House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 4th edition. Deletes the contents of the previous edition and replaces it with the following. Makes conforming changes to the act's short and long titles.

Section 1

Repeals GS 66-353 which required a cable service franchisee to file an annual service report with the Secretary of State. Applies to annual service reports required to be filed on or after the date the act becomes law.

Section 2

Requires that the funds provided to Dragonfly House in SL 2018-5 be allocated to the Davie County Sheriff's Office be provided to Dragonfly House Children's Advocacy Center, Inc., in Mocksville. 

Specifies that the grant-in-aid provided to Patriot's Charity under SL 2018-5 in the specified budget code is to be provided to Patriot Military Family Foundation.

Amends SL 2018-5, Section 26.3, as amended, to provide that the allocation of the $3,165,308 to the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) is to include an allocation to provide law enforcement grant-in-aid in the amount of $15,000 to the Bryson City Fire Department for equipment upgrades (was, $15,000 to the Bryson City Police Department for a K-9 transport unit).

Amends SL 2018-5, as amended, by adding that the grant-in-aid in the amount of $700,000 given to Cedar Point for downtown revitalization is to be provided instead to Carteret County for economic development.

Section 3

Amends Section 8.3 of SL 2018-5 concerning the principal bonus schedule by providing that a principal who qualifies for a bonus and supervised a school with an overall school performance grade of D or F for a majority of either of the following school years (was, for a majority of the 2017-18 school year) is qualified for a bonus of twice the amount listed: (1) the 2016-17 school year, if the principal supervised the same school for a majority of the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years; or (2) the 2017-18 school year.

Requires such a bonus payment to be considered an additional payment of the bonus the principal received under Section 8.3 and not a new, separate, or second bonus.

Require that bonus payments under this section be paid by December 31, 2018, to qualifying principal employed as of October 1, 2018.

Section 4

Amends GS 160A-400.54 by adding that the application fee that a city may charge to applicants for a permit for collocation of small wireless facilities and the technical consulting fee that the city may charge for each application are both subject to the limitations in GS 160A-296(a)(6), which concerns a city's power to regulate and charge fees for digging in the streets, sidewalks, or alleys, and includes a prohibition on charging fees to businesses providing telecommunications service (with named fee exceptions).

Section 5

Amends Section 3 of SL 2018-121 to set the total number of assistant district attorneys in District 28 at six instead of nine.

Amends GS 1-267.1 concerning the composition of a three-judge panel to hear certain constitutional challenges, by updating the numbers of the districts from which the judges are to be appointed to the panel.

Section 6

Amends GS 135-5 (Retirement System for Teachers and State Employees) and GS 128-27 (Retirement System for Counties, Cities and Towns) by extending the triggering date for retirement allowance provisions from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019. Effective July 1, 2019.

Section 7

Corrects a statutory cross-reference in GS 58-51-37.

Section 8

Amends Section 2 of SL 2018-75 to clarify the effective date for new GS 14-43.15 concerning affirmative defenses for human trafficking victims, new GS 14-43.16 providing for confidentiality for human trafficking victims, and for changes to GS 14-43.20 concerning restitution for victims of human trafficking. Deletes Section 5 of that act, which amended the definition of abused juveniles to include all human trafficking victims less than 18 years old. Provides that Section 1 of that act which made the definition of victim apply throughout the article is effective December 1, 2018, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

Section 9

Amends Section 6.2 of SL 2018-5 by adding a prohibition on state agencies administering funds for a non-state entity that is subject to GS 143C-6-23 (State grant funds: administration; oversight and reporting requirements) from requiring as a condition for receipt of the funds submission of a document certifying that (1) it is an organization that is exempt from taxation or (2) it is a nonprofit organization, unless specifically required by state or federal law.

Requires OSBM to review its rules governing disbursement of State funds to non-state entities to determine if its rules comply with GS 143C-6-23 and report to the specified NCGA committees and division by March 1, 2019.

