Charles Smith
Election Day: November 3, 2026 · Register to vote at ncsbe.gov
Sponsored Bills (23)
Expand Quantum Computing Education
This bill allocates $2.6 million to public schools for quantum computing and STEM education programs, establishes a $200,000 grant program through the North Carolina Collaboratory to connect high school students with university quantum computing research, and creates a tax credit up to $100,000 for businesses in defense, technology, and quantum sectors that invest in educational partnerships with high school students.
Domestic Violence Divorce Reform Act
This bill allows victims of domestic violence to obtain an absolute divorce in North Carolina without waiting the standard one-year separation period. Victims can qualify by obtaining a domestic violence protection order, a conviction against their spouse for a domestic violence offense, or by proving domestic violence to a judge at a hearing. The bill also provides $50,000 in funding to Compass Center to support domestic violence victims.
Criminal Background Check For Athlete Agents
This bill requires all applicants for athlete agent registration or renewal in North Carolina to undergo a criminal background check using fingerprints and consent forms. The bill also increases athlete agent registration fees from $200 to $250 to help cover the costs of these background checks.
Adopt Lafayette Day
This bill establishes May 17th as an official annual state holiday in North Carolina called Lafayette Day, honoring the Marquis de Lafayette's contributions to American independence and his advocacy for human rights. The date was chosen because North Carolina renamed Campellton to Fayetteville in honor of Lafayette on May 17, 1783, making it the first state to do so.
POW/MIA Flag/State Bldgs. & Schools
This bill requires the POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) flag to be displayed alongside the U.S. flag at all state-owned buildings and public schools in North Carolina, as long as the flag can be attached to an existing flagpole. The state will purchase flags for state buildings, while local school boards may accept donations or use available funds to purchase flags for schools.
Driver Educ./18 Yrs & Older & Unlicensed
This bill requires adults age 18 and older who have never held a driver's license to complete a driver education course before obtaining a license in North Carolina. The course must include at least three hours of instruction on state traffic laws, the effects of alcohol and drugs on driving, and high-risk driving behaviors like distracted and fatigued driving. The course can be taken online or in person at licensed driving schools.
Increase Access to Fertility Treatment
This bill requires large group health insurance plans in North Carolina to cover fertility diagnostic care, fertility treatment, and fertility preservation services. Coverage must include at least three in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles per person, though the requirement does not apply to plans offered by religious institutions or self-insured group plans.
Post NC Veterans' Benefits
This bill requires North Carolina employers with five or more employees to post notices about veterans' benefits in the workplace, alongside existing labor law notices. The notices can be printed with a QR code or digital, and must include information about veterans' services, benefits, employment assistance, and housing support provided by the state.
Employment Preference for Military Personnel
This bill expands North Carolina's employment preference policy for military personnel by removing the requirement that service occur during wartime and extending preference to active duty service members, Armed Forces Reserve members, and their spouses and dependents. The expanded preference applies to state job applications, hirings, promotions, reassignments, and transfers.
Cosponsored Bills (84)
Modify Nonprofit Corp. Act/Charitable Org
This bill makes several changes to North Carolina's nonprofit corporation laws. It allows charitable and religious nonprofits to merge with certain limited liability companies, requires all nonprofits to file annual reports with the Secretary of State, permits nonprofits to change their state of incorporation (domestication), allows nonprofits to have just one director instead of three, and aligns state disclosure rules for charitable organizations with federal tax requirements.
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.
Prohibit Litigation Invest/Amend WC Benefits
This bill has two main parts: it prohibits litigation investments (third-party funding of lawsuits in exchange for a share of any settlement or judgment) in North Carolina civil cases, and it increases workers' compensation benefit amounts for certain injuries, including raising maximum awards for facial disfigurement from $20,000 to $40,000 and other injury categories from $10,000-$20,000 to $20,000-$40,000.
Investing in Teen Mental Health
This bill appropriates $1,290,626 in state funding to the Department of Health and Human Services to expand Teen Mental Health First Aid training programs across North Carolina. The training teaches high school students (grades 9-12) how to identify mental health and substance use challenges in their peers and connect them with trusted adults for support.
Protecting Medicaid & Autism Services
This bill appropriates $1.047 billion to update Medicaid funding to reflect current enrollment and costs, allows Medicaid health plans to create restricted provider networks specifically for research-based behavioral health treatment, and removes statutory rules that would automatically end Medicaid coverage for the expansion population under certain conditions.
Cape Fear IBT Moratorium/EMC IBT Reductions
This bill pauses new water transfers out of the upper Cape Fear River Basin until 2030 while a comprehensive study is conducted to assess the basin's water supply sustainability. It also expands the Environmental Management Commission's authority to reduce existing water transfers between river basins if necessary to protect water resources.
Affordability in Healthcare Act
This comprehensive healthcare reform bill aims to lower costs and improve affordability through multiple strategies: establishing a state-supported low-cost health insurance plan option on the marketplace (by 2028), creating a purchasing consortium for public health buyers, expanding chronic disease prevention programs, increasing price and billing transparency, regulating hospital facility fees, strengthening protections for rural healthcare, updating insurance prior authorization rules, and requiring state review of significant hospital transactions to preserve competition.
The NC Teacher Pay Competitiveness Act
This bill increases teacher salaries in North Carolina starting in 2026-2027 and locks in annual 3.67% raises through 2032-2033, with a dedicated funding reserve to protect these raises from budget delays. It also reduces funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Program (private school vouchers) and tightens eligibility requirements for that program.
Aging With Dignity Act
This bill addresses North Carolina's growing senior population by establishing policies that prioritize home and community-based care for Medicaid beneficiaries aged 55+, requiring medication reviews and behavioral health integration, and funding new initiatives including an integrated senior housing pilot program ($120 million), expansion of the long-term care ombudsman office ($3.5 million), a geriatric workforce development program ($10 million), and a family caregiver support stipend pilot ($13.5 million). The bill also creates a study commission on aging to recommend future policies.
Voting Record (735)
- Yea2025-05-06
SchCalFlex/Statewide/Open Cal
- Yea2025-05-06
Condemnation/Service on Spouses Not Required
- Yea2025-05-06
Condemnation/Service on Spouses Not Required
- Yea2025-05-06
Fostering Care in NC Act
- Yea2025-05-06
Fostering Care in NC Act
- Yea2025-05-06
Medicaid Modernization
- Yea2025-05-06
Off-Road Motorcycle Registration Eligibility
- Yea2025-05-06
Shellfish Leasing Study
- Yea2025-05-06
Board of Funeral Service Modifications
- Yea2025-05-06
Interbasin Transfer Moratorium/Study
- Yea2025-05-06
Enrollment Stability for Military Students
- Yea2025-05-06
Transportation Goods Unit Pricing Cost
- Yea2025-05-06
Interbasin Transfer Moratorium/Study
- Nay2025-05-06
Sedimentation Act & Other Env.'l Changes
- Yea2025-05-06
Civil Procedure Amendment
- Yea2025-05-06
Insurance Coverage Emergency Ambulance Trans
- Yea2025-05-06
Standardized Testing Choice Act
- Yea2025-05-06
Reagan's Law
- Yea2025-05-06
Standardized Testing Choice Act
- Yea2025-05-06
Clarify Powers of State Auditor