House committee substitute amends the 1st edition as follows. 

Part II

Makes the provisions of Section 2, which amends GS 143-128.1C to make certain public-private partnership development contracts subject to Local Government Commission approval, effective July 1, 2021 (was, the date the act becomes law). Makes conforming changes. 

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

Makes a technical change to the proposed changes to GS 113-273(l) concerning wildlife control agent licenses and (m) concerning alligator control agent certification. 

Eliminates the previous provisions of Section 10, which amended GS 113-270.1A to require obtaining a dog hunter education certificate for completion of a dog hunter education course before a person may pursue or chase deer with dogs for the purpose of training or hunting, and required the Wildlife Resource Commission (WRC) to establish an advisory committee to create the dog hunter education course. Instead provides the following.

Directs the WRC to develop a manual of practices to identify customary and responsible methods and practices of hunting deer with dogs, including documenting associated history and applicable property rights, by June 30, 2021. Requires consultation with organizations promoting or conducting dog hunting in the State. Requires the WRC to publish the manual and include information on deer dog hunting best practices in the statutorily required hunter safety course by July 31, 2021. Makes conforming changes to the course requirements set forth in GS 113-270.1A, effective July 31, 2021.

Adds the following new provisions.

Amends GS 113-136, concerning the enforcement authority of inspectors and protectors, as follows. Makes it unlawful to refuse to allow inspectors, protectors, or other law enforcement officers to inspect weapons or equipment, fish, or wildlife that the officer reasonably believes to be possessed incident to an activity regulated by any law or rule as to which inspectors and protectors have enforcement jurisdiction; no longer requires the inspector, prospector, or other law enforcement officer to have a reasonable suspicion that a violation has been committed (previously not required for the inspection of shotguns only). No longer limits inspection of fish or wildlife to the purpose of ensuring compliance with bag limits or size limits. Eliminates the specification that stated the provisions did not authorize inspection in the absence of a person in apparent control of the listed items. 

Allows for an individual qualifying for an adult resident lifetime sportsman license under GS 113-270.1D(b)(3) who is 50 years old but younger than 70 years old to purchase the license at 50% of the applicable fee of $500; excludes firefighters eligible for a discounted license under GS 113-276(o). Similarly amends GS 113-351 to allow for an individual qualifying for a resident adult lifetime unified sportsman/coastal recreational fishing license under sub-subdivision (c)(3)c. who is 50 years old but younger than 70 years old to purchase the license at 50% of the applicable fee of $675; similarly excludes firefighters eligible for a discounted license under GS 113-276(o).

House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 2nd edition.

Eliminates Part V of the act, which amended GS 116-30.3 to allow authorized budget codes that can carry forward a General Fund current operations appropriations credit balance remaining at the end of each fiscal year to use funds carried forward for one-time expenditures (was, limited to using up to 2.5% of the amount carried forward for projects eligible to receive funds under GS 143C-8-13(a), with one half of amounts over 2.5% required to be distributed to the UNC System Office to be disbursed to constituent institutions at BOG discretion, with the remaining amount retained in the budget code). Amends the act's long title.

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

Modifies the proposed changes to GS 115C-390.2(a), which requires the adoption of student conduct policies and establishment of procedures for school officials to follow when disciplining students. Now more specifically requires boards to consider any existing federal guidance for the discipline of students with disabilities as well as other guidance on school discipline practices issued by the US Department of Education. Expands the proposed annual requirement to provide the Department of Public Instruction with a copy of each public school unit's most up-to-date discipline policies to also require the provision of the Code of Student Conduct. Makes organizational changes. 

Amends GS 14-208.18, which prohibits registered sex offenders from being present on certain property where minors are present, to modify subsection (f) to specify that a person required to register as a sex offender for offenses against minors who is also eligible to attend public school under GS 115C-378 can be present on school property if permitted by the public school unit board (was local board of education) pursuant to GS 115C-390.11(a)(2) (regarding the provision of educational services under personnel supervision following expulsion).

