HB 2 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Entry Fees for Interscholastic Sports Events.

HB 2 requires North Carolina public high schools to accept cash for admission to interscholastic athletic events and provide free entry to seniors with a Tar Heel Card (issued by the Department of Health and Human Services). It directly affects students, families, and seniors attending high school sports events by changing payment rules for admission fees. The bill mandates that schools must accept cash at the gate and honor Tar Heel Cards for free admission upon presentation. These requirements apply starting the 2025-2026 school year. The law amends state education rules governing athletic activity fees.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 29, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill was revised to expand its scope from only high school interscholastic athletic events to include middle school events as well. The amendment also broadened the short title and removed specific sponsor information and committee referral details. The core policy requirement to accept cash payments for admission remains, but now applies to both high school and middle school athletics.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include middle school interscholastic athletic activities in addition to high school activities.

SCOPE

The bill title was changed from 'Entry Fees for HS Interscholastic Events' to 'Entry Fees for Interscholastic Sports Events' to reflect the expanded scope.

Added reference to middle school interscholastic athletic activities in the bill text, requiring cash acceptance for both high school and middle school events.

TECHNICAL

Removed the requirement for Tar Heel Cards (senior citizen cards) to receive free admission, as this provision was deleted from the amended text.

Removed the sponsor information and committee referral details from the bill header.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the legal citation from G.S. 115C-407.55 to G.S. 115C-407.65, indicating the bill was amended to a different section of the General Statutes.

Added a provision allowing school governing bodies to adopt policies for depositing cash the next business day, with procedures for handling cash prior to deposit.

Floor votes · House Mar 5, 2025

How they voted

112–1

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 121

Mar 5, 2025

D Democratic46

43 Yea 1 Nay 2

93% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican73

67 Yea 6

91% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Mar 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Mar 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Education - K-12, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

2 primary · 20 co-sponsors