Governors in North Carolina, Alaska and North Dakota Act on Legislative Bills in 2026

Multiple state legislatures took action on bills throughout 2026, including in North Carolina, Alaska, and North Dakota, with governors in each state signing, vetoing, or testifying on specific measures. In North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein vetoed a GOP-backed elections bill that would have shortened early voting and expanded ballot challenge and voter roll provisions, calling it part of a broader effort to restrict voting access; the North Carolina General Assembly had earlier passed House Bill 958 and House Bill 834, which included shortening primary early voting from 17 to 10 days. Stein also signed House Bill 696, directing $319 million from the state's Medicaid Contingency Reserve to sustain Medicaid funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, despite criticism over a provision on Medicaid eligibility defaults for non-citizens. In a separate 2025 action, Stein signed eight bills and vetoed four, including signing Senate Bill 600 to allow organ donor registration via tax returns, while criticizing the legislature for pursuing other bills without passing a budget. In Alaska, Governor Mike Dunleavy acted on multiple bills, allowing an omnibus agriculture bill designating the giant cabbage as the state vegetable and a local-government bill requiring school board budget and ethics training, while vetoing university fee disclosure requirements; Alaska Public Media reported Dunleavy set a new single-session veto record. The approved local-government measure also permits small communities under 1,000 residents to maintain city councils as small as three members. In North Dakota, Governor Kelly Armstrong testified during a special legislative session in favor of an amendment to a data center transparency bill, arguing it would preserve the Bank of North Dakota's ability to keep certain nondisclosure agreements confidential for entities like farm operations while not applying that confidentiality to industrial projects such as ethanol plants. These are distinct, unconnected legislative matters occurring in different states and sessions rather than developments in a single ongoing story. Current status varies: North Carolina's divided government (Republican-controlled legislature, Democratic governor) continues without a veto-proof majority in either chamber, meaning vetoes may or may not be overridden depending on future votes, which is not specified in available reporting. The final disposition of North Dakota's data center transparency amendment and Alaska's vetoed university fee disclosure bill were not detailed beyond the initial gubernatorial actions described.