CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The General Assembly’s new legislative session is off to a slow start, with new committees being formed and needing time to review newly introduced bills.
Both the House and Senate met in small, so-called “skeleton” sessions this week, often with only two or three members present. Although the sessions were not very active, they may indicate what legislators will be keyed in on in the coming weeks.
In the House, Minority Leader Robert Reives introduced a bill that would codify abortion protections. The same bill was introduced in the Senate last week. Every Democrat in the Senate and House signed on to the bill.
Democrats have consistently said that they will fight any restrictions on abortion presented this session. Representative Allen Buansi, who represents Chapel Hill and Carrboro, says that he supports codifying Roe v Wade.
“The problem with these restrictions is that it just ignores that just very fundamental right of privacy and autonomy over one’s own body,” said Buansi.
If passed, the bill would prevent the state from restricting abortion before fetal viability. The bill isn’tGa likely to pass the House or Senate but signals that Democrats may uphold Governor Cooper’s veto on any future abortion bill from Republicans.
North Carolina currently bans abortions after 20 weeks. Republicans are still working out a new bill, but Senate Leader Phil Berger supports a ban on abortion after 12 weeks. Representative Jon Hardister, the Republican Whip, says that the state’s abortion ban will likely see changes this session.
“I think that the conversation we’re having related to banning abortion after the first trimester is a positive conversation where I think a lot of North Carolinians would agree with that,” said Hardister.
A bill that would give a tax credit to volunteer firefighters and rescue workers and an education omnibus bill that includes an evaluation of school metrics were also introduced in the House this week.
On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Todd Ishee as the new Secretary of the Department of Adult Correction. Senators also introduced a bill to enact another from 2021 vetoed by Governor Cooper that would allow for concealed carry in churches that double as schools.
The General Assembly will remain mostly quiet as they settle in for the new session. But in the coming weeks, there will likely be votes on spending, the governor’s veto, and the fight over abortion.