In the Legislature

The N.C. General Assembly (NCGA) website (ncleg.gov) contains a lot of information that allows advocates to follow and become engaged in the legislative process. This overview offers some basic tips for how to track legislation. If you would like more information about any of the terms used in this overview, check out this nifty Glossary of Legislative Language. 

North Carolina has a bicameral legislature consisting of two "chambers" - the N.C. House of Representatives and the N.C. Senate. The House of Representatives has 120 members, and the Senate has 50 members.

• Tap here for a full list of state Representatives.

• Tap here for a full list of state Senators.

• You can find your legislators here.

The NCGA home page displays the legislative calendar, including the next date and time each chamber will convene.

On the homepage, you can quickly access each chamber's calendar, audio feed, and dashboard. The dashboard can be really helpful in keeping track of which piece of legislation the chamber is debating when they are in session. It looks like this:

The top items of this list include sections for legislation that the ACLU of NC supports and opposes. Be sure to check that out if you haven't already.

To track a bill moving through the NCGA, it helps to have a bill number. Each bill will begin with an "H" if it originated in the House or an "S" if it originated in the Senate.

We will use H 33 as an example to demonstrate how to track legislation on the NCGA website. H 33 is a bill that the ACLU of NC supports that would expand domestic violence protections for unmarried people who are in same-sex relationships. 

To track HB 33, visit ncleg.gov.

In the top right corner of the website, type "H 33" into the search bar, and you should be directed to a bill page that looks like this:

Here you can see different versions of the bill, which committees it has been referred to, bill sponsors, bill summaries, legislative sponsors, and more. 

https://www.ncleg.gov/Help/Topic/228