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Good evening,

The North Carolina General Assembly has been a hive of activity recently, as lawmakers overrode a series of Governor Josh Stein’s vetoes.

The General Assembly ended what would be a costly energy mandate by overriding ([link removed]) Gov. Stein’s veto of the Power Bill Reduction Act (SB 266). A 2021 law had required North Carolina to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 (from 2005 levels), which was going to force a large overbuild of unreliable solar and wind energy onto North Carolina’s grid. The Power Bill Reduction Act requires the North Carolina Utilities Commission to consider affordability, reliability, and feasibility when approving energy plans under House Bill 951 (of 2021).

This is excellent news. The General Assembly is standing up for you by fighting for energy affordability and rejecting costly ideological mandates.

The legislature also safeguarded ([link removed]) personal privacy. They overrode Gov. Stein’s veto of the Privacy Protection Act (SB 416). State agencies are now prohibited from collecting or disclosing personal information of donors to nonprofit organizations, unless legally required or part of a criminal investigation.

This override ensures that North Carolina citizens can support the causes they believe in, without having their privacy threatened by government overreach or public intimidation.

Finally, the legislature limited ([link removed]) bureaucratic overreach by overriding Gov. Stein’s veto of the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act.

The REINS Act (HB 402) requires the General Assembly to approve any state-agency rule expected to cost $20 million or more in total over five years before the rule can take effect. The measure is modeled on federal REINS proposals—which define a “major rule” as one with at least $100 million in annual national impact—but no federal version has become law. The John Locke Foundation has been writing about the need for this particular reform since 2015!

This is a bold step toward restoring balance and accountability in state government. The REINS Act ensures that major regulations must be approved by the people’s elected representatives — not just faceless bureaucrats.

The John Locke Foundation applauds these moves as a decisive rejection of government overreach and a victory for North Carolina citizens.

You can read more about individual liberty, energy policy, and regulation here ([link removed]) , here ([link removed]) , and here ([link removed]) .

Esse quam videri,

Donald Bryson
CEO
John Locke Foundation

Watch our latest A Better Carolina video!
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Write about the American Revolution, and you could win thousands $$$
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More from Locke
1) 📜📜📜 The empire strikes back, weakly: the Battle of Beaufort ([link removed])
* The Battle of Yorktown is often considered the end of the American Revolution, but some historians argue that the Battle of Beaufort, after Yorktown, actually marked the end
+ It took place in Beaufort, North Carolina, from April 4-17, 1782, more than 6 months after Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown and before the official end of the war with the Treaty of Paris
+ Tory militia and British dragoons, led by British Major Andrew Deveaux and based in Charleston, South Carolina, arrived in Beaufort in search of supplies, but soon began plundering homes.
+ ​​Local militia, led by Captain John Easton, eventually gathered and pushed the British force back to their ships
+ After days of exchanging fire and prisoner swaps, the British sailed back to Charleston
+ Most of the prisoners were eventually released, and the invading force acquired much of the provisions they came for
* In Beaufort today, the Fort Macon Visitor Center has a display about the battle, and you can find an informative lecture online here ([link removed])

You can read the full dispatch here ([link removed]) .

2) 💸💸💸 NC lawmakers pass interim spending plan ([link removed])
* A placeholder bill, House Bill 125 (originally a ceremonial bill), was repurposed to allow for continuing budget operations amid stalled budget negotiations
* A few education-related provisions of HB 125 include:
+ $1.1 billion from the Education Lottery Fund to support pre-K, non-instructional personnel, capital improvements, transportation, and scholarship programs
+ $104.2 million annually for public schools due to account for salary changes, special population headcounts, low-wealth county funding, and technical adjustments
+ And $94.9 million annually to support increased community college enrollment
* Other relevant expenditures include:
+ $823.6 million from the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund to the Office of State Budget and Management for capital improvement, repairs, and renovation cash flow
+ $600 million in recurring funds for the Medicaid rebase to cover enrollment changes, service costs, federal match rates, and managed care operations
+ $252 million nonrecurring over the biennium from the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve for Guilford County site acquisition/improvements for an airplane manufacturer
* Some notably absent provisions include:
+ No mention of NCInnovation funds and potential clawback of the $500 million allocated to the controversial nonprofit
+ No across-the-board pay raises for teachers or state employees
+ No plan for continued tax cuts or changes to revenue triggers for already-scheduled tax cuts
+ No repeal of Certificate of Need (CON) laws
+ No additional funding for Hurricane Helene recovery

You can read the full report here ([link removed]) .

3) 📝📝📝 Applications for Helene cashflow loans now open ([link removed])
* Local municipalities affected by Hurricane Helene have another chance to apply for assistance through the Helene Cashflow Loan program
+ The 3rd round of $51.5 million in funding can now be distributed (thanks to the passage of The Disaster Recovery Act of 2025-Part II in June)
+ The 2nd round of loans was distributed in June
o A full list of recipients can be found here ([link removed])
+ And more than $73 million had been distributed in February in the 1st round, marking a total of $97 million in the past 6 months
+ The loans must be repaid in 5 years
* Many local governments requested additional funding due to the extent of the damage, ongoing cleanup, and cash flow issues while seeking resources through more traditional means, like FEMA
+ Local governments wishing to participate will need to complete a worksheet
+ Information on how to do that can be found here ([link removed])

You can get the full picture here ([link removed]) .


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