House committee substitute makes the following changes to 1st edition.
Amends the definition of communications service to clarify that (1) sharing data between governmental entities for governmental purposes and (2) providing free services to the public or a subset of the public are not considered to be providing communications service.
Amends GS 160A-340.1, setting the requirements for a city owned communications service provider as follows. Subdivision (2) of proposed GS 160A-340.1(a) requires a city-owned communications service provider to prepare and publish an independent annual report and audit. Amends subdivision (2) to provide that an annual independent audit conducted under GS 159-34 and submitted to the Local Government Commission satisfies the audit requirement of this subdivision. Restricts the provision of communications service by a city-owned service provider to within the corporate limits (was, within the jurisdictional boundaries) of the city that is providing the communications service. Deletes the requirement that a city-owned communications service provider must provide nondiscriminatory access to other permanent distribution facilities. Prohibits the city from airing advertisements or other promotions for the city on a public, educational, or governmental access channel that the city requires another communications service provider to carry. Deletes provision providing that proposed subdivisions (7), (8),and (9) do not apply to communications services provided by a city on or before January 1, 2011.
Makes clarifying and conforming changes to the exemptions from the proposed provisions of Article 16A regarding the provision of communications services by cities. Proposed subsection (b) of new GS 160A-340.2 provides that the provisions regarding city-owned communications service provider requirements, financing, and taxes do not apply to the provision of communications service in an unserved area. Redefines an unserved area to mean a geographical area in which at least 50% (was, 90%) of households either have no access to high speed Internet service or have access to high-speed Internet service only via a satellite provider.
Provides that the proposed provisions regarding city-owned communications service provider requirements, notice and public hearing, financing, taxes and payment in lieu of taxes, and public-private partnerships for communications service, do not apply to a city or joint agency providing communications service as of January 1, 2011, however requires the city or joint agency to limit the provision of communications service to specified service area boundaries.
Clarifies that the notice and public hearing requirements do not apply to the repair, rebuilding, replacement, or improvement (was, repair or improvement) of an existing communications network or equipment relating to an existing network.
Restricts a city or joint agency from entering into certain purchasing or financing contracts (was, also refinancing contracts) unless it complies with the provisions of proposed subsection (b) of new GS 160A-340.4 (financing). Prohibits a city from incurring debt to construct a communications system without first holding a special election under GS 163-287 on the question as to whether the city should incur the debt to build the communications system. Permits the city to provide the communications service if a majority of votes cast in the special election are in favor of incurring the debt. Does not prohibit the city for revising its plan and having an additional special election before offering the service. Provides that a special election required under GS Chapter 159 as a condition to issuing bonds will satisfy the requirements of this section.
Requires a city-owned communications provider to provide requested information to the Secretary of Revenue necessary to calculate the assessment to be made in lieu of taxes. Requires the Department of Revenue to inform each city-owned communications provider of the amount of the assessment by January 1 of each year and requires the city-owned communications service provider to make payment by March 15 of each year.
Directs a city to solicit proposals from private businesses prior to the city engaging in constructing a communications network. Provides criteria for the city to issue requests for proposals including notice requirements. Provides factors for the city to consider in evaluating the proposals. Requires all proposals to be sealed and opened in public. Provides that if the city is unable to successfully negotiate the terms of a contact with the most responsive proposer within 60 days of opening the proposal, the city may enter into negotiations with the next most responsive proposer if such a proposer exists. Allows a city unable to successfully negotiate the terms of a contract with the next most responsive proposer within 60 days to proceed under proposed Article 16A of GS Chapter 160A to provide communications services.
Amends GS 105-164.14 to provide that a city subject to proposed GS 160A-340.5 is not allowed a refund of sales and use tax paid by the city for purchases related to providing communications services as defined in proposed Article 16A. Effective when the act becomes law and applies to sales made on or after that date.
Provides that GS 62-3(23) as amended in this act is not to be construed to change the regulatory nature or requirements applicable to any particular service that is currently regulated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission under GS Chapter 62.
Amends GS 159-175.10 to provide that the additional requirements for reviewing city financing applications do not apply to the repair, rebuilding, replacement, or improvement of an existing communications network or equipment relating to an existing network, but do apply to the expansion of an existing network.
Makes additional conforming and technical changes.

