Dear Friend,

As of noon today, the NC General Assembly returned to Raleigh to begin the 2024 legislative short session.

The "short session" is so-called because it permits only minimal legislative action, and with an expected end coming July 31st, it is shorter than the normal legislative session. As this helpful article from the Carolina Journal notes, "the parameters of the short session are specifically tailored to try to keep the flow of business down, restricting actions mostly to budget-related adjustments. However, crossover bills can make the cut, even if they don’t fall under appropriations or finance. Crossover bills allow legislation from the previous year to be considered during the subsequent short session. This year, more than 250 bills are considered eligible during the 2024 short session, meaning they passed one chamber in 2023 and are eligible under the specific prerequisites. But eligibility doesn’t guarantee progression."

Our team has been busy working behind the scenes in preparation for the session. In addition to our attempt to advance pro-values bills caught in last session's crossover-limbo, there are also budgetary goals we'll be championing, such as increasing Opportunity Scholarship program funding to meet the record-breaking 72,000+ applicants.

Our legislative list of priorities includes a number of particular items as well, such as:

1. Protecting children from obscene books in school libraries;

2. Adding enforcement authority to ensuring compliance to the parental bill of rights;

3. Restoring parental consent for the medical treatment of minors;

4. Prohibiting state actors from removing children from their parents' custody for refusing to affirm gender transitioning; and

5. Protecting parental rights by requiring consent for name/pronoun changes in school records or by school personnel.

Our goal is to cultivate a North Carolina that protects life at every stage, sees the family as the building block of society, trusts parents to make decisions for their children, and protects the religious liberties our forefathers sacrificed so much to protect. While the opportunities available within the short session are limited, you can safely assume we will do everything in our power to advance your pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom values in the legislature.

If any of these issues are important to you, there are two ways you can contribute to help bring them to fruition.

First, would you consider making a financial donation towards our work? Lobbying for bills is expensive, and unlike fat-pursed national organizations like Planned Parenthood that can pour $10 million into unraveling our work and attempting to make North Carolina look like New California, we are dependent on supporters like you to impact state policy. Would you consider making a $25, $50, $100, or more donation today towards our hard work?

Second, would you consider donating your time tomorrow by voting to helping ensure we elect conservatives who champion our values? If you were unaware, April 25th marks the start of early voting in the run-off elections. There are two races in particular that need to ensure pro-values conservatives get out and vote, and we'll be telling you more about them and how to vote in the morning.

As always, thank you for everything you do. From your gifts, to your words, we appreciate everything we are able to do together.

Sincerely,

Tami & Team
NC Values