A bill sponsored by state Sen. Sydney Batch seeks to prevent reductions in state workers’ take-home pay should health plan premiums increase, according to the North Carolina State Senate.
Filed as SB 987 on April 30 in the 2025 regular session, the proposal was given the short title: ‘Lower Healthcare Costs.’
Below is our summary, based directly on the bill language, and it may contain interpretation to clarify the details.
The bill would establish a Fund for State Employee Premium Stabilization within the Department of State Treasurer to ensure state employees’ net pay is not reduced when monthly premiums for the North Carolina State Health Plan for teachers and state employees rise. The state treasurer, with the Office of State Human Resources, would be required to use the fund to supplement employee pay and to create rules for the program’s operation. The bill calls for a transfer of $150 million in nonrecurring monies from the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve to the new stabilization fund, with an effective date of July 1, 2026.
Among the bill’s three sponsors, Woodson Bradley introduced the most bills during the 2025 regular session, with 92 proposals.
For a bill to become law in North Carolina, it must follow a multi-step legislative process. A legislator starts by filing a bill, after which it is assigned to a committee for consideration. The bill needs to be read three times in both legislative chambers. If amendments are made by one chamber after the other passes it, both must agree to the same final version. The final approved bill is sent to the governor, who then has 10 days (or 30 days if the assembly is out of session) to sign, veto, or allow it to become law without a signature.
Further details on bills and legislative measures are available here.
Batch earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001 and later obtained a JD from the same university.
A Democrat, Batch was elected to represent North Carolina’s 17th Senate district in 2021, succeeding former Senator Dan Blue.
| Authors | Bill Number | Date Filed | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Batch, Lisa Grafstein, and Woodson Bradley | SB 987 | 04/30/2026 | Lower Healthcare Costs. |
| Sydney Batch, DeAndrea Salvador, and Michael Garrett | SB 1033 | 04/30/2026 | NC Children’s Safe Screens Act/Funds. |
| Sydney Batch, DeAndrea Salvador, and Michael Garrett | SB 1056 | 04/30/2026 | NC Small Business Capital & Jobs Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Caleb Theodros, and Michael Garrett | SB 988 | 04/30/2026 | Protecting Workers in the Age of AI Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Michael Garrett, and Woodson Bradley | SB 989 | 04/30/2026 | Epstein Truth and Accountability Act. |
| Sydney Batch and Lisa Grafstein | SB 995 | 04/30/2026 | Fix Republican Failures on Public Safety Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Gladys A. Robinson, and Natalie S. Murdock | SB 906 | 04/29/2026 | MOMnibus 3.5. |
| Sydney Batch, Graig Meyer, and Sophia Chitlik | SB 480 | 03/25/2025 | NC Paid Family Leave Insurance Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Michael Garrett, and Woodson Bradley | SB 482 | 03/25/2025 | Don’t Tread on Me Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Lisa Grafstein, and Terence Everitt | SB 483 | 03/25/2025 | The Children First Act. |
| Sydney Batch and Caleb Theodros | SB 523 | 03/25/2025 | Universal Basic Therapy Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Julie Mayfield, and Val Applewhite | SB 553 | 03/25/2025 | Save More Tatas Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Kandie D. Smith, and Michael Garrett | SB 563 | 03/25/2025 | The Michael Jordans of Tomorrow Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Gale Adcock, and Graig Meyer | SB 566 | 03/25/2025 | Parity Enhancement for Addiction Recovery. |
| Sydney Batch, Gale Adcock, and Graig Meyer | SB 567 | 03/25/2025 | Medicaid SUD Services Rate Adjustment Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Gladys A. Robinson, and Natalie S. Murdock | SB 571 | 03/25/2025 | MOMnibus 3.0. |
| Sydney Batch, Jay J. Chaudhuri, and Mujtaba A. Mohammed | SB 606 | 03/25/2025 | Language Access & State Holidays Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Terence Everitt, and Woodson Bradley | SB 630 | 03/25/2025 | School Mental Health Support Act. |
| Sydney Batch, DeAndrea Salvador, and Michael Garrett | SB 651 | 03/25/2025 | The Hustle Act. |
| Sydney Batch, DeAndrea Salvador, and Michael Garrett | SB 652 | 03/25/2025 | Voter Fraud Prevention Act. |
| Sydney Batch, Mujtaba A. Mohammed, and Natalie S. Murdock | SB 692 | 03/25/2025 | Reduce Parent Copays/Subsidized Child Care. |
| Sydney Batch, Mujtaba A. Mohammed, and Woodson Bradley | SB 717 | 03/25/2025 | Enhanced Penalty/Dom. Violence Strangulation. |
| Sydney Batch, Michael Garrett, and Terence Everitt | SB 722 | 03/25/2025 | Children’s Online Safety Act/Funds. |
| Sydney Batch, Graig Meyer, and Sophia Chitlik | SB 457 | 03/24/2025 | Automatic Voter Registration. |
| Sydney Batch, Lisa Grafstein, and Sophia Chitlik | SB 458 | 03/24/2025 | Enact KinCare & Safe Days. |
| Sydney Batch, Jay J. Chaudhuri, and Lisa Grafstein | SB 107 | 02/17/2025 | Judge Joe John Nonpartisan Jud. Elections Act. |
| Sydney Batch | SB 88 | 02/12/2025 | 17th Senatorial District Local Act-1. |
