Bill Summaries: S 61 COMMUNITY COLLEGES BUDGET/2019-2021 BIENNIUM. (NEW)

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  • Summary date: Nov 13 2019 - View Summary

    AN ACT, CONSISTENT WITH HOUSE BILL 966 OF THE 2019 REGULAR SESSION, TO ENACT A BUDGET FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; TO MAKE ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS, TRANSFERS, AND REDUCTIONS TO THE BUDGET OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM; AND TO MAKE OTHER MODIFICATIONS RELATED TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM. SL 2019-235. Enacted November 1, 2019. Effective July 1, 2019, except as otherwise provided.


  • Summary date: Oct 8 2019 - View Summary

    House committee substitute deletes the provisions of the 2nd edition and now provides the following.

    Part I.

    States that the act's appropriations are for maximum amounts necessary for the services and purposes of the State Community College System (System) pursuant to the State Budget Act. Requires any savings to revert to the appropriate fund at the end of each fiscal year, except as otherwise provided by law.

    Appropriates $1,196,633,387 and $1,193,853,005 from the General Fund for the budget of the System for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, in addition to the appropriations provided in SL 2019-209 (Pay Increases/State Employees). 

    Deems state funds appropriated for each year of the 2019-21 fiscal biennium up to the specified amounts for all System budget codes listed in the Governor's Recommended Budget and the identified Budget Support Document, as adjusted in this act, and departmental receipts up to the amounts needed to implement the legislatively mandated salary increases and employee benefit increases provided in the act for each year of the fiscal biennium. Provides for overrealized receipts. Restricts expenditures to those legislatively authorized. 

    Authorizes the Community College System Office (Office) to spend, subject to the Director of the Budget's approval, grants awarded subsequent to the act that (1) are less than $2.5 million, (2) do not require State matching funds, and (3) will not be used for a capital project. Requires the Office to report receipt of these funds to the specified NCGA committee within 30 days of receipt. Explicitly prohibits the Office from spending any other funds from grants awarded subsequent to the act's enactment without prior approval of the Director of the Budget, after consultation with the specified NCGA committee. Directs the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) to work with the Office to budget grant awards as specified, including employing additional time-limited State personnel. Explicitly prohibits the Office from accepting a grant not anticipated by the act if acceptance would obligate the State to make future expenditures.

    Establishes that the Office is not required to consult with the specified NCGA committee prior to establishing or increasing a fee as authorized by the act.

    Details parameters for nonrecurring funds appropriated as directed grants, including that directed grants of more than $100,000 must be made in quarterly or monthly payments at the discretion of the Director of the Budget; directed grants do not revert until June 30, 2021; and directed grants are limited to nonsectarian, nonreligious purposes only. Sunsets these provisions on June 30, 2021.

    Part II.

    Of the funds appropriated to the Office from the General Fund, allocates $32,693,964 and $29,913,582 for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years in specified amounts for 16 specified purposes, including utilization of the Residency Determination Service, implementing the Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, providing a tuition waiver for campus police offices from private colleges and universities, funding the Career Coaches program, and funding specified community college needs.

    Reduces the total requirements for the System for the fiscal biennium by $17,361,192, and reduces the System's receipts by $12,884,216 for enrollment changes and formula adjustments based on the decrease in enrollment.

    Requires $125,000 in nonrecurring funds to be transferred from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to the Office for the 2019-20 fiscal year for the Shellfish Aquaculture Demonstration Center, which is a collaboration between NC Sea Grant and Carteret Community College. Conditions the directive on HB 966 or substantially similar legislation becoming law, which appropriates the same amount to DEQ for the Carteret Community College Aquaculture Program. Requires the transferred funds to be used to complete construction of a shelter to cover an outdoor area with nursery tanks and a workspace that must be used for building aquaculture gear and sorting, processing, and handling product.

    Part III.

    Amends GS 115D-3 to explicitly authorize the President of the Community College System to reorganize the Community Colleges System Office in accordance with recommendations and plans submitted to and approved by the State Board of Community Colleges. Establishes a reporting requirement, requiring the President to report by June 30 of the fiscal year in which the reorganization occurred to the specified NCGA committee and division in the event a reorganization is implemented under the authority granted. Specifies that the reporting requirement is triggered by any movement of positions and funds between fund codes on a recurring basis. 

    Amends GS 115D-5 to allow the State Board of Community Colleges to provide regulations for waiver of tuition and registration fees for certain training courses requested by campus police agencies of private institutions of higher educations certified by the Attorney General. Applies beginning with the 2019-20 academic year.

    Amends GS 115D-21.5, which sets forth requirements that must be satisfied for community colleges to receive funds available from the State Board of Community Colleges for the NC Career Coach program. Amends the current requirement that mandates a dollar-for-dollar match of local funds to instead establish matching requirements based on the development tier designation of the county in which the local school administrative unit is located where the career coach is assigned on the date of the award of funds by the State Board of Community Colleges. Requires no local match in tier one counties, 1:2 match for tier two counties, and a 1:1 match for tier three counties. 

    Amends Section 8.3 of SL 2010-31 to no longer prohibit courses in local jails from earning regular budget full-time equivalents (FTEs).

    Amends GS 115D-5 to require all course offerings approved for prisoners in local jails to be tied to clearly identified job skills and/or transition needs. Further amends GS 115D-5 to require community colleges to report FTE student hours for correction education programs on the basis of student membership hours (was, on the basis of contact hours rather than student membership hours). 

    Requires that community college courses offered in local jails earn regular budget FTEs beginning with the 2019-20 academic year.

