Under the Dome: NC lawmakers remember late House member, file bills as session gets underway
Good morning and welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Emily Vespa.
The legislature returned Wednesday, though votes aren’t expected for a few weeks. Today’s newsletter has takeaways from the first working day of the session.
First, state lawmakers filed new bills on a range of issues, from gambling to balloons. Five of the most notable bills would:
Allow a tax deduction for gambling losses
Ban tax on tips
Repeal the state’s literacy test requirement
Ban mass balloon releases
Require North Carolina to observe standard time year-round
Read more on these bills and others here, from Kyle Ingram, Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, Avi Bajpai, Dan Kane and T. Keung Hui.
NC HOUSE HONORS HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
The North Carolina House recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a speech from Rabbi Eric Solomon, of Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh.
“In the Holocaust, the Jewish people witnessed pure evil directly unvarnished,” Solomon said. “Six million Jews – one-and-a-half million children – were viciously murdered, many of them in gas chambers or lined up and shot beside ditches and rivers.”
Solomon said that the past year had been particularly difficult for him, given the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and several hundred were taken hostage. One of those hostages – Chapel Hill native Keith Siegel – is expected to be released on Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal.
Solomon applauded lawmakers for passing the SHALOM Act last year, which defined antisemitism under state law, and said he hoped the legislature would take action to prevent hate speech against any group.
“We know that North Carolinians, represented by you, honorable assembly members, will not let your fellow citizens down,” he said. “You will continue to stand up for what is right and good, for love and not for hate, for protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that ‘never again’ not only applies to North Carolina’s Jewish community, but to all North Carolinians of every stripe.”
— Kyle Ingram
HOUSE MEMBERS REMEMBER NC REP. JOE JOHN
Several House members gave emotional tributes during Wednesday’s session to Rep. Joe John, a longtime state lawmaker and former judge who died last week, days after he resigned his seat and announced his throat cancer was terminal.
John, a Democrat, represented his Raleigh district in the House for eight years, from 2017 to 2025. He ran for reelection last year and had won a fifth term in November. His replacement, Phil Rubin, a former federal prosecutor, was selected by the Wake County Democratic Party, and was formally seated on Wednesday.
Before serving in the legislature, John spent almost 25 years as a judge in district and superior court, as well as the N.C. Court of Appeals. He also served as director of the State Crime Lab.
House Minority Leader Robert Reives said John “did more in his 85 years than a lot of us are even going to be able to dream about, that we couldn’t do in three lifetimes, but when you talked to him, he was still one of the most humble people you would ever get a chance to talk to.”
Reives said he talked about his decision to seek the leadership of his caucus with John, and said that discussion was “the most honest, forthright, yet supportive discussion I’ve had with anybody for any decision I’ve made.”
He said that support was one reason why – in addition to how “he had that strong, gravelly voice and presence, but at the same time, he had a kindness to him that was unbelievable” – John reminded him a lot of his father.
Rep. Amos Quick, a Guilford County Democrat, said John was a committed public servant, and noted John’s deep, baritone voice, recalling how it “resonated throughout this chamber.”
Quick said he tried to always sit next to John during caucus meetings “because I knew that he had read the intimate details of every bill, and whenever I had a question, I didn’t have to disrupt the whole caucus to get my question answered. I often just leaned to my left or right and said, ‘Judge, what are the real-world implications of this bill?’ And he always had an answer.”
Reps. Marcia Morey and Abe Jones, Democrats from Durham and Raleigh who like John also served as judges before being elected to the legislature, said John represented exactly what a judge should be.
Morey said John “never wavered from making difficult decisions that were always just,” “spoke deliberately, softly yet firmly,” and “fought to maintain an independent judiciary free from partisanship his entire five terms in office.” Jones said he was “balanced,” “deep,” and “thought well.”
Rep. Donna White, a Johnston County Republican, said John had a “great sense of humor” and was “a gentleman, an astute legislator, and a collaborator.”
House Speaker Destin Hall, a practicing attorney, said that there are a few judges whose opinions “you sort of read a little bit closer when you see them,” and that John was one of those judges for him.
Hall said John was “one of the finest men I’ve met,” and said “the state and this world could have a lot more like him, and we’d be much better off.”
— Avi Bajpai
NC FEDERAL PROSECUTOR RESIGNS
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Michael Easley Jr., will step down next week after more than three years in the role.
“It has been the highest honor to serve as the top federal law enforcement official for Eastern North Carolina – a place I was born, raised, and am proud to call home,” Easley said in a news release.
The son of two-term Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who also served as the state’s attorney general, Easley was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021.
During his tenure, Easley pushed efforts to drive down violent crime and prosecute white-collar fraud.
“Under his leadership, we made real progress — violent crime down, overdose deaths falling, and tighter collaboration,” said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president and general counsel of the North Carolina Sheriffs Association, in a news release. “Easley set a new gold standard for what it means to lead in federal law enforcement.”
It’s typical for top federal prosecutors to resign in a new presidential administration. Sandra Hairston resigned from her role as the U.S. attorney for the state’s middle district days before the inauguration.
Today’s newsletter was by Emily Vespa, Kyle Ingram and Avi Bajpai. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
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This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Under the Dome: NC lawmakers remember late House member, file bills as session gets underway."
