Paul Lowe
Election Day: November 3, 2026 · Register to vote at ncsbe.gov
Sponsored Bills (50)
Commuter Transportation Study/Piedmont Triad
This bill directs the North Carolina Department of Transportation to conduct a study on improving commuter transportation in the Piedmont Triad region (Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem). The study will evaluate commuter rail, bus rapid transit, regional bus systems, and roadway expansion options, along with governance structures, funding mechanisms, and land use impacts, with results due by December 2026. The state will allocate $250,000 to fund this study.
State Digital Asset Payments Study Act
This bill directs North Carolina's Department of State Treasurer to study whether the state could accept digital asset payments (like certain cryptocurrencies) for state fees, and to study costs associated with residents sending money internationally. The bill appropriates $50,000 for these studies and requires reports back to the legislature by January 2027, but does not require the state to actually accept digital assets.
Constitutional Amendments - Cannabis
This bill proposes two separate constitutional amendments for North Carolina voters to decide on in November 2026. The first would decriminalize possession of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use, and the second would allow patients with qualifying medical conditions to possess cannabis for medical purposes. Both amendments would require the General Assembly to pass additional laws specifying the details of possession limits and regulations.
Nursing Fellows & Curric. Support Funds/WSSU
This bill establishes the Nursing Fellows Program at Winston-Salem State University to provide forgivable loans to nursing students pursuing Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degrees in nursing. The program aims to recruit and support future nurses and nursing instructors in North Carolina, with loans forgiven through years of service in the state. The bill also appropriates $1.4 million for the program and $650,000 for nursing curriculum support services.
Funds for Goodwill Industries
This bill appropriates $200,000 in state funds to Goodwill Industries for workforce development and job training programs in Forsyth County during the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The funding is nonrecurring, meaning it is a one-time allocation rather than ongoing.
Funds for YMCA REACH and Robinhood
This bill appropriates $500,000 in state funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to two YMCA locations in Winston-Salem: the YMCA REACH Center at Winston Lake and the Robinhood Road Family YMCA. The funds are designated as nonrecurring grants to support operations and community programming at these facilities.
Funds for Winston-Salem Urban League
This bill appropriates $100,000 in state funds to the Winston-Salem Urban League for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to support programs focused on economic empowerment, education, and workforce development. The funds are nonrecurring, meaning they are a one-time allocation rather than an ongoing annual appropriation.
Reenact the Earned Income Tax Credit
This bill restores North Carolina's state Earned Income Tax Credit, which expired in 2014. The credit would provide eligible low- to moderate-income working individuals a tax refund equal to 5% of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit they receive, with the credit becoming refundable starting in 2026.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth Joint EOC Funds
This bill appropriates $1 million in state funds to Forsyth County for fiscal year 2026-2027 to help the county and City of Winston-Salem build a joint emergency operations center. The center would improve coordination and emergency response between the two government entities.
Cosponsored Bills (54)
Real Tickets, Real Fans Act
This bill prohibits the use of bots to purchase tickets, bans the sale of speculative tickets (those not yet owned by the seller), and requires ticket sellers to clearly disclose total prices and seat locations. It also prevents deceptive marketing practices like using entertainer names or logos without permission, and establishes enforcement through the Attorney General with civil penalties up to $15,000 per day of violation.
Align Medicaid Eligibility with Federal Law
This bill directs North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services to terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its associated entities, and to arrange for other Medicaid providers to deliver services that Planned Parenthood currently provides.
Realign Congressional Districts 2025
This bill redraws North Carolina's 14 congressional districts by changing which counties and specific census blocks are included in each district. The bill modifies the boundaries of Congressional Districts 1 and 3, adding and removing various counties and subdivisions to realign the districts' geographic composition.
Military and Veteran Support Act
This bill makes multiple changes to support military service members and veterans in North Carolina, including reducing concealed handgun permit fees for honorably discharged veterans, allowing military families more time to provide proof of residency for school enrollment, prohibiting universities from discriminating against applicants based on military service, providing in-state tuition to qualifying veterans, regulating compensation for veterans' benefits services, allowing remote driver's license renewals for active duty military stationed out-of-state, adjusting scholarship awards for children of wartime veterans, and authorizing sheriffs to send concealed handgun permit expiration notices by email.
Harrison's Law
Harrison's Law makes two main changes to North Carolina law. First, it strengthens penalties for hazing by making it a Class 2 A1 misdemeanor for students who haze and a Class I felony for school staff who engage in or enable hazing, while expanding the definition to include serious psychological injury. Second, it requires local school boards to publish detailed compensation and position information for central office employees on their websites by August 15, 2025, and annually thereafter.
State Hiring Accessibility and Modernization
This bill modernizes North Carolina's state hiring system by reducing educational barriers to state jobs, streamlining job applications, simplifying job postings, and giving state agencies more flexibility in recruiting, hiring, and compensating employees. It also allows agencies to hire temporary employees permanently and rehire qualified candidates from previous postings without reposting positions.
Allow Lottery Winners To Be Confidential
This bill allows North Carolina lottery winners who win $5 million or more to request that their identity be kept confidential for 90 days after claiming their prize. The winner's name and identifying information would be protected from public disclosure during this period, though certain government agencies (like the IRS and state tax authorities) and debt collection programs would still have access as required by law.
North Carolina Work and Save
This bill creates the North Carolina Work and Save Program, a state-facilitated retirement savings program for small business employees, self-employed individuals, and independent contractors who lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. The program uses payroll deduction to help workers save through individual retirement accounts (IRAs), modeled after successful public-private partnership structures like the NC 529 College Savings Program.
AEDs and CPR in Schools
This bill requires all North Carolina public schools, charter schools, and participating nonpublic schools to install at least two automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in each school building and provide training to school staff on how to use them. The State Board of Education will establish rules for installation, maintenance, and training, and the bill appropriates $12 million to help schools purchase AEDs and train personnel.
Voting Record (625)
- Nay2025-03-20
Freedom to Carry NC
- Nay2025-03-20
Freedom to Carry NC
- Nay2025-03-20
Freedom to Carry NC
- Yea2025-03-19
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I
- Yea2025-03-13
Eddie Buffaloe/Secretary of DPS
- Yea2025-03-13
Confirm Pam Cashwell/Sec. N & CR
- Yea2025-03-13
Confirm Pam Cashwell/Sec. N & CR
- Yea2025-03-13
Eddie Buffaloe/Secretary of DPS
- Yea2025-03-13
Energy Security and Affordability Act
- Yea2025-03-12
Expand Academic Trans. Pathways/Sophomore HS
- Yea2025-03-12
Age 21 Hemp-Derived Consumables/Kratom
- Yea2025-03-11
School Contracted Health Services
- Nay2025-03-11
Eliminating "DEI" in Public Education
- Yea2025-03-11
Eliminating "DEI" in Public Education
- Nay2025-03-11
Eliminating "DEI" in Public Education
- Nay2025-03-11
AG/Restrict Challenge to Presidential EOs
- Nay2025-03-11
AG/Restrict Challenge to Presidential EOs
- Absent2025-03-05
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I
- Absent2025-03-05
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I
- Absent2025-03-05
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I