Governor Cooper Signs One Bill into Law, Vetoes One Bill
RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper signed the following bill into law:
House Bill 797: Extend Farmers/Fishermen Tax Filing Deadline.
AN ACT TO EXTEND THE MARCH 1 TAX FILING DEADLINE FOR FARMERS AND FISHERMEN IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM TO QUALIFY FOR THE EXCEPTION THAT PERMITS THEM TO AVOID MAKING ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENTS THROUGHOUT THE TAXABLE YEAR WITHOUT THE IMPOSITION OF INTEREST.
Governor Cooper also vetoed the following bill:
Senate Bill 173: Free the Smiles Act.
AN ACT TO PROVIDE PARENTAL DISCRETION IN REQUIREMENTS FOR FACE COVERINGS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL UNIT PROPERTY.
Governor Cooper made the following statement on SB 173:
"I have encouraged local boards to lift mask mandates and they are doing it across the state with the advice of health officials who see that COVID metrics are declining and vaccinations are increasing. The bipartisan law the legislature passed and I signed last year allows local boards to make these decisions for their own communities and that is still the right course. Passing laws for political purposes that encourage people to pick and choose which health rules they want to follow is dangerous and could tie the hands of public health officials in the future."
