The state Legislature this week overrode Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s ninth veto and signed into law a bill that will give tax credits to those who donate to scholarship-granting organizations.
HB 87 became law on Wednesday after the Republican-majority Senate overrode the veto by 30-19 votes, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats present against.
It was the final vote after the House of Representatives overrode the veto by 73 to 46 votes two weeks ago. The Republican majority reached the necessary votes thanks to the now independent representatives Carla Cunningham and Masid Majeed, who resigned from the Democratic Party after losing the primary elections.
The new legislation will allow the state to participate in a federal program created by President Donald Trump that will provide $1,700 tax credits to those who donate to organizations that provide educational scholarships for private and public-school students.
Gov. Stein vetoed the legislation in August 2025, stating that those tax benefits should apply to donations intended to support public schools, and that he was waiting for more information from the federal government before the state would sign up for the federal program.
On Wednesday, Stein lamented in a statement that the Legislature rushed to enroll North Carolina in the program and criticized legislative leaders for not investing enough in public schools.
“This legislature has dropped North Carolina to second to last in the nation in per public school pupil spending,” Stein said in his statement. ” We need to put more public dollars into our public schools, and I will continue to do everything I can to provide more support for public school kids.”
With the enactment of HB87, the state Legislature has now overridden Stein’s nine vetoes, who since taking office in 2025 has vetoed 15 bills.
The six bills pending a vote have appeared on the legislative calendar since the short session began on April 21, but so far only H87 has been voted on.
The Legislature had not voted on any of the vetoed bills since July of last year, when it overrode eight vetoes.
In the table below, you can see the status of the 15 bills vetoed by Stein so far.
