NC UPDATE | Disaster Recovery
The following information provided by McGuire Woods Consulting
Legislators returned to Jones Street last week for full committee schedules and several voting sessions. The Senate chamber unanimously voted to pass House Bill 47: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025– Part I, the first measure of this year aimed at addressing hurricane recovery in Western North Carolina. Senate legislators added several amendments to the House chamber’s approved version of the bill. One of those amendments adds a provision to fund summer classes for students in districts where schools were forced to close for weeks or months after Hurricane Helene. HB 47 will now go back to the House for approval, but House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) says he’s optimistic that a final version will be completed next week.
AANC UPDATE | 2025 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda
2025 marks the beginning of a new biennial legislative session in North Carolina, and with that AANC recently adopted its 2025-26 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda:
LEGISLATIVE
- Evaluate and, as appropriate, support and pursue updates to landlord-tenant laws, addressing issues like unauthorized occupant/trespassers and summary ejectment processes. This includes further clarification to changes made in SL 2024-47 to § 42-46 (i).
- Promote judicial reforms to improve the efficiency of the court system, including increased funding for judicial staffing and improvements to the e-courts system.
- Pursue funding and legislative changes to promote housing stability during a Governor-ordered State of Emergency, including:
- Funding of rental housing assistance programs.
- Explore modifications to the short-term rental tax to encourage rental housing providers to provide short term leases in particular circumstances, such as temporary displacement after a natural disaster.
- Work with stakeholders to address barriers to development and the cost of housing, such as, but not limited to restrictive zoning regulations and inconsistent application of building code requirements across jurisdictions.
REGULATORY
- Initiate discussions with the North Carolina Department of Insurance to identify ways to mitigate rising insurance costs impacting rental property owners.
- Attend and participate, as appropriate, in the North Carolina Building Code Council meetings to influence positive changes in building codes, avoiding detrimental updates.
- Work with stakeholders and the North Carolina Department of Insurance/Building Code Council to evaluate a process for fire watch flexibility during a Governor-ordered State of Emergency.
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