NC Senate approves last-minute constitutional amendments, before Republicans lose supermajority

Republican state senators announced — and then quickly voted to approve — three politically contentious proposals Monday, including two new state constitutional amendments.

One of the proposed amendments would further lower the state's maximum possible income tax rate — critical, Republicans say, for for corporate recruitment and keeping government spending in check. Another would cement the state's voter photo identification requirements, a move GOP leaders say is needed to strengthen confidence in election results.

The third piece of legislation calls for a new U.S. Constitutional Convention, which could end up making a limited number of specific tweaks or, some critics on both sides of the aisle contend, could even lead to a wholesale rewrite of America's basic foundations. Supporters say it's needed to create term limits in Congress.

With the Senate's votes Monday, the call for a new U.S. Constitutional Convention became official. It was introduced as a special type of legislation, called a joint resolution, that the governor isn't allowed to veto. And it had already passed the state House earlier this year.

All three measures were approved mostly or entirely along party lines. Democrats say they aren't needed or would be harmful.

The state constitutional amendment proposals aren't yet final, however. They still have to pass the House, which is scheduled to return for votes in the coming days. Each of the proposed amendments, if they pass the House, would then be placed on the ballot in the 2026 general election.

The moves come just a month before Republicans are set to lose their legislative supermajority in January, due to Democrats in the 2024 elections pulling off upset victories for state House seats in Wilson, Granville and Buncombe counties.

In North Carolina, amending the state constitution is a two-step process. A proposal must first pass the legislature with at least 60% of both chambers, a supermajority, voting in favor. Then it would be put on the ballot for voters to decide. If at least 50% of voters support the idea, it gets added to the state constitution.

The timing of Monday's votes might indicate that Republicans didn't believe they'd be able to get any legislative Democrats to vote for the amendments. Starting in January, any constitutional amendment proposals would need at least one Democratic lawmaker to vote in favor in order for the amendment to be placed on the ballot.

Democrats were particularly critical of the amendment further lowering the state's maximum income tax rate, which used to be 10%, is currently 7% and would be lowered to 5% if the amendment passes. They said it puts the state in danger of not being able to respond to a future recession or natural disaster without cuts to services like public schools. But Republicans said they think their decade-plus in power has proven that cutting taxes actually leads to more money for the government in the long run, since it encourages economic and population growth.

In 2013, the state budget spent over $20 billion. A decade later — a time period that saw near-constant cuts to the income tax rate — that state budget was nearly $30 billion.

"The reality is: As we have reduced taxes, we have increased the revenues of this state," said Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, who has spearheaded much of the GOP's tax policy.

Veto override also on the agenda

When the House returns to vote on the constitutional amendments, it could also use that upcoming session to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 382, a bill stripping powers away from the governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor and superintendent of schools — all offices won by Democrats in the 2024 elections.

The Senate voted along party lines Monday to override Cooper's veto.

Cooper is term-limited and will be replaced in January by Democrat Josh Stein, who won the governor’s seat last month.

Cooper vetoes 'sham' legislation to strip power away from Democratic state officials

If the House can also muster the votes to override Cooper's veto of SB 382, those changes would be enacted into law, pending any lawsuits over the constitutionality of the changes. However, three House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the bill originally. How they vote on the override will be closely watched.

Constitutional convention

Monday's resolution calling for a new U.S. Constitutional Convention is framed as a push to create term limits for members of Congress.

House Speaker Tim Moore recently won election to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Moore told voters on the campaign trail this year that, if elected, he'd support term limits for himself and other members of Congress — one possible goal of a new Constitutional Convention. He celebrated the news Monday.

"I have long been an advocate for this shift away from career politics that would amplify the will of the people over the personal interests of members," said Moore, who has been in the state legislature for 22 years.

But a convention wouldn't necessarily be limited to one single issue and could result in a wholesale rewrite of the Constitution — a longtime goal of conservative activists who have persuaded many other Republican-led states to also call for a new convention.

At least 34 states have to call for a new convention in order for one to be held: A push that would require more than just North Carolina joining in. Nevertheless, Monday's vote in Raleigh has now brought that nationwide convention one step closer to reality.

Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, objected to the idea Monday in a committee hearing.

"I'm concerned about all sorts of ways that our democracy and traditional democratic principles and institutions might be undermined by such a convention," she said.

One of the proposal's Republican supporters, Sen. Ralph Hise, said he didn't think a Constitutional Convention would actually happen anytime soon. He said the real goal is to send a message to Congress, seeking to scare its members into voting on giving themselves term limits.

"You can't wait on Congress to regulate itself," Hise said. "It'll never happen."

Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, warned Republicans to be careful what they wish for — in case a convention does happen and ends up empowering progressives like him.

"This is an insane idea," Meyer said Monday. "I will vote against it. And, if this does happen, I will work my butt off to become one of the delegates."

What the amendments would do

Neither of the two amendments to the state constitution, even if approved by the state House and then by voters, would make any major, immediate changes. But they could have ramifications for the future.

They could also give Republicans cover in case they end up losing an ongoing lawsuit over two very similar amendments that passed in 2018 under contested circumstances.

Judges debate long-running amendments lawsuit over race and political power in NC

The voter ID amendment would further cement existing law. Voters already must provide proof of ID whether they vote in person or by mail. But only the in-person voting rules are part of the state constitution. The ID requirement for mail-in ballots is in state law, but not the constitution. Adding it to the constitution, as this amendment would do, would make it harder for courts or future legislatures to undo those rules.

"Voter ID is a commonsense security measure that needs to apply equally to all voters. As voting has evolved over the years, protecting against fraud needs to as well," Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, said in a statement. "We shouldn't treat one form of voting differently, and our constitution should reflect that."

The income tax cap amendment similarly wouldn't lead to any immediate changes. Currently in North Carolina, individuals pay a 4.5% income tax rate and corporations pay a 2.5% income tax rate. Those rates are set to continue dropping over the next several years, under legislation backed by Republicans. Some Democrats have called for raising tax rates on corporations and wealthy individuals. This amendment would stymie any such efforts. Under the current language of the state constitution, income taxes can't be raised higher than 7%. This new proposal would drop that maximum rate down to 5%.

Similar amendments, to implement voter ID and to lower the income tax rate, also passed in 2018.

But they've been challenged in court by the NAACP. The civil rights group claims the amendments should never have been allowed on the ballot at all, due to what the group calls pervasive racial gerrymandering in state legislature districts that gave Republicans the votes they needed to approve the 2018 amendments.

That argument has so far been mostly successful in court. The NAACP won at trial — in a ruling authored by a Wake County judge whose seat the legislature is now proposing to eliminate, as part of SB 382 that could be up for a veto override soon in the House — and then in 2022 the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the NAACP was likely correct, but more evidence was needed. So it ordered a new trial.

That new trial remains underway. But if voters in 2026 pass these new versions of those 2018 amendments, it could help Republicans ensure that the changes remain law even if the NAACP is ultimately successful in its lawsuit.