House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 1st edition. Amends proposed GS 20-162.4 to more specifically prohibit parking a vehicle in an electric vehicle charging station located on public or private property unless the vehicle is an electric vehicle connected to the charging equipment for the purpose of charging the vehicle (was, prohibited parking a vehicle in the station if the vehicle is not connected to the charging equipment). Prohibits a city or county from requiring, by ordinance, a different penalty than that specified in statute (was, municipalities may, by ordinance, prohibit additional conduct and provide higher penalties). Adds that the statute's provisions supersede and preempt any ordinance adopted or imposed by a unit of local government that establishes a penalty for parking a vehicle in an electric vehicle charging station without connecting the vehicle to the charging equipment. Specifies that the statute may be enforced by the State, county, city, and other municipal authorities in their respective jurisdictions, whether on public or private property.

House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following changes. Allows a charter school, for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, to provide either remote instruction for all students or in-person instruction (was, in-person instruction only) to any grade level under Plan A (Minimal Social Distancing) in accordance with the StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit 8 (K-12) (Toolkit), as that guidance existed on March 4, 2021. Amends the act's long title.

Recodifies subdivisions (1b) and (7) of GS 150B-2 as subdivisions (1a) and (5a) of GS 150B-2, respectively. Further amends GS 150B-2, which sets out and defines terms as they are used in GS Chapter 150B (Administrative Procedure Act), by making the following changes. Adds and defines the term guidance document, bulletin, or memorandum as a document developed by a State agency or staff that provides information or guidance of general applicability to the staff or public to interpret or implement statutes or the agency's rules or regulations; excludes agency minutes or documents pertaining only to the internal management of the agency and specifies that this definition does not expand the identification or release of any document otherwise protected by law. Makes additional organizational, clarifying, and technical changes.

Appropriates $1.9 million in recurring funds from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction to provide additional supplemental funding for small county school systems as follows.

Establishes a dollar allotment schedule for eligible county school administrative units to receive for the 2021-23 fiscal biennium based on allotted average daily membership (ADM), ranging from 0-1,300 allotted ADM at an $1,820,000 allotment to 2,801-3,300 allotted ADM at an $1,548,000 allotment. Requires phasing out funding over a five-year period for units that become ineligible under the schedule during either year of the fiscal biennium. Prohibits allotment reduction for eligible units by more than 20% of the amount received in 2020-21, or 20% of the amount received in 2021-22, in any fiscal year. Provides that units are not ineligible if either the highest of the first two months' total projected ADM for the current year or the higher of the first two months' total prior year ADM would otherwise have made the unit eligible for funds under the schedule.

Restricts use of the funds to supplement local current expense funds. Bars the State Board of Education (State Board) from allocating funds in the 2021-23 fiscal biennium to counties that have used the funds to supplant local per-student current expense funds. Requires the State Board to make a finding that a county has used the funds to supplant current expense funds in the prior year or the year for which the most recent data is available if (1) the current expense appropriation per student of the county for the current year is less than 95% of the average of local current expense appropriation per student for the three prior fiscal years, and (2) the county cannot show that it has remedied the deficiency or that extraordinary circumstances caused the county to supplant local funds with the allocated funds. Requires the State Board to adopt implementing rules. Directs the State Board to annually report to the specified NCGA division during 2021-23 any determination of counties supplanting funds. 

Encourages local boards of education to use at least 20% of the funds they receive from this act to improve the academic performance of children performing at Level I or II in either reading or math end-of-grade tests in grades 3-8. Authorizes units to use funds to purchase services that allow for extraction of data from the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS).

Effective July 1, 2021. 

Section 1

Amends GS 14-234, which prohibits specified public officials from benefiting from public contracts, with exceptions. Amends the exception provided in subsection (d1) to allow a municipality or specified type of board or hospital to undertake or contract with one of its officials if approved by specific resolution of the appropriate governing body and the undertaking or contract amount does not exceed $60,000, rather than $40,000, for goods or services within a 12-month period. Maintains the $20,000 cap for medically related services. Requires compliance with other existing conditions for the exception to apply. Applies to contracts executed on or after the date the act becomes law. 

