NC lawmakers leave without taking up veto overrides. When could votes happen?

Avi Bajpai, The Charlotte Observer on Jun 26, 2025

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State lawmakers left Raleigh on Thursday without taking action on Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes of three immigration and gun bills.

Republicans in the House and Senate spent this week trying to conclude as much business as they could on pending bills, and they took votes to finalize a slew of bills that were sent to the governor’s desk. But they were unable to hold any veto override votes.

House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger both said override votes did not happen this week because of absences among their caucuses while the legislature was in session.

Republicans in the Senate have a three-fifths majority — the exact number of seats that is required to override a veto. In the House, they’re one seat short, which means they need to rely on the support of at least one Democrat, or take advantage of Democratic absences.

Two of the bills Stein vetoed last week deal with immigration enforcement.

The first, House Bill 318, requires sheriffs to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before releasing individuals that have been subject to detainer requests and are being temporarily held in order for ICE to take custody of them.

Hall told reporters on Thursday that for the timing of an override vote on this bill, which he personally sponsored, “it’s just a matter of determining a date where all members will be here, and when that happens, I’m confident we’ll have the votes to override.”

The other immigration measure, Senate Bill 153, expands cooperation with ICE to state law enforcement. Specifically, it requires the N.C. Departments of Public Safety and Adult Correction and the State Highway Patrol and State Bureau of Investigation to enter a federal program that allows ICE to train state and local officers to carry out immigration duties.

The third bill Stein vetoed deals with the issue of concealed carry. Senate Bill 50 would remove from state law a requirement that individuals carrying concealed handguns first obtain a permit from their local sheriff’s office. It also lowers the age after which concealed carry of a handgun is legal, from 21 to 18.

Lawmakers wrapped up Thursday’s voting sessions without an agreement on an adjournment resolution that prescribes dates of future sessions when both chambers will reconvene to vote on bills and take up veto overrides.

The resolution that was put forward on Thursday proposed that lawmakers return for brief one-day or two-day voting sessions between July 29 and July 31; Aug. 26 and Aug. 28; Sept. 23 and Sept. 25; Oct. 7; Oct. 28 and Oct. 30; and Nov. 5.

The Senate passed the resolution but the House didn’t take it up, with lawmakers saying that the details of the resolution were still being worked on.

In the meantime, the House doesn’t plan to return to Raleigh for any more voting sessions for at least the next two weeks.