The North Carolina Senate and House are scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, July 29, aiming to override multiple vetoes issued by Governor Josh Stein. In total, Stein vetoed 14 bills from the state legislature this year.

The Republicans have a supermajority in the Senate and are just one short of a supermajority in the House. Overriding Stein’s vetoes would require support from at least one House Democrat, if all 120 House members are present and voting. That dynamic could shift if any representatives are absent, since an override requires support by three-fifths of the total lawmakers on the floor at the time of the vote.

Of the 14 bills potentially considered for override, the following bills impact K-12 education.

S227 Eliminating DEI in Public K-12 Education – prohibits DEI offices and “divisive concepts” in public school units.

S254 Charter School Changes – grants additional authority to the Charter Schools Review Board. Chairman of the State Board of Education Eric Davis and Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green assert that the bill is unconstitutional and released a joint statement on Senate Bill 254’s veto here.

S416 Personal Privacy Protection Act – prohibits public agencies, including local school boards, from collecting, disclosing, or releasing personal information about members, volunteers, or donors to 501(c) nonprofit organizations.
 
H805 Prevent Sexual Exploitation/Women and Minors – requires local school boards to adopt policies allowing students to be excused from “specific classroom discussion, activities or assigned readings” by citing a religious objection; local boards of education are required to provide ongoing public access through a searchable web-based catalog to the titles of any library books available at each school.

The full list of vetoed bills can be accessed here. Click here to access the legislative calendar and look for NCASA updates on the veto override votes as developments occur next week.