Hundreds of bills have been filed during the N.C. General Assembly’s legislative session this year covering dozens of topics. As legislative committee meetings get underway in Raleigh there are two bills in particular North Carolina Republicans must show support for!

More information can be found below:

N.C. House of Representatives

House Majority Leader Rep. Brenden Jones filed House Bill 171, which bans Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in all State agencies.

This bill will also ban any taxpayer funding from being used to support DEI programs within agencies and forbids utilizing DEI in hirings.

In an interview with Carolina Journal, Jones said of the bill:

“House Bill 171 is about eliminating the divisive and ineffective DEI bureaucracy in state and local government. These programs have injected politics into hiring, promotions, and contracting, prioritizing ideology over qualifications and competence. Government jobs and opportunities should be awarded based on merit, not forced quotas or political mandates.”

N.C. Senate

Additionally, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Sen. Warren Daniel, and Sen. Buck Newton filed the “North Carolina Border Protection Act,” to ensure state law enforcement officials are cooperating with federal immigration laws and that residents are protected from harmful Sanctuary City policies.

Senate Bill 153 would do the following:

• Require state law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Public Safety, Department of Adult Correction, the State Highway Patrol, and the State Bureau of Investigation, to enter into memorandums of agreement (MOAs) with the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fully cooperate with immigration laws.
• Those law enforcement agencies would also be required to determine the immigration status of any person in its custody or under its supervision.
• The Office of State Budget and Management would be required to determine whether, and to what extent, certain state-funded public benefit programs are being provided to unauthorized immigrants and post its findings publicly.
• The OSBM would then be required to take steps to ensure that state-funded public benefits are only being provided to those who qualify for it.
• While Sanctuary City policies are already prohibited in the state, municipalities across the state continue to defy the state law. To hold them accountable, any county or municipality that creates Sanctuary Cities will have its local immunity waived, thereby allowing citizens harmed by illegal immigrants to sue them.
• Finally, it prohibits UNC System campuses from adopting any policy that does not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and/or adopting sanctuary school policies. 

This bill protects the taxpayers by ensuring that only those eligible receive state-funded public benefits, like low-income housing tax credits, child-care subsidies, and caregiver support. SB 153 also directs UNC System institutions to cooperate with immigration officials.

Use the NC General Assembly website to find your county’s legislators and let you know you support these strong, conservative bills.