Howard Penny
Election Day: November 3, 2026 · Register to vote at ncsbe.gov
Sponsored Bills (27)
Revise Child Passenger Restraint Systems Law
This bill updates North Carolina's child car seat requirements to specify rear-facing seats for infants, forward-facing seats for older children, and rear-seat positioning until age 8 or 57 inches tall. It also adds arbitration as an option for resolving disputes between insurance policyholders and insurers over uninsured or underinsured motorist claims.
Parking Lot Reform/Stormwater Control
This bill restricts local governments from requiring minimum parking space minimums in most developments and limits their ability to impose stormwater control requirements on redevelopment projects. It prohibits parking minimums except in historic districts and coastal areas, and prevents stormwater controls from being required on pre-existing built-upon areas during redevelopment unless the project increases impervious surface beyond what existed before.
Expand the FarmSHARE Food Hub Program
This bill appropriates $4 million to expand the FarmSHARE Food Hub Program, which purchases locally grown food and distributes it free to food-insecure North Carolinians, and $2 million to expand the Double Up Food Bucks Program, which provides matching funds to help nutrition assistance recipients afford fresh produce at farmers markets and food hubs. Both programs require annual reporting on participation, distribution, and outcomes.
Dunn and Erwin Satellite Annexation Change
This bill removes the 10% satellite annexation cap for the City of Dunn and Town of Erwin, allowing them to annex noncontiguous areas of land without the size limitations that apply to most other North Carolina municipalities. The change is added to an existing list of cities and towns already exempt from this annexation restriction.
Harnett County Jetport
This bill allows Harnett County to adopt land-use planning overlays for a jetport by modifying state airport zoning regulations. It exempts airport zoning regulations from certain planning requirements and specifies that regulations within 6 miles of cargo airport sites are governed by the North Carolina Global TransPark Authority.
Tier System Reevaluation
This bill requires North Carolina state agencies to stop using the development tier system (which currently classifies counties as tier 1, 2, or 3 based on economic development) by July 1, 2028, and replace it with new, program-specific criteria. Each agency must develop and propose new replacement criteria tailored to their specific programs, which must then be approved by the General Assembly before implementation.
Perpetual Care of Certain Cemeteries
This bill establishes clearer standards for how cemeteries in North Carolina must be maintained, defines what 'care and maintenance' includes, and gives the Cemetery Commission authority to enforce these standards through penalties and fines. It also requires cemeteries to provide annual financial reports showing the maintenance work they performed.
Define Armed Forces/Religious Prop. Tax Excl
This bill adds the United States Space Force to the definition of 'Armed Forces' throughout North Carolina state law to reflect the military branch's creation in 2019. It also extends the lookback period for religious property tax exemption applications from the current timeframe to up to five calendar years, allowing property owners to file late applications and potentially receive tax relief for the prior five years.
Expressing UK Friendship
This House Resolution expresses North Carolina's support for strengthening economic and cultural ties with the United Kingdom and urges the U.S. Congress to work more closely with the UK on trade relations. The resolution recognizes the historical friendship between the two nations, acknowledges British cultural influence on North Carolina, and highlights the economic significance of UK investment and trade to the state.
Cosponsored Bills (136)
2026 DST Admin/Technical/Clarifying Changes.-AB
This bill makes administrative, technical, and clarifying changes to North Carolina state laws related to the Department of State Treasurer, retirement systems, state health plans, the NC Investment Authority, unclaimed property, local government finance, and capital facilities. The changes include reinstating military service credit for state employees, clarifying death benefit rules, allowing Legislative Retirement System members more work flexibility, modernizing investment authority responsibilities, and updating various procedural and definitional provisions across multiple state programs.
NC Farmland and Military Protection Act
This bill prohibits entities controlled by adversarial foreign governments from purchasing, leasing, or holding agricultural land or property within 50 miles of North Carolina military installations. It requires existing foreign owners to register with the Secretary of State, allows the Attorney General to enforce violations through forced sales, and establishes penalties for non-compliance.
Strengthen Medicaid Provider Controls
This bill strengthens oversight of Medicaid providers in North Carolina by establishing a Provider Enrollment Credentialing Committee to review provider applications and eligibility, expanding grounds for denying or terminating provider enrollment based on criminal convictions and licensing actions, and requiring providers to report criminal convictions of their employees. The bill also makes changes to prepaid health plan networks and Medicaid eligibility.
Ferry Div. Audit/DOT Omnibus
This omnibus transportation bill requires a state audit of the Ferry Division's operations and finances, directs a study on changing the Division of Motor Vehicles' funding model, and makes numerous changes to vehicle registration, driver licensing, toll operations, and traffic laws. The bill also addresses special registration plates, electric-assisted bicycles, commercial driver training school refunds, and various highway and transportation management provisions.
Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI
This bill prohibits North Carolina state agencies and local governments from spending money on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, policies, or staff positions. It defines DEI as initiatives that influence hiring or employment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, nationality, country of origin, or sexual orientation outside of merit-based processes, and establishes penalties for violations including fines up to $10,000 and potential removal from employment.
Election Law Changes
This comprehensive election law bill makes multiple changes to North Carolina's election administration, ballot counting procedures, voter registration processes, and campaign finance reporting requirements. Key changes include extending the deadline for processing certain ballots and voter registration issues from three to five business days after elections, establishing new procedures for challenging and auditing ballots, requiring signature verification capabilities study, changing municipal election dates, increasing compensation for county election board members, and implementing new campaign finance reporting thresholds and foreign national contribution restrictions.
2026 Wildlife Resources Changes
This bill makes several changes to North Carolina's wildlife laws, including protecting sensitive information about rare species locations, authorizing new wildlife-themed vehicle registration plates, adjusting recreational boating safety rules, and allowing the Wildlife Resources Commission to issue elk hunting permits through raffles and auctions to raise conservation funds.
Make E-Verify Great Again
This bill requires state and local government employers to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm employee work authorization. It creates a 30-day cure period for first-time violations, allows the Department of Labor to conduct random compliance checks, increases civil penalties for repeated violations, and protects employees who report E-Verify violations from retaliation.
Family Support for Those Who Serve Act
This bill expands tuition waivers at North Carolina community colleges to include children (ages 17-24) of law enforcement officers, experienced correctional officers (10+ years), and firefighters. Students would attend community college tuition-free while still meeting admission standards and other college requirements, with the waiver covering the duration of their educational program.
Voting Record (735)
- Nay2025-03-04
House Budget Technical Corrections
- Yea2025-03-04
House Budget Technical Corrections
- Yea2025-02-26
Increase UI Max Benefit/2025 UI Tax Credit
- Yea2025-02-26
GSC Electronic Signatures
- Yea2025-02-26
Various GSC Recommendations
- Yea2025-02-26
Various GSC Recommendations
- Yea2025-02-25
State of the State Invitation
- Nay2025-02-25
Increase UI Max Benefit/2025 UI Tax Credit
- Yea2025-02-25
Increase UI Max Benefit/2025 UI Tax Credit
- Yea2025-02-25
General Assembly Appointments
- Yea2025-02-25
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I
- Yea2025-02-25
Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 - Part I
- Yea2025-01-29
Amend Temporary Rules of the House
- Yea2025-01-08
House Temporary Rules
- Yea2025-01-08
Adjourn 2025 Organizational Session