Governor Cooper Signs Seven Bills, Vetoes Two Bills and Lets Three Bills Become Law
RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper signed the following bills into law:
House Bill 125: NC Health & Human Services Workforce Act.
House Bill 142: Protect Our Students Act.-AB
Senate Bill 211: Permit Multistate Water/Sewer Authority.
Senate Bill 579: Prevent Harm to Children.
Senate Bill 477: Amend Bus. Corp. Act/Bus. Opp. Disclosures.
Senate Bill 531: Dam Safety Law Clarification.
House Bill 8: Various Statutory Changes.
Governor Cooper made the following statement on his signing of HB 8:
"Coding and technology skills are needed in nearly every industry today and adding a computer science requirement for high school graduation will help ensure students are better prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The age verification requirements to help protect children from online pornography are also important. However, the changes to the university and community college accreditation process are onerous and will add an unnecessary burden and increase costs for our public higher education institutions. The General Assembly should reevaluate these requirements."
Governor Cooper also vetoed the following bills:
House Bill 600: Regulatory Reform Act of 2023.
Senate Bill 678: Clean Energy/Other Changes.
Governor Cooper made the following statement on his veto of HB 600:
"This bill is a hodgepodge of bad provisions that will result in dirtier water, discriminatory permitting and threats to North Carolina’s environment. It also undoes a significant policy to promote fairness in state contracting for historically underutilized businesses as it blocks efforts to encourage diverse suppliers for state purchases, rules that would save taxpayer dollars and help businesses grow. The rules mirror the successful approach used for 18 years in state construction contracting and they were enacted with extensive feedback from state agencies and vendors and they were approved by the Rules Review Commission, which has all of its members appointed by the Republican controlled legislature."
Governor Cooper made the following statement on his veto of SB 678:
"North Carolina is on a bipartisan path to removing carbon from our electric power sector in the most cost-effective way. This bill attempts to diverge from that path by trying to put construction of traditional power plants, and higher profits for the utility companies, over lower-cost solutions like energy efficiency. North Carolina should consider all pathways to decarbonize, rather than putting a thumb on the scale in favor of building new conventional generation."
Governor Cooper also declined to sign three bills into law:
House Bill 259: 2023 Appropriations Act.
House Bill 361: Require Report/Protection & Advocacy Agency.
Senate Bill 452: DOI & Ins Law Amd/Revise HS Athletics.
Governor Cooper made the following statement on declining to sign SB 452 into law:
"This legislation includes important auto insurance changes that will help provide more protection for North Carolina motorists. However, the late-night changes to high school sports governance are a solution in search of a problem. Legislators shouldn’t insert politics into schools and sports but instead allow the bipartisan compromise approved last session to continue so students can compete fairly with the support they need."
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