North Carolina House passes package of bills, including medical‑record felony and utility worker protections

The North Carolina House on April 8 passed a series of bills on second and third readings and ordered them sent to the Senate, advancing measures on criminal law, worker protections, education and administrative procedure.

The package included legislation that creates a criminal offense for willful falsification or omission from medical records when done to conceal error or abuse (House Bill 123); a Utility Worker Protection Act that increases penalties for assaulting utility workers and, by amendment, extends protections to transportation workers (HB258); updates to the criminal code addressing strangulation and habitual domestic violence (HB308); and a childcare workforce pilot program to establish 10 academies and shorten certain licensing training (HB389). Several local bills and technical corrections also passed.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 26 / HB63 / HB147 (block vote on local annexation/de‑annexation bills): passed; clerk recorded 108 affirmative, 4 negative on the vote recorded in the transcript. - House Bill 143 (Maysville Occupancy Tax): passed (clerk recorded prior second‑reading tally 108 affirmative, 5 negative; third reading passage recorded). - House Bill 53 (Safe Driver Incentive Plan thresholds): second‑reading recorded 112 affirmative, 1 negative; third reading passed by voice and ordered sent to the Senate. - House Bill 123 (Criminal falsification of medical…