Dozens of bills now on Governor McCrory's desk to sign
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Governor Pat McCrory is now reviewing the work of the North Carolina General Assembly after it finished a marathon week Friday to get bills to his desk.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE BILL PENDING THE GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE
The last piece of business Friday in the House and Senate was a tweak to the controversial HB2 law they approved in March. The change reinstates the ability of workers to sue in state court for discriminatory termination.
HB2 was designed to block a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance, part of which allowed transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with. The state law requires people to use the restroom according to their biological sex listed on their birth certificate in government buildings, schools, and universities.
That part of law is not affected by Friday's changes.
McCrory has until the end of the month to sign roughly 50 bills on his desk or veto them. Otherwise, they become law without his signature.
The two chambers passed the $22.3 billion budget for the new fiscal year, which raised teacher and state employee pay, boosted the state's rainy day reserve and increased standard deductions for income tax. The measure also offers $500 in-state tuition per semester at three University of North Carolina campuses in fall 2018 and fixed tuition for incoming in-state freshmen this fall.
Lawmakers passed a bill that decided footage from police body and vehicle dashboard cameras aren't public record but laid out how the subject of a video can review the footage or anyone else can try to get a copy, including going to court. Tacked on the bill is a process to create needle and syringe exchange programs.
Another approved proposal would hand over five of North Carolina's lowest performing elementary schools to charter operators in an "Achievement School District" pilot exempt from oversight and evaluations from local school boards.
The legislature prohibited sex offenders identified as threats to children from places like arcades, parks, and libraries while a 2009 law remains under federal appeal. There's also an omnibus farm bill that would extend to 2020 a tax credit for renewable fuel processing facilities and allow wildlife resource officers to shoot feral pigs from airplanes.
Dozens of other proposals died at the close of the 10-week session, some due to time constraints or strained relations between the chambers.
"We got caught up in trying to jam so much through a smaller funnel if you know what I mean," said House Majority Leader Mike Hager, R-Rutherford. "It's time to be out of here. We all need to go home to our families and jobs."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
