NC Gov Vetoes Another Set of Bills     07/10 06:16

   

   RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cleared his desk Wednesday 
of the deluge of bills passed to him from the North Carolina General Assembly 
last month, three of which he vetoed.

   Stein topped off his veto total at 14 for this year's legislative session. 
One of the vetoes prolongs the extensive battle between the governor's office 
and GOP-controlled legislature over gun laws -- an issue Republican lawmakers 
prioritized when they came to Raleigh.

   Now that all of Stein's vetoes have been returned to the Legislative 
Building, possible veto override attempts could occur starting later this 
month. House Speaker Destin Hall reaffirmed that possibility in a post on the 
social platform X.

   "We're keeping score. Overrides coming soon," Hall said.

   With Republicans one House seat short of a veto-proof supermajority, GOP 
leaders may have to pick and choose which measures to take action on. A few 
bills with some Democratic support may be able to skirt by.

   The first vetoed bill would allow certain people to carry firearms onto 
private school property with permission from the school's board of trustees or 
administrative director. The person -- either an employee or a volunteer -- 
would be required to have a concealed handgun permit and complete a training 
class. Republican proponents of the bill said it would keep private schools 
safe in rural areas where police response time is longer.

   Stein argued in his veto statement that school employees and volunteers 
"cannot substitute" law enforcement officers, who receive hundreds of hours of 
safety education, when crises occur. The governor did voice support for another 
provision in the bill that would heighten penalties for threatening or 
assaulting an elected official. He urged the legislature to "send me a clean 
bill with those protections so I can sign it."

   "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," 
Stein said in the statement.

   Some Democrats in the House and Senate voted for the bill originally, 
meaning a veto override is on the table.

   The fight over guns was the focus of a previous bill Stein vetoed a few 
weeks ago that would allow adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit. 
That bill faces an uphill battle to becoming law after a handful of Republicans 
voted against the measure, making the chances of a veto override fairly slim.

   GOP state legislators have continued to carve out further gun access over 
the past few years. In 2023, Republican lawmakers overrode former Democratic 
Gov. Roy Cooper's veto and put into law the elimination of the pistol purchase 
permit system that mandated character evaluations and criminal history checks 
for applicants.

   The other two bills Stein vetoed Wednesday also received some Democratic 
votes and thus could be overridden if such support holds.

   One of the bills would create an expedited removal process for homeowners 
and landlords to remove people unauthorized to live on their property. Stein 
said he was unhappy with a last-minute addition that would prevent local 
governments from enforcing their own prohibitions on pet shop animal sales and 
additional licensing beyond statewide rules. The other bill would bar public 
agencies from collecting or releasing certain personal information about donors 
to 501(c) nonprofits.

   The governor signed nine bills into law Wednesday. Two were omnibus criminal 
justice and public safety measures, raising penalties on many crimes or 
creating new criminal counts. Another was designed to help active-duty military 
and veterans with reduced government fees and improved access to higher 
education.