NC lawmakers return as courts, utilities and education items move statewide
Monday’s statewide government activity included legislative meetings, a new court appointment, utility cost debate and state agency updates.
RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers returned to Raleigh Monday as several state government, court, utility and education items moved across official channels.
The House and Senate were both scheduled to convene at noon Monday, according to the North Carolina General Assembly legislative calendar. The calendar also listed a 10 a.m. virtual meeting of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education.
The Senate State and Local Government Committee was scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. with two bills on its agenda: House Bill 1067, “Rural Hall - Unaffiliated Candidates,” and House Bill 147, “Elizabeth City and King/Deannexations.” Both bills are listed by the General Assembly as local measures.
The North Carolina Judicial Branch announced Friday that Chief Justice Paul Newby appointed Marcia H. “Marci” Armstrong as the state’s first Chief Complex Family Financial Court Judge, effective Sept. 1. The new court program was established by the General Assembly in the 2026 state budget and is designed to provide specialized judicial oversight in complex family financial disputes involving equitable distribution, alimony, post-separation support, child support or combinations of those claims, according to the Judicial Branch.
Armstrong will determine which cases qualify as complex family financial cases, assign cases among Complex Family Financial Court judges, prepare required reports, conduct hearings and enter orders in assigned cases, according to the announcement.
In utility policy, Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson said Duke Energy should make a federal data-center cost pledge enforceable through North Carolina regulators. Duke joined a federal Ratepayer Protection Pledge related to data centers and other large energy users. Stein and Jackson said Duke should commit to the same terms before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, including separate rate structures and requirements that large users pay for needed generation and infrastructure, according to the N.C. Department of Justice.
The issue comes as state officials and regulators continue reviewing how data centers and other large energy users could affect electric generation, transmission costs and customer rates.
The N.C. Department of Public Instruction also highlighted summer workshops through the NC K-12 Culinary Institute. School nutrition professionals from across North Carolina have the opportunity to participate in regional workshops focused on school meal appeal, according to NCDPI.
The N.C. Industrial Commission posted that Gov. Stein reappointed Wanda Blanche Taylor to serve a second six-year term as a commissioner beginning July 1, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. Taylor previously served as a deputy commissioner at the Industrial Commission for 20 years, including as chief deputy commissioner, according to the Industrial Commission.
