Conference report to the 5th edition makes the following changes.

Part XII.

Changes the effective date to the coverage changes set forth in GS 58-37-35(b)(1) from October 1, 2025, to January 1, 2025.

Part XIV.

Amends GS 58-50-130 by reducing those who may receive stop loss, catastrophic, or reinsurance coverage to small employers employing more than twelve (was, more than five) eligible employees.  Changes the effective date from October 1, 2023 to October 1, 2024.

Part XV.

Changes the effective date to the coverage changes to GS 58-45-41(a) from July 1, 2023 to 30 days after the act becomes law.  

Part XVI.

Amends GS 58-36-10 regarding the factors to consider in making and using insurance rates to require due consideration to be given to investment income from capital and surplus.

Amends GS 58-36-43 to provide that an insurance company cannot condition the acceptance or renewal of a policy, any underwriting criteria, or any rating criteria, upon the acceptance by the policyholder of any optional automobile or homeowners' enhancements authorized by the statute (previously phrased to combine underwriting rating criteria).

Repeals GS 58-36-43(b), which requires insurers to utilize statistical codes outlined by their statistical organization in reporting premiums and losses resulting from program enhancements filed with the Commissioner of Insurance (Commissioner) pursuant to the statute.

Amends GS 58-36-65 to set forth a new definition for conviction used in the statute regarding classifications of drivers and safe driving incentive plans, as the term was previously defined by statutory cross-reference that has since been repealed. 

Amends GS 58-36-65 to require that for  convictions for which four or more points under a Safe Driving Incentive Plan are assigned, other than convictions for speeding in excess of the posted speed limit, subclassification plan charges must be applied to a policy for a period of five policy years.

Amends subsection (k) of GS 58-36-65 to allow the subclassification plan to provide for premium surcharges for insureds having less than eight years' driving experience as licensed drivers for insureds receiving a drivers license for the first time on or after January 1, 2025. Makes conforming changes to restrict the same authority for insureds having less than three years' driving experience as licensed drivers for insureds receiving a driver's license for the first time on or before January 1, 2025.

Enacts subsection (k1) to GS 58-36-65 to provide for drivers subject to subsection (k) to be eligible for an inexperienced safe driver discount after three full years of driving experience. Details eligibility requirements, including having no at-fault accidents or convictions (including prayers for judgment continued) on the driver's driving record, which precludes the driver from discount eligibility. Eligibility terminates after eight years of licensure or upon an at-fault accident or conviction. Requires any discount to be filed by the Rate Bureau with the Commissioner. Effective October 1, 2023.

Amends GS 58-36-75(f) to expand the time period required for a clean driving record for a subclassification plan to assess no premium surcharge or points for specified traffic violations and convictions, from three to five years immediately preceding, as stated. Effective October 1, 2023.

Directs the Department of Insurance to conduct public outreach regarding the impact to policyholders and both experienced and inexperienced drivers, including publication on the Department's website. Permits coordination with the insurance industry and the Rate Bureau.

Effective January 1, 2025.

Part XVII.

Makes organizational changes to Article 29E of GS Chapter 115C by dividing it into multiple parts: definitions (Part 1), Oversight of Interscholastic Athletic Activities (Part 2), Memorandum of Understanding (Part 3).

Enacts new term, associated entity, which means a foundation, association, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or other nonprofit entity that meets any of five listed criteria.

Amends GS 115C-407.55 (pertaining to the rules for High School Interscholastic Athletic Activities) as follows. Prevents the State Board of Education (Board) from delegating the adoption of the student participation rules (Rules), health and safety rules, appeals rules, fees rules, reporting rules, and administering organization rules to an administering organization. Prevents an administering organization from altering or expanding the Rules, the appeals rules, fees rules, reporting rules, administering organization rules, or the health and safety rules.  Adds nine required provisions to the Rules, including academic standards, enrollment requirements, attendance requirement, medical eligibility requirements, biological participation requirements as required by GS 115C-407.59, recruiting limitations and hardship exceptions that may be granted by the appeals board established by the act (discussed below), and rules on student amateur status requirements, including rules related to use of a student's name, image and likeness.

Specifies that the penalty rules only apply to infractions for violation of student participation and gameplay rules. Specifies that violations cannot result in monetary penalties of any kind.

Specifies that the appeals rules have to provide due process to parents, students and participating schools for enforcement of the rules through hearings held before an independent appeals board.  Directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to appoint an independent appeals board. Provides for notice. Provides that a student and that student's parent must be allowed to appeal a penalty resulting from the application of any rule that restricts an individual student from participating in a season, game, or series of games, and must be provided a written copy of the rule that is the basis for the penalty. Gives the independent appeals board the authority to grant hardship exceptions.

