3 big things to watch as the NC General Assembly returns to Raleigh | Opinion
The North Carolina General Assembly will return to Raleigh next week for its short session, much of which will be focused on resolving unfinished business from last year.
While the short session may be intended to be short, that doesn’t mean it won’t be eventful. It’s Senate leader Phil Berger’s last session in office, lawmakers are still at a budget impasse and veto overrides are still pending.
Here are 3 things to keep an eye on:
Will we finally get a budget?
North Carolina is — yes, still — without a state budget. Agreeing to a spending plan should be lawmakers’ top priority, given how much the impasse is affecting school districts and state agencies. Medicaid is in dire need of funding, and the budget will also be a critical opportunity to improve teacher pay, as frustration over the issue seems to be reaching another boiling point.
House Speaker Destin Hall has expressed optimism that a deal will get done, and has been eager about the House’s budget proposal to make North Carolina “number one in the South” for teacher pay by making starting pay $50,000. Republicans will likely be motivated by the fact that a general election is around the corner, and failing to pass a budget before then could be a major liability in what is already expected to be a tough midterm season with a supermajority on the line. But what that deal will be — and how it will get done — is less clear. It’s possible that Berger’s recent primary defeat could make him more amenable to a compromise on planned tax cuts. That issue has been the biggest roadblock to getting a budget passed so far.
Lame duck dynamics
Berger won’t be the only lame duck in the legislature this year. A surprising number of incumbents on both the Democratic and Republican sides lost their primaries in March — five Republicans and three Democrats.
It could contribute to a dynamic that we rarely see in Raleigh. The concept of lame ducks isn’t new, of course, but there’s a difference between a lawmaker choosing not to run again and being upset in the primary. And when incumbents lose a general election, there’s usually not much business conducted between November and January, so a whole session with a handful of lame ducks doesn’t happen often.
Will those lawmakers be willing to vote in ways they’ve been reluctant to before? Will they form unlikely alliances? And who will succeed Berger, the longest-serving state legislative leader in the country? Will it make the relationship between House and Senate Republicans better or worse?
Policy priorities and veto overrides
The rules for short session state that, technically, the legislature can only consider bills that passed one chamber previously. There are ways to work around that — such as simply using an old bill as a vehicle for a new one — but lawmakers did leave a lot on the table last year in what was a remarkably unproductive session.
That means there’s a lot they could do this year. Bills that passed only one chamber last year include a bill limiting the attorney general’s powers, a bill titled “Parents’ Medical Bill of Rights,” a bill limiting minors’ access to social media, and a bill that would allow challenged books to be removed from public school libraries. Hall has said that other priorities include proposing a constitutional amendment limiting property taxes and reforming North Carolina’s involuntary commitment process.
Lawmakers also have some pending veto overrides, including a controversial bill that would allow concealed carry of firearms without a permit. The Senate has already overridden that veto, but the House has yet to hold a vote, much to the frustration of right-wing activists. The House will certainly be under pressure from conservatives to hold an override vote, and this year, maybe they’ll be able to pick up the one Democratic vote they need for it to be successful. The three Democrats who lost their primaries last month were all ousted for their willingness to vote with Republicans, and they may be even more willing to do it now. Other veto overrides still on the table include a controversial immigration enforcement bill and a bill that would opt North Carolina into a federal school-choice tax credit program.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten is covering politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 12:08 PM.
