Governor Josh Stein Faces Backlash After Letting Iryna’s Law Sit for Nine Days Without Signature Despite Veto-Proof Support
North Carolina’s political climate has grown increasingly heated over the fate of Iryna’s Law, a sweeping reform to the state’s bail system that has been sitting unsigned on Governor Josh Stein’s desk for more than a week. The bill, officially known as House Bill 307, was passed by a veto-proof bipartisan majority on September 24, 2025, with a 44-4 vote in the Senate and 107-8 in the House. Yet as of October 2, the governor has not acted, and Republicans are voicing growing frustration over what they see as unnecessary delay on a law that has overwhelming support.
Iryna’s Law is named after Iryna Zarutska, a young Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death in Raleigh in August 2025. Her attacker had previously been released under a cashless bail system, despite a violent record. For many lawmakers, this case became a rallying cry for reform, symbolizing what they view as dangerous loopholes in North Carolina’s pretrial release system. The bill seeks to eliminate cashless bail for violent crimes and restrict magistrate discretion in releasing offenders who pose a threat to public safety. Supporters argue that the changes are long overdue and could prevent tragedies like Iryna’s from happening again.
The governor’s hesitation stands out because of how decisive the legislative support has been. With both Republicans and Democrats backing the measure, the bill cannot be vetoed out of existence. That has left critics puzzled and increasingly vocal about why Stein has yet to sign it. In the meantime, he has moved forward with other legislation, putting his signature on unrelated bills as recently as September 30. This contrast has sharpened accusations that the governor is deliberately stalling, though his office has not publicly provided a detailed explanation for the delay.
At its core, the debate reflects broader national tensions over criminal justice reform. Advocates for bail reform often argue that eliminating cash bail is a step toward fairness, since the traditional system disproportionately affects low-income defendants who cannot afford to pay, regardless of their risk to public safety. But opponents counter that cashless bail, as it has been applied in cases like North Carolina’s, leaves the public vulnerable to repeat offenders who are released quickly and return to commit more crimes. The murder of Iryna Zarutska made those arguments feel far less theoretical, bringing them into sharp and painful focus for many North Carolinians.
Research has added nuance to the debate. A 2023 RAND Corporation analysis, for instance, showed that cash bail systems often increase pretrial detention without necessarily improving court appearance rates. That has left states across the country trying to strike a balance between fairness and safety. North Carolina lawmakers believe they found that balance in Iryna’s Law, which removes cashless bail for violent crimes while preserving judicial discretion for less serious cases. The bipartisan votes in both chambers suggest that legislators across the political spectrum were able to unite around this compromise.
For families like Iryna’s, however, the delay feels personal. The law carries her name, meant to ensure that what happened to her will not happen to someone else. Every day without a signature feels like a day wasted in protecting communities from preventable harm. For Republicans, it is not just about policy but about urgency, and they have framed Stein’s delay as political maneuvering at the expense of public safety. Democrats who supported the bill have been quieter, though the overwhelming vote margin shows that frustration is not confined to one side of the aisle.
Ultimately, the fate of Iryna’s Law is not in question—the votes are there to override any veto, and the bill will almost certainly become law. What remains is the political drama surrounding the governor’s choice to let it linger unsigned. That decision has opened him to criticism in a state where rising violent crime is already a hot-button issue, and where families like Iryna’s are still grieving. For now, all eyes are on Governor Josh Stein, with many asking why something passed with near-universal support has yet to be given the final approval it needs to take effect.