Section 2

Requires the Division of Childhood Development and Early Education of the Department of Health and Human Services to post the following on its website: (1) education opportunities for kindergarten offered by local school administrative units, (2) educational opportunities for kindergarten offered by charter schools, and (3) scholarships for enrollment in non-public schools provided under Part 2A of Article 39 of GS Chapter 115C. Requires participating facilities to furnish this information upon request, and provide all families with the website. Effective January 1, 2022.

Section 3

Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to study and report on the need for additional positions and funding, and possible changes to laws, that would be necessary to expand the Department’s express permitting programs to encompass additional types of permits typically required for job creation, real estate development, and redevelopment activities. Requires a report to the specified NCGA committees and division by March 1, 2022.

Section 4

Amends GS 159G-23 to modify and add to the considerations the Division of Water Infrastructure (Division) is required to examine when evaluating applications for loans and grants from the Wastewater Reserve or the Drinking Water Reserve. Concerning priority for a project that improves designated impaired waters of the state, adds that greater priority is to be given to projects that improve designated impaired waters of the state that serve a public water supply for a large public water system, defined as serving more than 175,000 service connections. Adds that consideration for priority is to be given to projects improving regional coordination (previously, priority for local water supply plans that are better coordinated with respect to the State water supply plan). Lastly, adds that consideration for priority is to be given for wastewater system improvements made by a local government unit in order to protect or preserve the water supply of a neighboring local unit that has a lower poverty rate, lower utility bills, higher population growth, higher median household incomes, and lower unemployment. Applies to applications for loans or grants from the Wastewater Reserve or the Drinking Water Reserve received by the Division on or after July 1, 2021.

Section 5

Requires the Department of Revenue to provide the Revenue Laws Study Committee with information on the property taxation of outdoor advertising signs. Requires that the review include the specified topics, including reviewing the practices in other states. Requires that the information be provided to the Committee by March 31, 2022.

Section 6

Enacts GS 160D-910(g) to authorize cities to require by ordinance that manufactured homes be installed in compliance with the Set-Up and Installation Standards adopted by the Commissioner of Insurance, so long as the city does not require a masonry curtain wall or skirting for manufactured homes located on land leased to the homeowner. Effective October 1, 2021.

Section 7

Directs the Division of Emergency Management to consult with specified entities and study the needs of law enforcement, emergency medical and emergency management personnel, and firefighters to improve access to or within the interstate system in the state for the benefit of public safety. Details six required steps of the study, including determining potential sites of interest for construction or improvement and establishing criteria for prioritization of those sites. Requires the Division to report to the specified NCGA committees by March 1, 2022.

Section 8

Amends GS 58-41-15, concerning insurance cancellation, to make a clarifying and organizational change. Explicitly provides that proof of mailing is sufficient proof of notice of cancellation under the statute (rather than under subsection (b), which provides for notice requirements). Effective October 1, 2021.

Section 9

Amends GS 42-46 concerning fees, costs, and expenses in summary ejectment proceedings. Clarifies that the fees a landlord is authorized to charge pursuant to a written lease for filing a complaint, a court appearance, or trial following an appeal from a magistrate's judgment are administrative fees, defined to exclude out-of-pocket expenses, litigation costs, or other fees. Makes conforming changes. Adds a new provision stating it is against public policy for a landlord to claim or for a lease to provide for the payment of any out-of-pocket expenses or litigation costs for filing a complaint for summary ejectment and/or money owed rather than those expressly authorized in subsection (i). Modifies subsection (i) to provide for recovery of reasonable attorneys' fees actually paid or owed, rather than incurred, subject to existing caps. Specifies that the out-of-pocket expenses and litigation costs listed in subsection (i) can be included by the landlord in the amount required to cure a default. Makes further clarifying changes. 

