Stricter immigration enforcement, DEI programs eliminated after House Republicans override vetoes :: WRAL.com

North Carolina Republican House lawmakers voted to override four of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes Wednesday, including provisions on concealed firearms, immigration, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Three of the bills had already passed veto overrides in the Senate, so they are now law following the vote Wednesday in the state House, including new rules requiring closer coordination between state agencies and federal immigration officials and prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public education and higher education.

Senate Bill 227 and 558 will crack down on DEI in public schools and public higher education, respectively — in the classroom as well as in training and hiring practices. The higher ed law also now bans universities from investigating reports of any “offensive or unwanted speech that is protected by the First Amendment, including satire or speech labeled as microaggression.”Senate Bill 153 now requires state and local government agencies and employees, ranging from law enforcement agencies to public schools, to cooperate with deportation efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Any entities deemed not in compliance could be sued. The new law also requires state agencies that handle safety net benefit programs to ascertain the immigration status of people applying for aid.

The other bill the House overrode won’t immediately become law. It now goes to the Senate, where Republicans hold a veto-proof supermajority and are likely to also soon override them. House Bill 171 would outlaw DEI policies and training sessions in state and local governments. 

In a statement after the votes, Stein accused Republican legislators of “stoking the culture wars that divide us rather than fulfilling their long-overdue responsibility of passing a budget.” Republican legislative leaders didn’t pass a comprehensive spending plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year because of disagreements over tax policy and other issues. Republican leaders announced last month that they had reached an agreement on raises for state employees, but as of this week are still negotiating the details of a broader budget bill.  

“It’s time for them to do their jobs for the people of North Carolina,” Stein said. “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.”

The votes came about a year after Stein first vetoed the bills. Republican Dan Kiger, a retired state trooper, was sworn in earlier Wednesday, replacing Rep. Sarah Stevens, R-Surry, who resigned as she campaigns for North Carolina Supreme Court.

All of the votes were 71-47. 

Republicans lost their supermajority in the House in the 2024 elections, requiring them to get at least one Democrat on board with any veto override.

House rules require 60% of members present to override vetoes. Republicans were able to override the vetoes because two Democrats — Reps. Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe, and Carla Cunningham, a former Democrat from Mecklenburg — weren’t present for the votes.

Both were present earlier in the day for committee meetings. Both lost their Democratic primaries in March.

Willingham, a moderate Democrat who has sometimes voted with Republicans on contentious bills in the past, was ousted by his district’s voters in the March primary elections in favor of a more liberal challenger. A representative from his office said that Willingham had an appointment and that’s why he was unable to be there for the votes.

Stein didn’t publicly endorse Willingham’s opponent, as he did an opponent to Cunningham, another moderate incumbent who also lost and has since quit the Democratic Party in protest. Cunningham didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Democratic Party leaders made no effort to hide their enthusiasm over the primary election defeats of Willingham, Cunningham and the socially conservative Charlotte Rep. Nasif Majeed, another former Democrat who like Cunningham has since re-registered as an unaffiliated voter.

House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said that the media would have to ask Cunningham and Willingham about their discussions with Republican leadership.

“I don’t have anything to give them,” said Hall, who is overseeing negotiations with the Senate on a state budget with spending of more than $32 billion.

Minority leader Robert Reives of Chatham county said the budget is what Republicans should be focused on. He said if it was up to him North Carolinians would have more money in their pockets.

“You wouldn’t have to worry as much about these prices… we would have been doing things to put money in your pocket right now,” Reives said immediately after the votes.

Republicans voted to limit debate on all the veto overrides, infuriating Democrats. Hall noted that the House passed its own rules earlier in the session.

“These bills have been well debated,” Hall said. “I realize that there are certain members who are against the subject matter in these bills — and that’s fine. But that doesn’t call into question this body at all. In fact, it’s just simply the way our government works, the way it’s worked for a long time.”