Governor Stein Takes Action on Several Bills

Yesterday Governor Stein signed twelve bills into law and vetoed one bill.

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 920:

"As technology changes and scammers get more sophisticated, our laws must keep up. According to the FBI, each year Americans lose millions of dollars in frauds and scams involving cryptocurrency kiosks, including more than $12 million lost in North Carolina. This bill protects people from fraud when they use virtual currency kiosks, requiring the machines to be licensed and regulated under state law, placing limits on daily transactions, and providing scam alert signs, live customer service, receipts for transactions, and the ability to cancel a transaction that's still in progress. These fixes will help us keep people safe from bad actors."

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 372:

"This bill protects entrepreneurs working out of their homes, like real estate agents and CPAs, from unfair fines or overregulation."

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 1126:

"This bill strengthens our state employee and retiree benefits systems, including making it easier for veterans to claim service retirement credit and extending maternal health benefits to dependents on the State Health Plan. However, this bill also raises costs on the taxpayers by authorizing the Treasurer to hire private outside counsel instead of using Department of Justice lawyers."'

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 206:

"This bill helps keep people safe. It strengthens support for crime victims, enables North Carolina Emergency Management to donate travel trailers and other emergency supports to local governments, and better coordinates tribal police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies. However, the bill requires more appointments to be confirmed by the General Assembly when it has not demonstrated its ability to confirm appointments made many months ago. These delays mean a slower and less efficient state government."

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 355:

"This bill supports correctional, probational, and parole officer retention. It also facilitates reentry, increasing people's chances of success when they return to their communities by giving the Department of Adult Corrections the option to offer courses required for drivers license restoration."

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 1094:

"This bill makes the DMV more efficient and gives drivers a smoother experience. It helps more people avoid a trip to renew their IDs and makes crash reports easier to access online so that people can get the information and resources they need when they need them."

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing Senate Bill 474:

"When I signed Senate Bill 889, I called on the General Assembly to pass Senate Bill 474 to protect Buncombe County and other jurisdictions recovering from Hurricane Helene. The version sent to my desk does not do that. Instead, it continues to impede Buncombe County's recovery efforts. Nevertheless, this bill provides legal clarity to local governments adopting new budgets after the statutory deadline so I have signed it into law."

Governor Stein made the following statement on vetoing House Bill 437:

"We all want people experiencing homelessness to get back on their feet and live in safe, affordable housing. Yet, this poorly constructed bill makes that goal harder and creates another significant unfunded mandate for local governments. The bill also fundamentally misunderstands how people suffering from addiction get healthy. If government threatens criminal liability against those who seek treatment and against the people, organizations, and churches trying to help them, government stands in the way of services that promote health and safety, and people's problems are actually made worse. I have long called for funding to crack down on drug trafficking, invest in behavioral health, and expand affordable housing options - because homelessness and substance misuse are real problems that deserve real solutions, not this bill."

Governor Stein also signed the following bills into law:

• Senate Bill 648
• Senate Bill 857
• House Bill 133
• House Bill 517
• House Bill 747

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