    Expands GS 115B-2, requiring UNC constituent institutions and community colleges to waive tuition for credit and noncredit classes for survivors of correctional officers killed in the line of duty and spouses or children of correctional officers who are permanently and totally disabled directly from a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty, as specified. Amends GS 115B-1, adding correctional officer to the defined terms. Makes conforming changes to defined terms permanently and totally disabled as a direct result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty and survivor. Amends GS 115B-5 to make conforming changes regarding proof of eligibility for tuition waiver. Applies beginning with the 2019-20 academic year.

    Establishes matching requirements for the funds appropriated to the Office for the 2019-20 fiscal year for the Center for Educational and Agricultural Development at Piedmont Community College, requiring the Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees to match allocated State funds on a 2:1 basis. Conditions the Office's allocation of funds upon the provision of the required matching funds. Provides for the matching funds to remain available until June 30, 2023. Requires funds to revert to the General Fund if not allocated by the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year.

    Directs the Office to adjust the FTE enrollment to reflect the FTE lost due to the fire at Pamlico Correctional Institution when calculating the enrollment growth budget request for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

    Amends GS 143B-1325 to no longer include the Office in the directive for certain agencies and departments to work with the State Chief Information Officer (State CIO) to plan their transition of certain functions to the Department of Information Technology (DIT). Also eliminates the companion reporting requirement, which required the Office to report on their transition plan by October 1, 2019. Instead, directs the Office to enter into a memorandum of understanding with DIT regarding the coordination of information technology systems and policies. Requires the Office and the State CIO to report to the specified NCGA committee and division on the memorandum by February 1, 2020.

    Part IV. 

    Amends GS 115C-499.2 to modify the definition of the term needy North Carolina students, as the term is used for eligibility requirements under the Education Lottery scholarship program, to now mean eligible students whose expected family contribution under the federal methodology does not exceed $6,000 (was, $5,000).

    Amends GS 115C-499.3 to increase the cap on the Education Lottery scholarship award from $4,000 per academic year to $5,100 per academic year.

    Applies with the award of scholarships for the 2020-21 academic year.

    Part V.

    Reenacts and incorporates the provisions of GS Chapter 143C, the State Budget Act.

    Provides for parameters and application of the Community College System biennial budget provided and adjusted by the act. Establishes that the legislative budget supersedes the budget certified by the Director of the Budget in the event line-items conflict. 

    Repeals the following sections of HB 966 (2019 Appropriations Act) if that act becomes law: 6.1 (Codify Reorganization Authority Of CC System Office), 6.2 (CC Tuition Waiver/Campus Police Of Private Institutions Of Higher Education), 6.3 (NC Career Coaches/Local Matching Funds), 6.4 (Allow CCs To Earn FTE For Instruction In Local Jails), 6.5 (Waive Tuition/Dependents Of Fallen Correctional Officers), 6.9 (Piedmont Community College Center For Educational And Agricultural Development/Matching Funds), 8A.5 (Education Lottery Scholarship Modifications),18.17C (Community College Enrollment Growth/Pamlico Correctional Institution), and 37.3 (Community Colleges System Transition).

    Specifies that SL 2019-15, SL 2019-209, and any other enactments affecting the State budget during the 2019 Regular Session remain effective except where expressly repealed or amended.

    Defines the scope of the act to funds appropriated for and activities occurring during the 2019-21 fiscal biennium unless clearly indicated otherwise.

    Clarifies the effect of the act's headings.

    Includes a severability clause.

    Part VI.

    Effective July 1, 2019.

    Makes conforming changes to the act's titles.


  • Summary date: Jul 11 2019 - View Summary

    House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following changes.

    Adds the following provisions. 

    Enacts new subdivisions to GS 20-79.4(b) to produce special registration plates for ALS Research, A Pet Is Family, Keeping The Lights On, and Wrightsville Beach. Adds the Keeping The Lights On plate to those that do not have to be a "First in Flight" plate, "First in Freedom" plate, or "National/State Mottos" plate under GS 20-63. Plate issuance is contingent on the receipt of at least 300 plate applications, and 500 plate applications for the Keeping The Lights On plate, under GS 20-79.3A.

    Establishes a special plate fee of $30 for the ALS Research plate and requires that $20 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the ALS Association of North Carolina Chapter to support ALS research. 

    Establishes a special plate fee of $30 for the Keeping The Lights On plate and requires that $20 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the UNC Jaycee Burn Center. 

    Establishes a special plate fee of $15 for the A Pet Is Family plate and requires that $5 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the Sergei Foundation Inc. to further its mission as specified. 

    Establishes a special plate fee of $20 for the Wrightsville Beach plate and requires that $10 of that amount be transferred quarterly to the Town of Wrightsville Beach to help fund the continuing efforts to maintain and improve recreational opportunities for residents and visitors. 

    Changes the act's effective date to March 1, 2020 (was, February 1, 2020).

    Amends the act's titles. 


  • Summary date: Feb 13 2019 - View Summary

    Amends GS 20-37.6, allowing the registered owner of a vehicle who is the guardian or parent of a handicapped person to apply for and display a distinguishing license plate (currently, limited to handicapped persons who are registered vehicle owners). Specifies that a vehicle with a distinguishing license plate can be lawfully used when a handicapped person is not a driver or passenger so long as the vehicle is not using handicapped privileges. Requires a registered owner who is the guardian or parent of a handicapped person and displays a distinguishing license plate to submit certification of the required medical determination every five years, though annual renewal of the distinguishing license plate is required. Makes conforming changes. Amends GS 20-37.5 to add guardian to the defined terms. Effective February 1, 2020.