NC House won’t revisit abortion this year, Tim Moore says. But it will tackle these issues.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, fresh off his win in the Republican primary for a congressional seat, already knows what state House Republicans will and won’t take up during this year’s legislative session.
At least, what he has control of — and he has control of the House Republican Caucus, which has a veto-proof supermajority.
The General Assembly starts its short session on April 24, and priorities in past short sessions have generally been to pass a budget. Moore said that’s a priority this time, too. He said any additional tax cut “remains to be seen,” but he does want to offer more raises for teachers and state employees.
Conversations about Republican goals this session are only just starting, he said, and he confirmed again that he will continue to serve out his term as speaker this year.
Here’s what we know now about House Republicans and the legislative session.
What Speaker Moore wants to deal with this year
▪ Define antisemitism as a hate crime
Moore said the House would take up a Senate bill proposed by Sen. Bobby Hanig of Currituck County, or propose its own. Hanig filed Senate Bill 739 in 2023 but it did not get a committee hearing. Moore said there’s a desire to pass a bill this year because of incidents of antisemitism across the country after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which touched off the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
▪ Immigration
“And I want to just make sure that we’re doing all we can, when it comes to illegal immigration, to make sure that North Carolina is not a haven in any way for this,” Moore said. “I want to find ways to crack down on the amount of illicit drugs coming to the state that are killing people on a daily basis.”
▪ Inflation
“We’re doing well as a state, financially, but people in this state are suffering because they’re earning X and things, you know, Y, in terms of cost, is so much higher now,” Moore said. He said that raises for state employees and teachers are being considered, beyond the second year of raises already set to come from the 2023 budget.
Abortion, IVF bills won’t be taken up
▪ Abortion restrictions
Abortion will be a campaign issue again this year at the state and federal levels. The Republican candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, supports what he calls a “heartbeat” ban that would ban abortions after six weeks.
But Republicans who control the House don’t want to take up another abortion bill this year.
In 2023, the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a bill banning abortion, with exceptions, after the first trimester, and overturned the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Moore said he doesn’t know what could happen in 2025, when he’ll likely be serving in Congress assuming he wins his race in a Republican-leaning district. But for this year, he said the House would not take up another abortion bill, even if one is filed by a Republican.
“If there’s a conversation on that, it’ll happen next year after I’m no longer here,” he said.
Robinson’s Democratic opponent in this year’s gubernatorial race is Attorney General Josh Stein, who opposed last year’s abortion restrictions bill.
▪ IVF
Moore doesn’t see a need to pass a bill about in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. An Alabama Supreme Court decision on frozen embryos used for IVF led to legislative action there about protecting IVF clinics, the Associated Press reported.
Marijuana, other ‘unresolved’ issues a maybe
Moore said conversations with other House Republicans, and the Senate, are only just beginning. He said he doesn’t know yet where “unresolved” issues will land next month, and that things could change.
Medical marijuana legalization has long been a Senate Republican priority but has been blocked in the House.
Moore said the last time House Republicans discussed it, there was not enough support to move the bill forward.
“I do not know if that will have changed now that we’re coming back into a short session. I haven’t spoken anyone about it. No member has called me and brought this up,” he said.
“There’s all sorts of outside groups that are interested in one thing or another, of course, I think between gaming and marijuana about every lobbyist in the whole lobbying community has been retained on one side or another at this point,” Moore said.
Statewide sports gambling, a long-debated issue in the legislature, was legalized last year, which took effect this week to usher in March Madness.
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 3:16 PM with the headline "NC House won’t revisit abortion this year, Tim Moore says. But it will tackle these issues.."
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