House amendment makes the following changes to 2nd edition. Amends proposed language in GS 15A-1343(b)(2) to require that a defendant make the defendant's whereabouts known to the probation officer (was, known to the probation officer at all times). Also provides that if the results of a breath, urine, or blood analysis is positive, the probationer may be required to reimburse the Department of Correction for the actual costs of drug or alcohol screening and testing (was, defendant must pay the costs of the breath, urine, or blood analysis when instructed by the probation officer).

Amends GS 19-1(a) to clarify that the erection, establishment, continuance, maintenance, use, ownership, or leasing of any building or place wherein or whereon repeated acts (was, for the purpose) of an illegal activity, as listed, occur will constitute a nuisance. Makes a conforming change to GS 19-1.2(6) (concerning types of nuisances). Enacts new subdivision (8a) in GS 19-1.1 to define repeated acts as more than one occurrence of assignation, prostitution, gambling, or illegal possession or sale of alcoholic beverages, controlled substances, or obscene matter, as defined, at any building or place during a one-year period. Applies to offenses committed or nuisances occurring on or after August 1, 2011.

Amends GS 153A-77(f), extending the authority of boards of commissioners over commissions, boards, and agencies in coastal counties with a population over 200,000 and to other counties with a population over 425,000.

Appropriates $400,000 for 2011-12 and $400,000 for 2012-13 from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health (Division), to be allocated to the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Branch for continuation of education campaigns and communication strategies in partnership with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association on stroke signs and symptoms and the importance of immediate response.
Appropriates $50,000 for 2011-12 and $50,000 for 2012-13 from the General Fund to the Division to be allocated for continued operations of the Stroke Advisory Council.
Effective July 1, 2011.

Enacts new GS 20-6.1 declaring that the General Assembly has determined that the U.S. Congress has issued an unfunded mandate for the production and clearance of North Carolina’s driver’s licenses in the passage of the REAL ID Act of 2005 (REAL ID Act). Declares that no state agency is to comply with the requirements of the REAL ID Act. Delineates the specific actions that the Division of Motor Vehicles is prohibited from taking. Asserts that the state will take all reasonable measures to ensure the privacy of its citizens and refrain from selling, renting, or leasing for commercial purposes data that is collected during the administration of driver’s licenses. Prohibits the DMV from storing a database or hard copies of breeder documents such as birth certificates or Social Security numbers. Also prohibits storing the image of the applicant or identification card other than for the purpose of issuing replacement licenses or licenses issued due to an address change within the state. Effective May 1, 2011.

Provides definitions for the terms (1) gold tender, (2) silver tender, (3) state money, (4) federal money, and (5) registered specie as used in the proposed North Carolina Constitutional Hard Tender Act (Act).
Directs that state money, meaning any gold tender, silver tender, or registered specie, is legal tender with North Carolina. Prohibits taxing the purchase or exchange of state money.
Defines registered specie to include gold and silver coin and bullion. Provides that gold coins include: (1) U.S. American eagle coins of all denominations minted under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985, Public Law 99-85; (2) Austrian 100 and 20 corona, and 4 and 1 ducat; (3) British sovereign; (4) Canadian 1 and 1/10 maple leaf; (5) French 20 franc; (6) Mexican 50, 20, 10, 5, and 2.5 peso; (7) South African 1, �_, �_, and 1/10 krugerrand; and (8) Swiss 20 franc. Provides that silver coins include: (1) U.S. dollars required by statute to contain 371.25 grains of fine silver per 'dollar' as referred to in the U.S. Constitution; (2) U.S. half and quarter dollars, and dimes, whenever minted, required by statute to contain fine silver in amounts proportionate to the constitutional silver dollar of 371.25 grains of fine silver per dollar; (3) U.S. American eagle or liberty coins minted under the Liberty Coin Act of July 9, 1985; and (4) Canadian maple leaf. Registered specie also includes stamped silver and gold bullion in bars and rounds from providers that correspond with a certified list and any gold or silver coin, or combination of gold and silver coin. Requires bullion providers to register products as specie and directs the state Treasurer to provide for the registration.
Includes provisions for the exchange of state money for federal money, the exchange of federal money for state money, and vendor exchanges and acceptance. Provides that the exchange rate is the Current Median of 168- by 24-hour Moving Average Spot Price.

