ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Some North Carolina lawmakers are pushing age restrictions on the sale of hemp consumables and kratom.

Senate Bill 59 would prohibit the sale of hemp-derived consumable products to anyone under the age of 21 in the state. It would also require the seller to verify a buyer’s age.

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The bill also makes it unlawful for anyone under the age of 21 to possess hemp-derived consumable products.

Do you think North Carolina should prohibit anyone under 21 from buying hemp-derived consumables? Answer our local question:

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A North Carolina bill that would halt this year’s home reappraisals in Buncombe County has passed both chambers of the General Assembly and is headed to the governor for final action. The measure would also pause new property tax revaluations in several other counties.

Even if the governor vetoes the measure, political experts say supporters likely have enough votes to override that veto and enact Senate Bill 889, known as the Property Tax Reappraisal Moratorium. The bill would halt new property tax revaluations not only in Buncombe County but in several other counties across the state.

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The legislation comes after Buncombe County completed its latest property revaluation. The average Buncombe County home is now assessed at about $500,000 for tax purposes, up from an average assessed value of roughly $350,000 before the revaluation. The change translates to more tax collection for the county to run government and public services.

Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of the legislature, say SB 889 is intended to protect homeowners from rapidly increasing tax bills tied to rising property values.

“Clearly it’s a concern about local government spending,” said Chris McLaughlin, a faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government whose expertise includes local government tax and finance issues.

“Anything’s possible,” McLaughlin said of efforts to limit tax increases. “But I would then ask, how are we going to pay for the services we all expect and want, like fire protection and police and roads and parks?”

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The debate mirrors discussions taking place in states like Florida as homeowners grapple with rising housing costs and inflation.

“It is absolutely a national question,” said Chris Cooper, chair of the political science department at Western Carolina University.

“What the Republicans are arguing in the North Carolina General Assembly, the majority, are arguing is we’re in a time of high inflation, we’re in a time of people being pinched economically, therefore we want to make sure property taxes hold before the revaluation so they cannot get priced out of their homes,” Cooper said.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed changes aimed at significantly reducing homeowners’ property tax bills. Part of his argument is that local governments have nearly doubled their revenue collections over the past seven years, according to DeSantis.

Among DeSantis’ proposals is raising Florida’s homestead tax exemption to $250,000. Under that plan, local and state governments would not collect property taxes on the first $250,000 of a home’s assessed value.

State lawmakers are moving forward with efforts to regulate homeless camps across North Carolina and crack down on drugs in homeless shelters.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave a favorable report to House Bill 437, which would impose harsher restrictions on people who attempt to sell drugs in homeless shelters. The committee voted to add to the legislation parts of House Bill 781, which seeks to ban unauthorized sleeping in public spaces and empower local governments to direct homeless people to a designated space. 

The proposal goes next to the Senate Rules Committee for approval. 

Rep. Brian Biggs, a Randolph County Republican who led the push for House Bill 781, told lawmakers Wednesday that the bill will benefit cities and their homeless populations. Shelters in North Carolina’s cities are often full, Biggs said, leaving homeless people with little choice but to sleep outside where they’re vulnerable to crime and illness. 

Biggs’ legislation proposes to give local governments authority to designate a publicly owned outdoor space to be used for camping and sleeping for up to a year — so long as the space isn’t near residential areas, commercial properties or schools. Local governments would also have to provide security and supply toilets and running water for sanitation purposes. 

“We’re allowing people to be on the streets without any kind of sanitation and without any kind of dignity,” Biggs said.

Critics of the bill said state leaders should be focusing on efforts to address the causes of homelessness, such as mental illness, substance abuse and an insufficient amount of housing.

“It’s sending the signal: We sort of give up. We sort of give up trying to figure out how we’re going to develop more housing, and we give up on the kinds of outreach that are happening in Charlotte and Raleigh and Garner and all parts of all of our districts,” said Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake.

Sen. Brad Overcash, R-Gaston, took exception with Grafstein’s suggestion that lawmakers have given up on trying to help the homeless.

“Giving up is what is going on right now. Giving up is allowing these abhorrent conditions to continue, where it’s unsafe for all citizens and it’s unsafe for our homeless citizens,” Overcash said. “Giving up is allowing these encampments to continue.”

Biggs said that his proposal would help North Carolina municipalities qualify for grants of up to $25 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program, which funds housing and homelessness prevention programs. 

Minority leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, said she doubts the federal government would fund the types of homeless sites that Biggs’ bill would create. 

“It’s not as if they’re going to get this boon of money that’s going to come in from the feds … to have running water at some acre of land that they’re going to randomly put somewhere,” Batch said.