Section 10

Amends Section 19.4 of SL 2018-5, as amended, concerning a grant-in-aid to Veterans Leadership Council of North Carolina-Cares to be used for the Veterans Life Center by requiring the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office to State Controller to take steps necessary to effectuate the necessary transfer of funds. Also corrects a statutory cross-reference.

Section 11

Amends Section 35.26 of SL 2018-5 which granted five days of annual leave to state employees by adding that the number of days awarded that carry forward to each following year is equal to the number of days awarded in the section that remain on December 31 of each year plus the number or days awarded in the section that were deducted from vacation leave in excess of 30 days for the calculation of sick leave. Prohibits requiring an employee to take the additional leave awarded. Applies retroactively to July 1, 2018.

Section 12

Amends GS 18B-1002 to authorize issuing permits to a profession sports organization (as defined) for the retail sale of malt beverages, wine, or mixed beverages for consumption on the premises of a professional sporting event at a stadium (1) with seating capacity of at least 40,000, and (2) that is owned or leased by a constituent institution of UNC in a county with a population of at least 900,000 people. Species that issuance of this permit also allows the issuance of a purchase-transportation permit. Makes a conforming change to GS 18B-1006.

Section 12.5

Adds electronic standup scooter to the defined terms in GS 20-4.01. Excludes electronic standup scooters from the defined terms motor vehicle and moped (passenger vehicle), but deems an electronic standup scooter a vehicle for purposes of GS Chapter 20. Makes organizational changes.

Amends GS 20-51, exempting electronic standup scooters from the requirement of registration and certificate of title.

Section 12.6

Amends GS 20-7(b2), permitting disclosure of a social security number obtained in an application for a license, permit, or special identification card by the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to the Judicial Department for the purpose of administering the criminal and motor vehicle laws.

Section 13 

Amends Section 15.19(b) of SL 2017-57, permitting the Industrial Commission to retain the additional revenue up to the previously specified $1.2 million of the receipts collected by the Commission (previously, more specifically of the fee charged to parties for the filing of compromise settlement agreements) to be used to replace and maintain the case management systems and related expenditures. Adds language to appropriate for the same purpose any funds, as described, deemed unappropriated.

Section 14

Makes technical correction to GS 131E-184(h) (concerning exemption from certificate of need review) to refer to the Legacy Medical Care Facility in subsubsection (1).

Section 15

Amends GS 143B-344.62, charging the Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council with fixing the salary of the executive director.

Section 16

Makes technical correction to GS 45-21.21, concerning the required notice of postponement of a sale, to refer to the notice of postponement required by subsection (g) that must be delivered to the Clerk of Superior Court rather than subsection (b) in subsections (h) and (i).

Section 17

Extends the date by which the Wildlife Resources Commission must recommend legislation concerning derelict and abandoned vessels, required by Section 2.8 of SL 2018-138, from March 1 to April 30, 2019.

Section 18

Amends Section 2.2 of SL 2018-138 (Hurricane Florence/Supplemental Act), which provided guidance for purposes of determining the average daily membership of the school supervised by the principal for schools designated under a major disaster declaration by the President. Reduces the number of days the principals supervising school must be closed from 15 to 10 days during the months of September, October and November 2018 as a result of Hurricane Florence to qualify under the provision.

Section 19

Amends GS 115C-242 concerning the use and operation of school buses, specifically permitting the use of school buses for transportation outside of the State when the superintendent determines the travel is the most direct route to and from the school. Makes technical and clarifying changes.

