Public can watch NC House floor debate again in person

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — The seats above the floor in the North Carolina House chamber are reopen to the public again.

The House voted this week to amend its operating rules, which keeps in place most of the adjustments it approved in April to protect the health of members and the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The seats in the House gallery had been limited to members, reporters and sergeants-at-arms, but now the public can sit there again to watch daily floor debate.

The Senate already had reopened its seating gallery when it returned to normal operations in mid-May.