Amends GS 20-28 by making a person who drives while the person's license is revoked and has two or more prior convictions for driving with a revoked license guilty of a Class I felony. Fines a person convicted of driving while the person's license or driving privileges are revoked not less than (1) $250 for the first offense, (2) $1,000 for the second offense, and (3) $2,500 for the third and subsequent offenses. Provides that if a person is convicted for a fourth violation of driving while the person's license is revoked, the motor vehicle driven by the defendant when the defendant committed the offense is subject to forfeiture under the procedure set out in GS 20-28.3. Provides that an owner or a holder of a security interest in the motor vehicle is considered an innocent party with respect to a motor vehicle subject to forfeiture if the defendant drove the motor vehicle without the permission of the owner or the holder of the security interest. Requires a minimum active term of not less than six months for a person convicted of felony driving while license is revoked. Permits the judge to suspend the required active sentence and to place the defendant on supervised probation with a special condition of house arrest with electronic monitoring in accordance with GS 15A-1343 for not less than 90 days.
Makes conforming changes to GS 20-28.3. Provides that the seizing officer is to notify the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) no later than 24 hours after the seizure of the motor vehicle. Requires the DMV to issue within 48 hours of receiving the notice of seizure written notice of the impoundment of the vehicle to any lienholder of record and to any motor vehicle owner who was not operating the vehicle at the time of the offense. Also requires the DMV to provide written notification of the seizure to the owner's insurance company of record. Provides that the attorney for the county board of education is to be given notice of all proceedings regarding offenses related to a motor vehicle subject to forfeiture under this section. Provides for the payment of fees upon conviction and sets the guidelines for when the defendant must pay restitution and to whom it must be paid.
Effective October 1, 2011, and applies to offensives committed on or after that date.

Enacts new GS 58-21-22 to provide that the amount of salary protection insurance plus the amount of any in-force disability income insurance, if applicable, will not exceed 75% of the individual's earned income, when salary protection insurance benefits are payable to an individual or the individual's beneficiary. Defines disability income insurance. Amends GS 58-21-10 to define salary protection insurance as insurance against financial loss caused by the cessation of earned income due to disability from sickness, ailment, or bodily injury. Makes a clarifying change. Effective October 1, 2011.

Adds new Part 3, Outdoor Lighting Fixtures Involving the Use of State Funds, to GS Chapter 143, Article 3B, as the title indicates. Provides definitions for the following terms as used in the proposed Part: (1) energy conservation, (2) full cutoff luminaire, (3) light pollution, (4) light trespass, (5) luminaire, (6) outdoor lighting fixture, and (7) state funds. Provides standards to be met for state-funded, meaning funds appropriated by the General Assembly or bond revenues of the state, outdoor lighting fixtures, meaning fixed or movable lighting equipment designed or used for outdoor illumination. Also lists five instances when the standards do not apply. Sets a civil penalty of no more than $1,000 per violation for any person found by the Secretary of Administration to have violated the provisions of this proposed Part. Limits the maximum civil penalty for any related series of violations occurring within one year after the date of the first violation to no more than $50,000. Provides criteria to be considered by the Secretary in determining the amount of the penalty. Effective January 1, 2012, and applies to any outdoor lighting fixtures that are installed, replaced, maintained, or operated on or after that date.

Enacts new GS 62-55 to provide that the North Carolina Utilities Commission (Commission) has oversight of the rates for electric service established and services furnished by a municipality. Includes a municipality that is a member of a joint municipal power agency under GS Chapter 159B that operates a municipal electric utility under GS 160A-311(1). Authorizes the Commission to consider the factors provided in GS 62-133 and GS 62-134 in determining whether the rates for electrical service are fair to the consumer and the municipality as operator of the electric utility. Provides that the Commission may issue orders to make necessary adjustments after a determination at a hearing as to whether the rates are just and reasonable. Also provides that the Commission may enter an order requiring changes and improvements if the Commission determines via a hearing that the service furnished by the municipal electric utility is inadequate. Makes conforming changes to GS 62-3(23)d, GS 62-15(d), GS 160A-312, and GS 160A-314.
Provides that this act only applies to the cities and towns in eastern North Carolina that comprise the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) on the date that this act becomes law.
Effective October 1, 2011, and applies to all rates for electric service established and all service provided by a NCEMPA member city or town on or after that date.