North Carolina House introduces multiple bills, approves journal and adjourns to March 17

The North Carolina House of Representatives met on March 13, 2025, introduced a series of bills and resolutions, received messages from the Senate including a request to appoint a conference committee on House Bill 47, approved the House journal for March 12 and adjourned to reconvene Monday, March 17 at 1 p.m.

The meeting opened routine business and moved quickly to bill introductions. The clerk read a sequence of House bills (House Bill 375 through House Bill 390 and others), listing primary sponsors and short descriptions and sending each to the committees named in the reading. Examples included House Bill 375 (ban deceptive advertisements), House Bill 376 (on-site wastewater and well provisions), House Bill 377 (changes to estates and trusts statutes), House Bill 378 (dual-enrollment information for parents, identified as "Leon's law"), and House Bill 389 (a childcare workforce pilot program fund). Each bill was referred to the committee(s) specified during the reading; many were referred to committees such as Commerce and Economic Development, Housing and Development, Judiciary, Health, Transportation, and Rules (as recited by the clerk).

The House also received messages from the Senate. Sarah Holland, principal clerk of the Senate, transmitted a message asking that a conference committee be appointed after the House failed to concur on House Bill 47 (a bill to provide additional appropriations and extend regulatory flexibility for communities impacted by Hurricane Helene). The Senate also transmitted several Senate bills to the House for first reading and referral, including Senate Bill 58 (relating to limits on the attorney general's participation in certain litigation and a related reporting requirement), Senate Bill 77 (parent choice in nursing service providers required by individualized education programs), and Senate Bill 227 (relating to school instruction and certain concepts), all referred to the House Rules, Calendar and Operations Committee as read into the record.

On a procedural motion, Representative Penney moved that the journal for March 12 be approved as written; the motion carried by voice vote. Representative Penney then moved that the House adjourn to reconvene Monday, March 17 at 1 p.m., a motion seconded by Representative Clampett; the motion carried by voice vote and the House adjourned. The chair also announced a procedural re-referral: the chair withdrew a previously referred bill (identified in the transcript as House Bill 2 for Q2, related to exempt contracts for Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina) from the committee on Housing and Development and re-referred it to Judiciary 1 with a referral to Rules noted.

Committee assignments and other procedural changes were announced later in the session. The chair named Representative Gillespie to the Energy and Public Utilities Committee and Representative Harrison to the Regulatory Reform Committee. The chair also reported modifications to committee referrals for specific bills, including withdrawing Senate Bill 37 from Rules, Calendar and Operations and recommitting it to Appropriations with an added referral to Rules.

Why it matters: the referrals determine which committees will examine, amend and hold hearings on the bills; the conference committee request signals a pending interchamber negotiation on disaster-related appropriations. The re-referral of a bill from one standing committee to another may affect the timetable and legal framing under which the measure will be considered.

The House scheduled its next legislative session for 1 p.m. Monday, March 17, as announced during the adjournment motion.