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A state Senate committee approved three constitutional amendments Thursday to add to the ballot in November. All three of the proposed amendments wouldn't have any immediate practical effect, because the proposals match the current state law.

The North Carolina House has approved a budget bill for the next 12 months that covers a massive increase in school-voucher demand and raises worker and teacher pay beyond what's already scheduled. Four House Democrats joined all Republicans present to vote for the bill late Wednesday.

The Senate has already passed a bill to allow medical marijuana, but House Speaker Tim Moore has refused to put the legislation up for a vote. The House does want to pass new regulations for products already on the market in North Carolina that contain THC.

State House leaders want to create a new College of Applied Science and Technology at UNC-Chapel Hill. The engineering program is included in the new budget bill heading to a floor vote Wednesday.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate have been negotiating for weeks over how to spend a projected surplus of roughly $1 billion. But the two chambers haven't reached an agreement, so the House plans to vote on its own spending plan this week.

State lawmakers dropped language from a bill that would have shielded autopsies from public review, but the Senate’s thumbs-up on the revised measure June 12 may not be the end of the issue.

The new version of the bill includes language that allows people to wear a mask in public to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The state Senate passed the bill on Thursday after Senate Democrats withheld their vote.

Republicans in the state House want an amendment to the state constitution that says non-citizens can't vote in North Carolina — even though that prohibition is already in state law.

State Sen. Danny Britt who sponsored the bill says it's more important to win approval for other changes, such as enhanced punishments for people who distribute xylazine when it causes a death.

State lawmakers want to require North Carolina's public universities to play against each other in sports more often.