States intent for the above provisions to apply retroactively to all pending controversies as of the date the act becomes law, as the changes are intended to clarify legislative intent under previous amendments to the statute. 

Section 10

Enacts GS 42-36.1B to provide for relief from a judgment for possession following a tenant's fulfillment of all terms of a post-judgment relief agreement with the landlord, defined to mean an agreement between a landlord and tenant that allows the tenant to retain or regain possession of the demised premises after a landlord has been granted a judgment for possession of the premises. Bars causing the issuance or participation in the execution of a writ of possession or any related monetary judgment following the tenant's fulfillment of the terms of the post-judgment relief agreement. Requires the landlord to file a motion for relief from the judgment, including a proposed order with specified provisions, within 30 days after the tenant has fulfilled the terms of the agreement. Requires the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to develop and make available a form motion and order. Provides for service of the motion and entry of the order following ex parte review by the chief district court judge or the designee within 5 business days of filing. Requires the clerk to mail copies of the order to the parties in self-addressed, stamped envelopes provided by the landlord at filing. Allows for the tenant to file a motion to enforce the statute's provisions and hold the tenant liable after 30 days following a written demand and the landlord's failure to file a motion and proposed order. Allows recovery of attorneys' fees and costs, and monetary damages as specified based on whether the judgment was for unpaid rent. 

Section 11

Expands GS 72-1 to require innkeepers to provide suitable lodging accommodations for accepted guests in an inn, hotel, motel, or other similar transient occupancy (was, inn or hotel only). Adds a new provision defining transient occupancy to mean the rental of an accommodation by an inn, hotel, motel, or similar lodging facility to the same guest or occupant for fewer than 90 consecutive days. 

Enacts GS 42-14.5 to explicitly exclude transient occupancies from the scope of the landlord/tenant laws of GS Chapter 42. Explicitly bars agreements related to transient occupancies from being deemed to create a tenancy or a residential tenancy unless expressly provided in the agreement. 

Specifies that a person's rental period is calculated from the first day of consecutive occupancy, or right of occupancy, in the lodging facility regardless of whether the period began before or after the date the act becomes law. 

Section 12

Prohibits the following rules adopted by the Department of Transportation on August 28, 2020, from becoming effective: 19A NCAC 02E .0204 (Local Zoning Authorities), 19A NCAC 02E .0206 (Applications), and 19A NCAC 02E .0225 (Repair/Maintenance/Alteration/Reconstruction of Signs).

Section 13

Amends GS 130A-343(j) regarding approval of a wastewater system using expanded polystyrene synthetic aggregate particles as a septic effluent dispersal medium. Adds new provisions to specify that expanded polystyrene synthetic aggregate cylindrical units containing pipe and concentric media layers and approved by a nationally recognized certification body qualify as dispersal media for construction of prefabricated, permeable block panel systems, as that term is used in rules adopted by the Commission for Public Health (Commission). Bars the Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services, and local health departments from conditioning, delaying, or denying the permitting of such dispersal media as horizontal and vertical prefabricated, permeable block panel systems. Requires the minimum nitrification trench length to meet the manufacturer's installation specifications and not be less than the length defined in rules adopted by the Commission. 

Requires the Commission to adopt conforming rules.

Section 14

Expands GS 18B-800(c2), which allows local ABC boards to fulfill orders by a mixed beverage permittee for individual bottles or cases of spirituous liquor produced by an eligible distillery that are listed as a regular code item for sale in the state. Modifies the definition set forth for eligible distillery under the subsection to include a distillery permittee (or the like in another jurisdiction) that sells fewer than 10,000 proof gallons of in-house brand spiritous liquors produced and manufactured by it at the permit holder's distillery per year (currently limited to those liquors distilled and manufactured by the permittee at the distillery per year). Adds to the requirements for ABC stores to display NC distilled spirits in a designated area to include spirits produced in North Carolina. 

Expands GS 18B-1001(19), regarding spirituous liquor tasting permits, to allow those permittees to use the spirituous liquor produced at the distillery in addition to that distilled at the distillery where the event is being held.

