On Saint Patrick’s Day, the North Carolina House of Representatives opened a floor session in which the clerk read a long series of bill introductions and messages from the Senate; the chamber approved the March journal and voted to adjourn to reconvene Tuesday at 11 a.m., subject to Rule 15.1.

The clerk read dozens of bills and referred each to committee. Sponsors and bill titles read into the record included (as read): “Representatives Price and Buoyancy, House Bill 3 91, more adult protective services staff to address elder abuse” (referred to appropriations and favorable rules); “Representatives Baker and K Brown, House Bill 3 92, Psych United Way Summer Learning Funds” (referred to appropriations and favorable rules); “Representatives Baker and K Brown, House Bill 3 93, 1 love festival funds” (referred to appropriations and favorable rules); “Representative Eiler, House Bill 3 94, distracted driving, children, and animals” (referred to transportation and favorable judiciary and rules); “Representative Clampett, House Bill 3 95, Jackson, Transylvania, and Swain County funds” (referred to appropriations and favorable rules); “Representatives Lambeth, Potts, and White, House Bill 3 96, nursing fellows and curriculum support funds, Winston Salem State University” (referred to appropriations and favorable rules); and “Representative Lambeth, House Bill 3 97, use of epinephrine nasal spray in schools” (referred to health, education K–12 and rules). The clerk also read bills including “Representatives Cunningham, Kearney, Quick, and Kaye Brown, House Bill 3 98, enact kinder care and safe days”; “Representatives White, Wheatley, and Cunningham, House Bill 3 99, NC Board of Nursing licensure fees” (referred to health, finance and rules); and “Representatives Clampett and Campbell, House Bill 400, Bentley's Law” (referred to rules).

Later in the sequence the clerk read additional introductions and referrals including “Representatives Logan, Harrison, Hawkins, and F. Jackson, House Bill 401, allow lottery winners to be confidential” (referred to rules) and a list of other bills covering topics from regulatory reform (read as “House Bill 402, NC regulations from the executive in need of scrutiny, REINS Act”), a “Workers Rights Act” (read as House Bill 403), the “Fair and Affordable Housing Act” (read as House Bill 404), and technical measures such as “House Bill 405, reestablish NC coordinate system of 1983.” Transportation-related introductions included a bill read as “House Bill 406, clarify motor vehicle dealer laws,” and “House Bill 407, Divine 9 Special Registration Plate Act.”

The clerk also announced messages received from the Senate. The reading included “Senate Bill 59, first edition, a bill to be entitled an act to amend the laws governing voluntary agricultural districts to enhance public participation and the development of alternatives for land use decisions impacting lands in such districts” (read and referred to rules); “Senate Bill 149, first edition, a bill to be entitled to authorize Henderson County to construct community college buildings on the campuses of Blue Ridge Community College located within the county” (read and referred to rules); “Senate Bill 174, first edition, regarding Rutherford County and construction of community college buildings on Isothermal Community College campuses” (read and referred to rules); and “Senate Bill 223, first edition, regarding expansion of academic transition pathways for sophomore high school students” (read and referred to rules).

Floor procedure items: Representative Penny moved to approve the March journal “as written.” The presiding officer announced “the ayes have it,” and the journal was approved. Representative Finney moved that the House adjourn and reconvene Tuesday at 11 a.m., subject to the stipulation in Rule 15.1; the presiding officer announced the motion carried and the House stood adjourned. The transcript records the motions and the presiding officer’s announcement of their passage but does not include recorded roll-call tallies for those motions.

Why it matters: several of the introduced measures—named in the reading as the “Fair and Affordable Housing Act,” “Workers Rights Act,” and bills addressing nursing licensure fees and school health measures—would touch on policy areas of statewide interest if they proceed through committees. The clerk’s read-and-refer process sends each bill to the committee(s) identified in the reading; further hearings and committee votes will determine whether they advance to full consideration on the floor.

The record also shows administrative housekeeping: visitors were recognized in the gallery, a prayer was offered by Representative White, and members were reminded of committee meetings elsewhere in the day. The House will reconvene Tuesday at 11 a.m., per the adjournment motion recorded in the transcript.