With a critical deadline looming, the House held a rare Friday session to make up for time lost over spring break.
Policy-related bills must clear either the House or the Senate to remain viable for this session, so the House Judiciary committee held a marathon meeting to move 13 pieces of legislation along, all of which will likely be on the House floor next week. Among the measures passed:
Other WRAL Top Stories
- Creating a "death by distribution" felony to prosecute drug dealers in overdose deaths
- Requiring prison time for anyone convicted of driving or boating while impaired if they caused a death
- Allowing law enforcement agencies to destroy seized firearms that have little value
- Closing loopholes in state law to prohibit spiking someone's drink and to state that anyone incapacitated by drinking or taking drugs cannot consent to sex
Meanwhile, more bits of the House budget dribbled out.
Among its many provisions, the transportation section would fund moving the Division of Motor Vehicles headquarters from Raleigh to Rocky Mount, create a new tax for ride-share services and raise registration fees for hybrid and electric vehicles.
The education budget didn't include information on teacher raises, but the language in it would basically prohibit teacher rallies at the legislature like one planned for next week. It also includes money for marketing the Opportunity Scholarships school voucher program and a pilot project for virtual pre-kindergarten classes.