Expands GS 18B-1105(a)(4) to further authorize distillery permittees to sell spirituous liquor produced at the distillery in closed containers to visitors who tour the distillery for consumption off the premises in the same manner as that distilled at the distillery. 

Expands GS 18B-1105(a)(2) to allow distillery permittees to sell, deliver, and ship spirituous liquor in closed containers at wholesale or retail to consumers of other states or nations, subject to the laws of those jurisdictions. 

Directs the ABC Commission to amend its rules consistent with the above provisions as specified. 

Effective July 1, 2021.

Amends GS 162A-6 to give water and sewer authorities the power to suspend standard revenue collection practices during a declared emergency in order to assure continuation of service during the emergency, and to apply grants and other federal, State, and local funds to replace revenues lost due to customer delinquency during the emergency. Allows the authority, during such a suspension of revenue collection practices, to make accommodations, including the forgiveness of balances in arrears from low-income customers (as defined in the act), to the extent of and when required as a condition for receiving the federal, State, or local funding. Defines declared emergency as the period of an emergency (as defined in GS 166A-19.3), declared by one of the authorities set out in GS 166A-19.20 (Governor or NCGA) or GS 155A-19.22 (appears to intend GS 166A-19.22, governing body of a municipality or county) for an area that includes all or part of the service area of the authority. Effective July 1, 2021. 

Includes whereas clauses.

Appropriates $500,000 from the General Fund to the Independence Fund, Inc. for 2021-22 to establish and implement a pilot program to expand the Veterans Justice Intervention (VJI) program in Brunswick, Craven, Cumberland, Onslow, Union, and Wayne Counties. Authorizes use of funds to hire or contract a subject matter expert for assessment, coordination, and VJI implementation in each of the designated counties. Lists four required actions of the Independence Fund in conducting the pilot program, including (1) partnering with nonprofits and government agencies to update data collection process maps developed for each county's initial response to veterans in crises, and (2) educating first responders, local community support employees, and others on veteran-specific crises intervention, suicide prevention, and VA resources available. Directs the Independence Fund to report on the effectiveness of the pilot program by June 30, 2022, to the specified NCGA committee and division. 

Effective July 1, 2021.

Changes the provisions governing funds remitted to the Department of Revenue by registers of deeds collected from taxing real property conveyance instruments under GS 105-228.30. Rather than crediting the required portion of proceeds remitted to DOR to the General Fund, requires DOR to credit remitted funds at the rate of 30% to the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, 30% to the Land and Water Fund, 30% to the Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund, and 10% to the NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. Makes conforming changes to the statutes governing those identified Funds: GS 143B-135.56; GS 143B-135.234; and GS 106-744 (does not amend GS 143-215.75M regarding the Coastal Storm Damage Mitigation Fund). Effective July 1, 2021.

Makes clarifying changes to existing provisions of GS 120-130, specifically prohibiting a legislative employee from revealing the identity of a legislator who has made a drafting or information request, nor revealing the existence of the request, to any person who is not a legislative employee without the consent of the legislator. Eliminates the provisions that deemed drafting or information requests or supporting documents to not be public records under GS Chapter 132. Makes identical changes to existing provisions of GS 120-131 regarding the confidentiality of documents prepared by legislative employees at the request of a legislator. Similarly eliminates the provisions that deemed documents prepared by legislative employees at the request of a legislator which do not become available to the public not public records under GS Chapter 132.

Expands GS 120-132 to prohibit present and former legislative employees from disclosing documents, in addition to information, that the individual acquired while employed or retained by the State in the described contexts, unless disclosure reflects official public records or otherwise publicly disseminated information or documents. Authorizes a judge to compel disclosure of documents acquired by a legislative employee (currently limited to information) if necessary to the administration of justice, subject to legislative privilege and immunity laws. 

Identical to S 182, filed 3/4/21.

Reenacts GS 105-164.13C, as title indicates. Applies to sales made on or after July 1, 2021.