Special Session Update (continued)

November 30, 2018

After some debate, the Senate passed SB 284 with a vote of 30-10. Of the eleven amendments proposed to the original bill, six passed. The bill next moves to the House for a vote. The vote is expected some time next week. This bill is similar to the 2013 voter ID bill, but includes a greater variety of allowable forms of identification for voting purposes.

The bill stipulates that the following forms of ID will be accepted: college ID's including community colleges and private universities, municipal government ID's that meet state requirements, driver's licenses, military ID's and tribal enrollment cards would be accepted as well. Other forms of ID that are also deemed acceptable are photo IDs issued by another state if the voter’s registration was within 90 days of the election and photo IDs that have been expired for one year or less.

The bill includes legislation that defines the creation of fake IDs for voter fraud purposes as a class 1 felony. The bill does not give an estimate of the cost of implementing voter ID to North Carolina, which remains a concern. The full text of the bill and all related amendments can be found here.

HURRICANE RELIEF

Other recent legislation includes a third hurricane relief bill, SB 283. Much of the $250 million allocated in this bill will help farmers and fishermen devastated by recent hurricanes. The bill also includes $23.5 million for the NCDPI (Dept. of Public Instruction) to help affected schools finish repairs and renovations.

The House and Senate are expected to continue to meet into next week including a meeting of the Select Committee on School Safety, scheduled for Thursday, December 6 at 1pm. Check on FaceBook and our web site for updates!