SB 623 North Carolina Senate · 2025-2026 Session

First Responders' Right to Assemble.

SB 623 would allow firefighters, police officers, and EMTs (first responders) in North Carolina to collectively bargain with local governments or state agencies over wages, benefits, and working conditions. It amends a current law that prohibits such negotiations for first responders, making it the first time they could formally negotiate as a group. The bill maintains the existing ban on strikes by public employees. If passed, it would directly affect all first responders statewide, changing their labor rights under state law.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 25, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Filed → Edition 1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The changes to SB 623 are primarily administrative and formatting updates rather than substantive policy modifications. The bill's core content regarding first responders' labor rights remains unchanged, with only the header information, bill number, and committee referral details being updated to reflect the official filing and first edition status.

TECHNICAL

Updated the filing date from March 25, 2025 to March 26, 2025 and changed the bill identifier from DRS45293-LR-102 to S623-v-1 to reflect the official Senate bill number and edition.

Added the Senate Rules and Operations committee referral information with the March 26, 2025 date, clarifying which committee received the bill.

Removed the blank 'Referred to:' line and replaced it with specific committee assignment details.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 26, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Introduced

Filed

upper

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors