The state House of Representatives on Wednesday overrode four vetoes by the governor and signed into law several pieces of legislation that eliminate diversity and inclusion programs in the state and one that expands the collaboration of state law enforcement agencies with federal immigration authorities.
This is SB153, which among other measures requires state agencies such as the State Highway Patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in addition to HB 171, SB 227 and SB 558 that eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in schools, universities, and government agencies, respectively.
The four bills were unexpectedly voted on nearly a year after they were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, even though they remained pending on the calendar throughout the current legislative session.
The four vetoes were overturned by a vote of 71 to 41 thanks to the absences of two lawmakers, Democrat Shelly Willingham and now independent Carla Cunningham, who were not present at the session despite having participated in the Rules and Operations Committee meeting in the morning.
The absences of Cunningham and Willingham allowed Republicans to reach the votes necessary to override the vetoes even though they do not have a supermajority in the House of Representatives.
State law states that overriding a veto requires three-fifths or 60 percent of the votes of the lawmakers present. That is, 72 of the 120 members of the House of Representatives, but with the two absences the required threshold dropped to 71 votes out of the 118 representatives present in the session.
Three of the four pieces of legislation were automatically signed into law after the vote, except for HB 171, whose veto has not yet been overridden by the Senate, where Republicans do have a veto-proof supermajority, so it is taken for granted that it will also become law, possibly this Thursday.
The only bill vetoed by Stein that was on the calendar and was not voted on Wednesday was HB 50, which would allow anyone over the age of 18 to carry guns without a permit.
Following Wednesday’s vote, Stein criticized Legislature leaders for focusing on overriding their vetoes instead of passing the state budget that has been pending for almost 1,000 days.
“As the legislature leaves teachers and law enforcement officers waiting for hard-earned and desperately needed pay raises, members of the General Assembly are stoking the culture wars that divide us rather than fulfilling their long-overdue responsibility of passing a budget,” Stein said in his statement.
“It’s time for them to do their jobs for the people of North Carolina. Instead, they are overriding my veto on bills to whitewash the diversity that makes our state strong and to take state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties, forcing them to act as federal immigration agents,” he said.
Since taking office in 2025, Governor Stein has vetoed a total of 15 bills, 12 of which have been overridden by the Legislature.
