RALEIGH (MCT) — The North Carolina House approved in an 86-31 vote Tuesday a measure that will compensate people sterilized by a state authority over four decades.
Under the bill, people verified by a state Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims and determined eligible by the Industrial Commission would each receive $50,000. House members voted to change eligibility, so that people alive as of May 16, 2012, would be eligible, rather than those alive in March 2010.
The bill sets aside $10 million in a reserve fund to pay victims. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
House Speaker Thom Tillis described the eugenics program as an egregious example of government taking away rights.
“This is a chance to make history,” Tillis said.
Lawmakers opposing the measure said the state cannot properly compensate people for past government actions.
