KITTY HAWK, N.C. — A win for car owners and consumers in North Carolina: Beginning in 2025, minimum liability limits for car insurance will increase to $50,000 for one person and $100,000 for two or more people. Property damage coverage will also rise to $50,000 through Senate Bill 452.
For anyone attending events, Senate Bill 607 introduces a law requiring ticket sellers to show the total price of the ticket upfront, meaning any added fees at the end of the transaction will be disclosed from the start.
“Now when it’s a $30 ticket, they have to tell you on the very first screen that it’s a $30 ticket. On one hand, maybe it’s a small thing, but it’s a good thing, and I appreciate the effort for government to do something that matters and get it right and help out consumers by giving us the transparency and pricing that we deserve,” said Steven Greene, a professor of political science at North Carolina State University.
Watch: What new laws take effect Virginia, NC in 2025?
Next comes Senate Bill 382, which was vetoed by outgoing Governor Roy Cooper but overridden by House Republicans in December. The bill included disaster relief for western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, but it also takes some powers away from new Democratic Governor Josh Stein.
“I think the largest element is regarding the governor's powers over the State Board of Elections, which are now being transferred to the State Auditor's Office, which will be held by an incoming Republican officeholder. We’ve had a lot of controversies with elections in recent years, including this very election, and so that board of elections has become very politicized, and I guess this honestly further politicizes that,” Greene said.
Cooper and Stein have filed two lawsuits over the bill, which will only add to the political atmosphere as the General Assembly reconvenes next week.
Watch: A look at some new laws taking effect in Virginia, North Carolina on July 1
“Democrats have broken the supermajority by one single vote, and the question is, how much is that one single vote going to matter? And I honestly think it’s going to add a fair amount of drama to what we see this time around,” Greene said.
Locally, the bill also includes a down-zoning section that requires any impacted property owner to agree before a government can make changes to an area via a zoning ordinance. A number of Outer Banks town governments have voiced their opposition to this.
The Town of Kitty Hawk approved a resolution opposing the bill, stating in part that it would make it nearly impossible for governments to provide land-use regulations that are in the best interest of their communities.
State Senator Bobby Hanig has already said they will work to have the zoning portion repealed when lawmakers return to Raleigh.
