2025 NASW-NC Legislative Session Update: Governor Stein Takes Action on 12 Bills

In this week's update:

• Governor Stein Takes Action on 12 Bills
• Act Now to Protect Appropriated Programs
• The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ has passed. Here’s how it could affect health care in NC
• In case you missed it -Social Work Compact is Law
• Registration is open for 2025 Virtual Essentials Conference 
   

Governor Stein Takes Action on 12 Bills

Governor Josh  Stein signed 9 bills into law. He also vetoed 3 bills. 

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 479: 

“No matter where you live in North Carolina, you should be able to access affordable health care and medications. This bill increases accountability and protects community pharmacies from Pharmacy Benefit Managers’ unfair business practices that make prescription drugs more expensive for patients. It will help independent pharmacies promote access to health care, particularly in rural areas. And critically, it will lower the amount consumers pay at the pharmacy counter by making sure discounts are passed on to them.” 

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 429: 

“This bill makes it easier for certain victims of domestic violence to have their day in court and obtain a restraining order, and it increases penalties for the sale of fentanyl to get this deadly drug off our streets. It also makes clear that, just as with other organizations, religious organizations can be held liable for sexual abuse by their employees.
 “I am concerned that this bill increases penalties on people for their addiction when it is already a felony to possess narcotics and that it punishes organizations providing civil legal services to low-income North Carolinians. I urge the General Assembly to responsibly address addiction and to protect funding for Legal Aid and other organizations.”  

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 311: 

“This bill cracks down on a variety of crimes, including burglary, retail theft, reckless driving, hit-and-run offenses, and protects utilities and communications workers on the job.” 

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 118:

“North Carolina is home to approximately 100,000 active-duty service members. Moving to a new deployment can be disruptive for their families, and we must do what we can to smooth that transition. This bill will make it easier for military families to enroll their kids in school and renew their drivers’ licenses remotely. However, I have concerns that certain businesses that claim to help servicemembers secure benefits will instead use this bill as cover to overcharge them. I encourage the General Assembly to find ways to support servicemembers and their families and protect them from those who want to take advantage of them.”

Governor Stein made the following statement on vetoing House Bill 193: 

“This bill would make our children less safe. Just as we should not allow guns in the General Assembly, we should keep them out of our schools unless they are in the possession of law enforcement. Law enforcement officers receive more than 800 hours of public safety education, including firearms training. On top of that, School Resource Officers receive additional training to know how to respond to crises and how to deescalate conflicts, a requirement I supported when I was Attorney General. We cannot substitute the protection offered by well-trained law enforcement officers by asking teachers and school volunteers to step in and respond to crises while armed. Just last year, an employee at a religious school in Goldsboro left a gun in a bathroom that was later found by an elementary school student. 

“I support, however, the provision in this legislation to better protect local elected officials from threats to their safety, and I urge the General Assembly to send me a clean bill with those protections so I can sign it.”  

Governor Stein made the following statement on vetoing Senate Bill 416:

“Our democracy works best when people are well-informed. This bill reduces transparency and creates more opportunity for dark money in our politics, especially relating to candidates’ legal funds. Furthermore, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the Department of Revenue to identify and crack down on certain types of tax fraud.” 

Governor Stein made the following statement on vetoing House Bill 96: 

“This legislation originally addressed squatters, and I supported it. At the last moment, however, an unrelated amendment was added that prohibits local governments from regulating pet stores. This bill would facilitate inhumane puppy mills in North Carolina. Without this provision, I would sign the legislation. With it, I cannot support it.”  

Governor Stein also signed the following bills into law: 

• Senate Bill 375
• House Bill 850
• House Bill 694
• House Bill 1003
• House Bill 992
   

(Source: NCGovernor)

Act Now to Protect Appropriated Programs

Tell Congress to Oppose Trump’s Recissions Package

On June 3, 2025, President Trump requested a recissions package to Congress that passed the U.S. House just a few days later that would withdraw funding from programs previously appropriated by Congress. The specific programs this package targets are foreign aid, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and public broadcasting. This may be taken up in the Senate in the coming days. 

Background
A rescission is the cancellation of previously appropriated funding by Congress. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) oversees the process on behalf of the executive branch and must officially notify Congress in a special message of the president’s intent to delay the obligation of budget authority. In a recissions package the president can request changes to multiple discretionary programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) to Congress all at once.

This package is the first attempt by the current Administration to rescind appropriated funds. The Administration is trying to rush the legislation through Congress to meet the July 18, 2025, deadline for passage before the recissions package automatically fails. If it succeeds, the Administration has indicated further recissions will follow. 

NASW is calling on social workers to express their opposition to this recissions package. Please edit the template email to personalize a message to your Senators.

ACT NOW

The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ has passed. Here’s how it could affect health care in NC

On Tuesday evening, just days after President Donald Trump signed into law the new federal budget passed by Congress, several dozen people took a seat in the Pullen Park Community Center in Raleigh.

Two of the capital city’s Democratic state lawmakers — Sen. Jay Chaudhuri and Rep. Tim Longest — were holding a town hall with Heba Atwa, director of legislative advocacy and campaigns for the nonprofit, nonpartisan NC Budget and Tax Center.

The sweeping legislation, which GOP legislators named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was top of their agenda. It significantly cuts Medicaid and food assistance programs while cutting taxes for the wealthiest and having many other impacts on health and safety net programs.

