LobbyComply Blog

Republican leaders in both the state House and Senate announced plans for a special session to address rising gas prices. Lawmakers are worried about the pressure fuel prices are putting on farmers and families. No official start date for the special session has been announced.

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Greensboro City Council approved an ordinance to increase the gift threshold for nominal gifts from $30 to $50 per gift. Items  valued at less than $50 now fall into the exception to the gift ban for city officials. Resolution 2026-100 also amends and updates the city’s code of ethics and disclosure requirements for city officials. The new gift amount is effective immediately.

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Gov. Josh Stein called for a special session beginning November 17. The session’s purpose is to address the state’s Medicare program and combat rising health care costs. The session will focus on increasing funding the Medicaid Rebase as it remains underfunded. This does affect lobbying reporting. A monthly lobbying report is due December 12 if expenditures were made on legislators or legislative employees during the November reporting period. 

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Campaign contribution limits for individual and PAC donors in 2025 are raised from $6,400 to $6,800 per election.

The State Board of Elections has calculated the new limit based on changes to the consumer price index.

A notice of increase will appear in the North Carolina Register on January 15 and the new limit has already gone into effect as of January 1.

Democrat Josh Stein defeated his opponent Republican Mark Robinson in the North Carolina gubernatorial race 54% to 40%.

This race was without an incumbent as Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper was term limited.

Stein is currently serving as the state’s attorney general.

State lawmakers will come together for a one-day session on October 9 to vote on a hurricane relief package.

Additional legislation is being drafted to enable the long-term recovery of the region and House Democratic Leader Robert Reives states hurricane relief could lead to introduction of additional legislation.

This does affect lobbying reporting.

A monthly report is due November 14 if expenditures were made on legislators or legislative employees during the reporting period.

Electronic Video Notarization (EVN) will continue to be a valid form of notarization in North Carolina.

EVN was a policy put in place during Covid-19 to allow for safer notarization of documents by allowing notaries to witness signatures over video calls.

This order expired on June 30 but extended to July 1, 2025, by House Bill 556.

The bill was vetoed by the governor before being overridden by legislative vote.

Electronic Video Notarization (EVN) will no longer be a valid form of notarization in North Carolina.

EVN was a policy put in place during Covid-19 to allow for safer notarization of documents by allowing notaries to witness signatures over video calls. This order has expired on June 30.

The order could have been extended to July 1, 2025, by House Bill 556, but the bill was vetoed by the governor.

Unless the veto is overridden, EVN is not a legal way to notarize documents and documents will need to be notarized in person going forward, but the use of e-notaries and document signing programs will still be valid.

House Bill 237 passed by a legislative override after being vetoed by Gov. Cooper.

The bill changes registration and reporting requirements for federal PACs contributing in state elections.

Federal PACs may now file a copy of the FEC Statement of Organization within 10 days of making a permissible contribution.

Federal PACs now report by filing with the State Board a copy of the FEC report for any federal filing period during which the federal PAC makes a contribution within 10 calendar days of the federal filing.

Submitting these reports can be done either through mail or email.

Previously, federal PACs were required to register and report using state forms and on state reporting schedules.

State Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County resigned from the Legislature after lawmakers concluded this year’s chief work session.

Perry previously announced he was not seeking reelection due to personal time constraints.

Republicans will appoint a replacement to fill the Senate District 2 seat for the remainder of the year.

The contribution limit for candidates and political committees in North Carolina has increased as mandated by state law.

The previous limit was capped at $5,600.

The new limit is now $6,400 and took effect on January 1 of the new year.

The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 605, delaying the 2022 primary elections to June 7.

The primary elections were already delayed by the state Supreme Court due to ongoing litigation over redistricting from March 8 to May 17.

The Republican-supported bill now faces a potential veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Although Cooper has not said whether he would veto the bill, a spokesman for him has said the bill undermines the voting process.

The North Carolina Supreme Court ordered the 2022 primary elections be delayed two months from March 8 to May 17.

The order comes in response to lawsuits filed challenging the recently approved redistricting maps.

The order also suspends candidate filing until the litigation is resolved.

The Supreme Court also stated the lawsuits must be heard and ruled upon by January 11, citing the need for urgency in resolving the matter.

North Carolina Senate Bill 722 became law without the governor’s signature on June 28.

The bill will delay certain municipal elections from 2021 to 2022 to accommodate delays in redistricting based upon 2020 Census data.

This delay will effectively extend the terms of current officeholders until the delayed elections can be held.

Winners of these delayed elections will serve their term as though they were elected in 2021 to return elections to their regular cycle.