Three proposed constitutional amendments on deck this week

RALEIGH, N.C. — State Republican legislative leaders said last week they might roll out as many as a half-dozen constitutional amendments for the November ballot. The likely first three are now public.

The House Elections Committee has already approved House Bill 1092, which would add a requirement to the state constitution that all in-person voters must show photo identification. House leaders have said that's likely to get its first vote this week, although House Rules Chairman David Lewis, R-Harnett, told reporters Tuesday that the House GOP on Wednesday may not have the 72 votes needed to pass it, due to several members' personal conflicts. Thursday appears to be first session at which that vote would be likely.

The bill currently waits in the House Rules Committee, where another constitutional amendment is slated to be heard Wednesday morning. That amendment, Senate Bill 75, would change the state income tax cap in the constitution from 10 percent to 5.5 percent. That proposal won Senate approval in March 2017, but the House version of the measure contains a technical change, so it would need to return to the Senate for a final vote.

The third contender will appear in the Senate Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday morning. Senate Bill 677 would add to the state constitution the "right to hunt and fish." A similar proposal passed the Senate in 2016 but failed to win House approval.