Amends the reporting rules to require a process for reporting intimidation or harassment of the participating school or its employees or students by an administering organization, in addition to other matters provided in the section.

Amends GS 115C-407.60 (administration and enforcement of high school interscholastic athletic activity rules), as follows. Substitutes the SPI as the person authorized to enter into MOU’s with nonprofits to enforce Article 29E. Specifies that all MOU’s have to include the requirements set forth in new GS 115C-407.61. Specifies that an administering organization is a public body for purposes of State public meetings law.   Makes conforming GS 115C-407.50’s definition of administering organization to account for SPI’s new contracting power.  

Enacts GS 115C-407.61 which specifies the required contents of the MOU’s discussed above. Requires contracting nonprofit administrator to publish and provide for notice and comment for any rules it drafts pursuant to any rulemaking authority delegated to it by the Board and sets forth a process for rule adoption. Requires the nonprofit to make certain materials available on its website at no cost. Sets forth requirements pertaining to board membership, adoption of an ethics policy, procedures relating to public records and student records, entering into certain contracts with participating schools, reduction of annual fees by certain amounts, retention of a certain amount of net tournament proceeds, refraining from certain listed activities, and annual reports on specified matters. Authorizes the Superintendent to terminate any MOU for noncompliance with Article 29E or the terms of the MOU. In the event of termination, the nonprofit organization must return to each participating school a pro rata share of the funds paid by that school for the year as provided in the participating school's contract with the organization. Requires the administering organization to agree to be audited annually by a reputable independent auditor that meets, at a minimum, the standards required by the Local Government Commission for certification to audit local government accounts as provided in GS 159-34.  Allows the SPI to renew a memorandum of understanding with an administering organization for an additional term of four years. Provides for written notice in cases of nonrenewal.

Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-407.65 (pertaining to the conduct of high school interscholastic athletic activities by public school units). Enacts GS 115C-407.70 (pertaining to middle school interscholastic athletic activities) requiring the Board to adopt the same student participation, student health and safety rules, penalty rules, appeals rules, administrative rules, gameplay rules, fee rules, and reporting rules that apply to high school interscholastic activities. Requires administration of those rules by the SPI. Requires public school units that participate in middle school interscholastic athletics to abide by those rules. Organizes these two statutory provisions into Part 4 of the Article.

Enacts new Part 5, pertaining to public school unit reports. Sets forth annual reporting requirements to the Superintendent and Board by public school units with one or more participating schools in interscholastic activities. Requires the SPI to provide a summary of the reports and each individual school unit report to the specified NCGA committee by no later than October 15 annually.  Amends GS 143-318.10 to include the nonprofit administering entities as entities whose meetings must be open to the public under the open meetings act, makes organizational changes.

Applies beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and thereafter.

Part XVIII.

Amends GS 115C-12(23) (pertaining to the power of the Board to adopt rules pertaining to interscholastic activities) to delete requirements relating to concussions, emergency action plans, sex designation on athletic teams, the right to bring an action for harm caused by those sex designations, and the Board’s duty to monitor schools for compliance in adopting emergency action plans.  Recodifies those provisions into new GS 115C-407.57 (rules on concussions and head injuries); new GS 115C-407.58 (emergency action plans); new GS 11C-407.59 (athletic eligibility).

Makes conforming changes to GS 115C-548.1 (athletic teams-private religious schools); and GS 115C-556.1 (athletic teams-qualified nonpublic schools).

Part XIX

Requires the Board to review and adopt new or revised temporary rules on interscholastic athletics for use in the 2024-2025 school year in accordance with the requirements of the act, by no later than January 15, 2024. Specifies submission requirements of temporary rules to the specified NCGA Committee.

Requires the Board to adopt new or revised permanent rules for use beginning with the 2025-2026 school year and thereafter.

Requires the SPI, in consultation with any administering organization, to study and make findings to the specified NCGA committee by April 1, 2024 on (1) whether an administering organization should be responsible for overseeing the conduct of middle school interscholastic athletics for public school units and (2) factors that should be considered in (i) home school students' participation in interscholastic athletics, including how to address insurance and liability issues for those students while participating in interscholastic athletics, (ii) cooperative innovative high school students' participation in interscholastic athletics, and (iii) nonpublic schools. Requires the SPI to set up workgroups.  

Requires all public school units to submit the first annual interscholastic athletic report to the SPI and the Board by no later than July 15, 2025, and must include data from the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025 school years.

Part XX.

Makes conforming changes to the definition of public body under GS 143-318.10(b) to include administrative organizations as defined in GS 115C-407.50(1). Effective July 1, 2024.

Makes conforming and organizational changes. Makes conforming changes to the act’s titles.