Lawmakers send bipartisan bill defining antisemitism in NC law to Gov. Roy Cooper
Lawmakers have sent a bipartisan bill that would define antisemitism under state law to Gov. Roy Cooper.
The SHALOM Act, sponsored by House Speaker Tim Moore, quickly moved forward in the Senate on Wednesday, as lawmakers rushed to finish most of their business by the end of the week.
The House passed the bill on May 8 in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 105-4 vote. The Senate didn’t take it up for nearly two months, until it received approval from two committees held within a little more than an hour of each other on Wednesday, ahead of a vote by the full body during its afternoon session.
The bill would use the definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016. Lawmakers from both parties say there should be a clear understanding of what constitutes antisemitism under state law, to educate the public and combat the rise in antisemitic incidents.
Critics have expressed free expression concerns, and argued that the IHRA’s definition is too broad. The ACLU and other groups that are opposed to the bill say that it could chill constitutionally protected speech, like criticisms of Israel.
During debate on the Senate floor, Democrats who both supported the bill and were opposed to it questioned if GOP lawmakers were committed to addressing hate crimes and harmful rhetoric against Jewish people, and many other groups, including Muslims.
They urged Republicans to take up legislation they’ve filed repeatedly that would, among other things, require the State Bureau of Investigation to maintain a database tracking hate crimes statistics.
The Senate approved House Bill 942 on Wednesday afternoon in a near-unanimous 45-2 vote.
A funding provision included in the one-page bill that would have provided $10,000 for its implementation was removed during committee on Wednesday morning.
That required a final concurrence vote on the bill in the House, which voted Wednesday evening to send the bill to Cooper.
Under the Dome
Get the latest news about North Carolina politics from The News & Observer's award-winning team. Get the free digest sent to your inbox by signing up here.
