(The Center Square) – Regulations in a proposal going to the governor are scaled back in a move aimed at North Carolina property owners, housing opportunities, military-owned businesses and independent contractors.
Late Tuesday evening, the House of Representatives approved the Regulatory Reform Act of 2026, previously called Senate Bill 445 before it passed. It next goes to first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein with a 10-day window to sign, veto or allow to become law without his signature.
In a release, Alamance Republican cochairman of the Committee on Regulatory Reform Dennis Riddell said in part, “The less time people have to spend dealing with unnecessary regulations, the more time they can spend starting a small business or building affordable places to live. These reforms clear away many of those obstacles, and that’s great news for all North Carolinians.”
Passage of a conference report in the Senate was 37-0 ahead of the House’s 82-28 affirmation. Eighteen Democrats and an unaffiliated lawmaker formerly a Democrat were supportive in the House; 11 Senate Democrats were on board.
Republicans say the legislation will safeguard homeowners’ right to display the flags of the United States of America and North Carolina through “limiting unreasonable HOA and condominium restrictions”; and it gives developers extra time to “preserve vested development rights following emergency declarations, helping communities recover and rebuild after disasters like Hurricane Helene.”
There is language in the bill addressing housing opportunities through prohibitions on “unreasonable local restrictions and fees”; and for redevelopment of vacant commercial and industrial properties in large urban areas.
Military-owned businesses will get more time, if the bill becomes law, to file annual reports in, during and around deployments. There’s a waiver on fees. The proposal also creates “voluntary portable benefit accounts so independent contractors can keep benefits like health insurance and retirement savings as they move between jobs.”
North Carolina is the ninth largest state in the country at 11.2 million population, and the Mercatus Center estimates 900,000 or more are independent contractors, freelancers or self-employed. That workforce generates about $48 billion in annual state revenue, according to research by DMJPS CPAs and Advisors.
North Carolina is home to an estimated 615,000 veterans, roughly 90,000 active-duty military, and about 43,000 National Guard and reservists. Texas, Florida, California and Pennsylvania rank with North Carolina in the top five of states home to veterans. California, Texas and Virginia are the only states with more active-duty military.
North Carolina’s six major military bases include the U.S. Army’s Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, both in the southeastern part of the state; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in eastern North Carolina; and U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River along the coast, not more than an hour’s drive from the more inland MCAS Cherry Point in Havelock. There are also two U.S. Coast Guard bases along the northern coast at Elizabeth City; and the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point on the southern coast in Brunswick County.
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