Cooper signs seven bills, lets three become law and vetoes two others

RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) - Governor Roy Cooper on Monday announced updates on twelve different bills on which he made decisions.

Seven bills were signed into law:

House Bill 125: NC Health & Human Services Workforce Act.
House Bill 142: Protect Our Students Act.-AB
Senate Bill 211: Permit Multistate Water/Sewer Authority.
Senate Bill 579: Prevent Harm to Children.
Senate Bill 477: Amend Bus. Corp. Act/Bus. Opp. Disclosures.
Senate Bill 531: Dam Safety Law Clarification.
House Bill 8: Various Statutory Changes.

Cooper provided a statement on HB 8, praising its provisions for preparing students for computer science careers while criticizing the changes it makes to the university and community college accreditation process.

The Governor vetoed HB 600, the Regulatory Reform Act of 2023, and SB 678, Clean Energy/Other Changes.

In the announcement, he said the bill “is a hodgepodge of bad provisions that will result in dirtier water, discriminatory permitting and threats to North Carolina’s environment.” As for SB 678, he criticized what he says are the bill’s attempts to prioritize the construction of traditional power plants over lower-cost solutions such as energy efficiency.

He declined to sign three bills into law:

House Bill 259: 2023 Appropriations Act.
House Bill 361: Require Report/Protection & Advocacy Agency.
Senate Bill 452: DOI & Ins Law And/Revise HS Athletics.

He provided a statement on SB 452, saying that its changes to auto insurance are good while saying the “late-night changes” to the governance of high school sports as “a solution in search of a problem.”