Trump has described the new law as “a once-in-a-generation piece of legislation that makes good on his campaign promises and puts America first.” His critics quickly point out that it also breaks his promise that “we’re not cutting Medicaid.”

In North Carolina, elected officials, state policymakers, administrators and others are working to boil down the thousand-plus pages into plainspoken snippets that might be easier for the public to understand.

Devdutta Sangvai, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, spoke bluntly last week, just hours before the U.S. House of Representatives took their 218-214 vote on July 3 to concur with the U.S. Senate’s version of the bill.

The barriers to food and health care, Sangvai warned, would have far-reaching consequences that will “show up elsewhere in our schools, our justice system and our housing programs.”

“These changes would hurt not only individuals and families, but also North Carolina’s economy and workforce,” Sangvai said during a July 1 news briefing. “When people can’t meet basic needs, we all feel the impact.”

How quickly the state will feel the impact is not yet clear — the new law cuts Medicaid, adds work requirements to the program and creates administrative changes that will be phased in mostly after the 2026 elections.

With the state budget process at a stalemate, it’s not clear whether the General Assembly will adopt a fiscal plan that has the state taking on any of the  financial burden resulting from federal cuts to safety net programs. If the state doesn’t choose to shoulder those costs, then the financial strain and hardships could end up in the laps of counties, some of which might resort to raising property tax rates to generate the revenue needed, Atwa explained.

‘Billions of dollars in lost funding’
Those were just some of the issues that came up at the town hall held Tuesday by Chaudhuri and Longest.

“Fiscal policy is foundational to well-being and to the things that we care about — and to our day-to-day lives,” Atwa told the crowd. “I think that’s becoming clearer and clearer to all of us.”As she flipped through slide after slide, Atwa added: “These federal cuts are going to hurt North Carolina, they’re going to hurt people’s well-being, they’re going to hurt our economy.”

Here’s the shorthand, according to the governor’s office:

• More than half a million people stand to lose their health care because of changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.
• Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, could leave 1.4 million North Carolina residents — 600,000 of whom are children — without food assistance.
• Tens of thousands of the 100,000-plus North Carolinians employed in the clean energy industry could lose their jobs due to the loss of clean energy tax credits.
• Some households could see their annual electricity bills increase by 18 percent because of the removal of tax credits for solar and wind energy. 

Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, called the megabill — supported by every congressional Republican from North Carolina with the exception of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis — a “disgrace.”

Read the entire article here.  

In case you missed it -Social Work Compact is Law

On Friday, June 13th, HB 231 -Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact was signed into law by Governor Josh Stein. Because of our significant advocacy and lobbying efforts to introduce and pass this bill, the National Association of Social Workers North Carolina (NASW-NC) staff and members were invited to join the Governor for this historic bill signing ceremony. Earlier in the week, HB231 was heard on the Senate floor for its final vote in the NC Senate, where it passed unanimously 44-0.North Carolina is now the 29th state to become a member of the Social Work Licensure Compact.

The Social Work Licensure Compact was activated in fall 2024, upon the passage of the bill in 7 states, however, multistate licenses are NOT yet being issued. The implementation period for the Compact is expected to take 12-24 months from when it was activated; it is only after the implementation period that multistate licenses will be issued. You can learn more details about the Social Work Licensure Compact and the Compact Commission by going to the Compact website here. 

NASW-NC's top priority for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 legislative sessions has been the passage of the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact.

NASW-NC is also the ONLY organization lobbying and advocating for the entire Social Work Profession at the North Carolina Legislature. The NASW-NC lobbying team would not exist without the incredible support of NASW-NC membership. If you are already a member of NASW-NC, THANK YOU. Our members are the only reason that we have been able to do this work! 

NASW-NC is not federally funded; we are not state-funded. We are funded by the members of NASW and will not exist to advocate for you and the social work profession without YOU!  We are able to do more if we have a large voice and robust membership. If you are not yet a member, please join NASW and join us in our advocacy efforts.      

Read the Social Work compact press release here. 

Watch the Governor's bill signing ceremony with NASW-NC staff and members here.

Registration is open for 2025 Virtual Essentials Conference 

Session Spotlight
 

Leading From Where You Are With Cultural Humility

Presented By: Shani Dellimore Barrax, DEIB & Organizational Change Strategist

Social workers are bound by a code of ethical responsibilities to a broader society, which includes social welfare, public participation, public emergencies, and social and political action. How, then, do we lead from where we are to answer society’s call to action? Rooted in cultural humility, this session will facilitate participants’ consideration and exploration of their individual spheres of influence and how they can leverage them to effect change. Attendees will consider the opportunities around them to lead with cultural humility and uphold ethical responsibilities to broader society while leveraging change agency.
 

Click Here to View All Sessions & Register! 

NASW-NC 2025 Essentials Conference
 

Beyond Words: 
Affirming Equity and Inclusion in Social Work Practice

Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Virtual on Zoom
6 Hours of CE

Registration Fees:
NASW Members $125 
Not yet a member? $200 
 

Click here to register!

Thank you to the members of NASW-NC for supporting the advocacy work we do. We would not be able to advocate for the social work profession or social justice issues in North Carolina without a robust and engaged NASW membership. If you are a social worker and not a member, we ask that you join NASW today. Our voice is louder with your membership.

Learn more about NASW-NC membership here.

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