North Carolina Senate lawmakers could vote this week on whether to put constitutional amendments guaranteeing the “right to farm” and the “right to work” on the ballot in November 2026. But while Republicans say it is important to give voters a say on these policies, Democrats contend the amendments are unnecessary and will have no legal effect.
Senate Bill 1081 would give voters the opportunity to enact a constitutional right to engage in farming and forestry. Senate Bill 1082 would do the same for a constitutional right to work, forbidding workplaces to require membership or nonmembership in any labor union or association.
Both amendments were passed by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Energy, and Environment on Monday afternoon. S1082 is set for a vote before the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, while S1081 has yet to be scheduled.
Flurry of new NC constitutional amendments piling up for November ballot
The amendments are two out of six proposed amendments as of Monday that could appear on the ballot in November, which would be the most since 2018, the last time Republicans faced a midterm under President Donald Trump. Critics have suggested the amendments are a bid to juice Republican turnout in a year where the GOP is in danger of losing a U.S. Senate race in the state for the first time since 2008.
Democrats on the committee raised doubts about the purpose and effect of both amendments: What issues do they address, and how do they actually change the law?
“Given the answers to a number of the questions, it doesn’t seem like this amendment is actually changing anything,” Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) said of the farming amendment. “I’m just curious why we’re doing this. I mean, normally, what we do changes something, right?”
Sen. Lisa Barnes (R-Franklin), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said it’s about showing support for the state’s farmers. When asked to identify any specific threats to farming in North Carolina, she pointed only to nuisance lawsuits against farmers, which are already limited by state law. Legislative staff indicated that would not change under the amendment. She could not identify any effects of the amendment’s passage.
“This will give voters a chance to weigh in on this provision and enshrine it in our North Carolina constitution,” Barnes said. “It sends a strong message to our farmers and our ag community that we value what they do, the job they do, the food they produce, and we want to protect farming and have food security here in North Carolina.”
In response to a similar question from Mayfield over the right to work amendment, Sen. Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, called the amendment “an insurance policy that in the future, that this will be enshrined into our law.” Right to work protections, he said, have helped provide North Carolina “one of the most booming economies anywhere.”
“I’m a simpleton and this is simplistic,” said Sen. Carl Ford (R-Rowan), another primary sponsor on the bill. “All it says is, you can join all the unions and associations you want, but you cannot be forced or bullied into doing so.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina has the second-lowest union participation rate in the U.S. at 2.5%. The state passed right to work legislation in 1947, and it has remained intact through more than 60 years of Democratic control of the legislature and 15 years of Republican control.
The amendment keeps in place broad deference for the General Assembly to interpret the right to work, allowing the state’s legislature to “prescribe general laws to further define and implement this section.”
NC AFL-CIO President Braxton Winston II speaks at the labor federation’s 2025 convention in Wilmington. (Photo by Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)North Carolina’s right to farm is similarly long-lived, passing in 1979 and remaining in place since then. And it’s unclear whether the amendment would protect it from a future General Assembly — the right remains “subject only to laws enacted by the General Assembly and rules adopted pursuant to authority granted by the General Assembly,” leaving open the possibility for substantial change to what that right entails.
Public speakers from labor organizations spoke against the right to work measure, saying it doesn’t do anything more than the law that’s already been in place for nearly 80 years.
Braxton Winston II, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, said during public comment that this is a waste of the legislature’s resources while North Carolina workers urgently need lawmakers’ help. “They are worrying about the impossible choice between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.”
“Our constitution is a sacred document, not a political tool,” Winston said. “The constitution need not be riddled with laws that have already been securely in place for decades.”
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