill before it can go to the governor’s desk. 

The bill's lead backer, Sen. Danny Britt, R-Robeson, told lawmakers this was a good first step toward addressing people who need to be involuntarily committed for mental health care, but that it was only a first step. 

"Work is not done on the process of dealing with the IVC process and individuals who go through the IVC process," Britt said. "Both that intersect with the criminal justice system, and those that don't. This is just the start of a long process."

State lawmakers began reviewing the state’s laws for treating criminal suspects who suffer from mental illness after the August death of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian who moved to Charlotte in 2022 and was fatally stabbed on a city train. DeCarlos Brown, the man charged in her death, was deemed incapable of proceeding following a mental evaluation.

The General Assembly in October approved a judicial reform package titled “Iryna’s Law,” an attempt to keep more suspects in custody while awaiting trial. Brown had been arrested multiple times prior to Zarutska’s death. 

However, legislators faced pushback for some of the new rules. For instance, hospital representatives took issue with a requirement for certain criminal defendants — who have undergone an involuntary commitment within three years of their arrest for a violent crime, or who judicial officials believe to be a danger to themselves or others — to be transported “to a hospital emergency department or other crisis facility” for a psychiatric evaluation. 

Hospital leaders said they don’t want the suspects evaluated in emergency departments, fearing they could endanger patients and hospital staff. Hospital leaders said the evaluations should be conducted in jails — a suggestion bill sponsors incorporated into the bill.

Gang bill

The Senate also approved a sweeping anti-gang bill — an effort, sponsors say, to give prosecutors and law enforcement stronger tools to investigate, prosecute and deter gang activity across the state. House Bill 1173, which passed the House earlier this month with strong bipartisan support, was passed by the Senate Tuesday with a 43-6 vote. It now goes back to the House for further consideration. 

The bill would increase penalties for certain crimes committed by people who are deemed to be gang members or gang leaders. It also lowers the threshold for who can be identified as a gang member or leader. It would also change the North Carolina Criminal Gang Suppression Act to more clearly define criminal gangs, gang members, gang leaders and what constitutes criminal gang activity.

“It increases penalties and punishment for the use of a firearm by gang members during drug or violent crimes, and also the sale or transfer from firearm to juvenile to a juvenile by gang members, and it clarifies what evidence can be used to prove gang membership, gang leadership, and gang organization,” said Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson.

Opponents say the bill creates legal risks for innocent people who might associate with gang members but who aren’t gang members themselves or involved in gang activity. 

Sponsors titled the bill “Jaleeyah’s Law,” named for 13-year-old Jaleeyah Tune of Goldsboro, who was fatally shot in December. Lawmakers say it was a gang-related killing. 

Restricting Rocky Mount spending

The House voted 78-34 to pass Senate Bill 1076, which prevents the city of Rocky Mount from using electric and natural gas revenues to cover any unrelated expenses. The bill now returns to the Senate.

A March state audit showed financial mismanagement in the city, and a September review found the city spent more than it brought in. To help dig itself out of its financial crisis, the Rocky Mount city council voted to raise utility rates by about 15%, in addition to proposed property tax increases.

That led lawmakers to argue the city hasn’t been a good steward of taxpayer money.

The bill would require all utility revenues to be spent on utility needs, including operating expenses, maintenance and improvements or debt service.

City officials have opposed the bill, arguing it would hurt the city, and said lawmakers didn’t adequately engage with them on the bill.

The bill creates a public utilities advisory committee that could review and advise the city council on transferring funds to the general city budget in the future. That avoids punishing the city “in perpetuity,” said Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, who spoke on the bill Tuesday.

Moore County elections

The House voted 64-44 to enact Senate Bill 876, tweaking laws for a handful of local governments around the state. Among the changes: canceling Moore County’s 2027 and 2029 municipal elections and moving them to 2028 and 2030 as part of a permanent change to elections in in even-numbered years. 

Everyone currently in office will have their terms extended a year to adjust to that new schedule, which supporters say will help boost voter turnout. The law would also require 11 towns in the county — Aberdeen, Cameron, Carthage, Foxfire Village, Pinebluff, Pinehurst, Robbins, Southern Pines, Taylortown, Vass and Whispering Pines — plus the Moore County Board of Education to switch over to partisan elections.

It’s part of a broader trend of state lawmakers pushing legislation that would affect local politics, such as for school boards and city councils. Moore County becomes the 47th school board around the state to have its elections turned partisan. Supporters of the switch to partisan elections say it boosts transparency, while critics have said it could unnecessarily inject national politics into local issues. 

WRAL state government reporter Will Doran contributed.