On March 2, Senate Bill 196, the "Student Borrowers’ Bill of Rights", was filed in the N.C. Senate. If passed, the bill would create a license requirement process for lenders to help ensure fair treatment for student loan borrowers and their families.
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On Sunday, Feb. 26, the 33rd annual Pauli Murray Award ceremony was held by the Orange County Human Relation Commission, where James E. Williams Jr. and Delores P. Simpson won the 2023 award.
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On Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court decided in a 5-2 order along party lines that it would stop the transfer of money by a lower court toward public education in the state. The new Republican majority on the state Supreme Court agreed with the State Controller's argument that the office's potential criminal liability for moving the money was not adequately addressed in the court's November opinion.
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Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation declaring March as Women’s History Month on Feb. 24. The national theme for Women’s History Month is "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories," and the proclamation encourages the North Carolina community to honor prominent women storytellers in North Carolina’s history.
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The N.C. House of Representatives' permanent rules package for the 2023-2024 session, passed in the House on Feb. 15, includes a change to overriding the governor's veto. The rule will allow overriding votes to occur on any legislative day without prior notice to representatives, a change from the current 24- to 72-hour notice.
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On Feb. 24, community members gathered around the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over 100 people honored a moment of silence for Ukrainian citizens before listening to speeches and poetry readings during the vigil.
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N.C. House Bill 94 was filed on Feb. 13 to reintroduce happy hour, which has been outlawed since 1985 over concerns of drunk driving. The bill has strong bipartisan support – the primary sponsors of the bill are N.C. Reps. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), Allison Dahle (D-Wake), David Willis (R-Union) and Zack Hawkins (D-Durham).
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While most bills in the N.C. General Assembly are written to address a specific issue, state senators occasionally file blank bills during legislative sessions. These allow senators to work around local bill filing deadlines as the bills can be amended pending committee approval.
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North Carolina experienced a 22 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2021, according to a Feb. 21 press release from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCDHHS recorded 4,041 people who died from overdose, the highest-ever number of overdose deaths in a single year.
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On Feb. 16, N.C. House Democrats introduced House Bill 141 that would provide paid parental leave for state employees. If passed, the bill would provide up to eight weeks of paid parental leave for full-time state employees and up to four weeks for part-time state employees, in addition to any paid leave already available.
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According to recent data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, teachers are staying in the classroom at rates comparable to previous years. Though teacher vacancies at the beginning and 40-day mark of the school year are higher, the difference might not represent an actual change in vacancy rates, but a change in reporting methods to more accurately reflect the state of the teaching profession.
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Gov. Roy Cooper recently announced January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Jan. 11 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day to promote the role of all North Carolinians in preventing trafficking and helping victims and survivors.
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The U.S. Supreme Court is to decide whether the Republican gerrymander of North Carolina districts should continue to be subject to judicial review in state courts. If the Court rules in favor of N.C. state legislature Republicans, the checks and balances at the state court level would be harshly restricted. The Court’s ruling would apply to every state in the country. "I think what might strike a person is that this is a proposal that gets rid of the normal checks and balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country," Justice Elena Kagan said.
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Although the Raleigh Transit Authority recently voted 6-2 to recommend to the Raleigh City Council to reinstate bus fares in July 2023, GoTriangle, GoDurham and GoRaleigh will remain fare-free for the time being. In contrast, Chapel Hill Transit is a fare-free system and has been for two decades.
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Gov. Roy Cooper announced the appointment of several members to the Andrea Harris Equity Task Force. The mission of the task force is to advise state government offices on ways to promote economic development, equitable practices, health and wellness in disadvantaged communities impacted by COVID-19.
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