McCrory signs bills on Medicaid expansion, group home funding, and possums

Gov. Pat McCrory signed four bills into law Wednesday afternoon, all of which have been the subject of a fair amount of public discussion. They include:

House Bill 66 (Reps. West, Howard, Hager and Moore) – A bill to amend the law providing for the issuance of captivity licenses and permits by the Wildlife Resources Commission. This is the measure aimed at allowing the annual Possum Drop in western North Carolina go forward.

House Bill 5 (Reps. Dollar and Burr) – A bill to provide temporary, short-term financial assistance to group homes and special care units. This measure avoids a situation in which group homes and Alzheimer's care units would have to displace residents.

Senate Bill 4 (Sens. Apodaca, Brown and Rucho) – A bill to clarify the state's intent not to operate a state-run health benefit exchange, to provide that future Medicaid eligibility determinations will be made by the state rather than the federally facilitated exchange and to reject the Affordable Care Act's optional Medicaid expansion. Democrats have argued that the state should have accepted the money.

House Bill 19 (Reps. Hastings, Moore, Arp and Szoka) – A bill to honor fallen heroes by strengthening the law that prohibits disorderly conduct at funerals, memorial services or processional routes. The measure is aimed at stopping disrespectful, and often unrelated protests, at military funerals.