Section 20

Adds to the definition of innovative school (IS) operator in GS 115C-75.5(3), to provide that entities selected as an operator can include public or private higher education institutions, nonprofit and for-profit corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, or local boards of education as provided in new GS 115C-75.7(c1). New  GS 115C-75.7(c1) permits the local board, no later than January 1, to submit to the Innovative School District (ISD) Superintendent a five-year plan to dramatically improve student achievement including an implementation timeline with benchmarks, as specified, upon a local board consenting to transfer the selected school to the ISD as an innovative school. Authorizes the State Board of Education to (1) approve the plan, (2) select the local board as IS operator of the qualifying school, and (3) impose additional conditional requirements for plan approval. Amends GS 115C-75.8, concerning the selection of IS operators, providing for local boards of prospective innovative schools to be selected as IS operator, subject to the specified criteria. Requires the State Board of Education to select another entity as IS operator if a five-year plan for student performance improvement is not agreed to and approved by January 15. Conditions the existing provision that encourages IS operators to hold public informational sessions and other outreach prior to a local board’s adoption of the resolution required by GS 115C-75.7(c) to when practicable to do so. Makes conforming changes. Amends GS 115C-75.9 concerning management of innovative schools, allowing the ISD Superintendent to review the potential impact of any changes regarding student enrollment at an innovative school and request a hearing before the State Board of Education regarding any proposed assignment if a local board of education is the ISD operator. Requires a local board that is an IS operator to provide facility and capital expenditures, transportation services, and services for children with disabilities in the same manner as provided for other schools in the local administrative unit in that school year. Details specific parameters concerning employees of a school that is transferring to the ISD if the IS operator is a local board of education, including the ISD Superintendent’s authority to direct the local on whether to continue employment. Makes other conforming changes to reflect the addition of local boards as possible IS operators.

Amends GS 115C-75.10 regarding innovative school funds, adding a new provision specifying that funding for support and operational services, as defined, must be provided in the same manner and degree as in the prior school year if the IS operator is a local board. Makes organizational and conforming changes.

Amends GS 115C-75.11, granting the ISD Superintendent the authority to select, approve, or remove the school principal of the innovative school if the IS operator is a local board. Makes conforming changes.

Amends GS 115C-75.12 concerning the term of supervision for an innovative school. Provides that if by the end of the five-year contract the school’s average annual percentage growth during the contract does not exceed the average annual percentage growth of other qualifying schools during the same term, the State Board cannot renew the contract of the IS operator and must close the school (previously, cannot renew the contract of the IS operator and must develop a transition plan to return the school to the local school administrative unit). Adds provisions concerning the period of an approved plan for an IS operator that is a local board, providing for revocation of approval or nonrenewal of an approved plan based on performance, optional extension of an approved plan for three years by either the State Board of Education or the IS operator, and revocation of an approved plan on other grounds. Further provides for the local board’s provision of services in the event that approval is revoked and another IS operator must be selected. Makes conforming changes.

Applies beginning with the 2019-20 school year.

Section 21

Extends the Agricultural Disaster Program deadlines for financial assistance for losses due to Hurricane Florence set out in Section 5.11 of SL 2018-136 from December 10 to December 20, 2018.

Section 22

Amends GS 115C-112.5(2), which defines eligible student for purposes of special education scholarships for children with disabilities awarded by the NC State Education Assistance Authority. Adds to the definition, a child under the age of 22 who resides in North Carolina meeting the specified criteria under current law, who was enrolled in a nonpublic school during the spring semester prior to the school year for which the student is applying and was enrolled for the entire school year immediately prior to the school year in which the student enrolled in the nonpublic school in a NC public school or a Department of Defense Elementary and Secondary School located in NC. Further, modifies the definition to specify enrollment during the spring semester prior to the school year for which the student is applying  (rather than simply the previous semester) for three existing alternative qualifications: the child was enrolled in a NC public school or a Department of Defense Elementary and Secondary School located in NC, the child received special education or related services through NC public schools as a preschool child with a disability, or the child received a scholarship. Makes clarifying and conforming changes to GS 115C-112.6(a2) regarding priority of awards.

Sets forth specific qualifications for any student to receive a scholarship pursuant to Part 1H of Article 9 of GS Chapter 115C (Special Education Scholarships for Children with Disabilities), and granting those students eligible for a scholarship in the 2019-20 school year solely due to the provisions of Section 22.(c) of the act priority in award of scholarships over all applicants except those previously awarded scholarships.

Amends GS 115C-562.1(3)a. and GS 115C-562.2(a)(1), making similar clarifying changes to the student eligibility and priority provisions regarding scholarships grants to attend any public school as those made to the special education scholarship provisions.

Section 22.2

Amends GS 14-43.17 by adding that the statute, which concerns confidentiality of human trafficking victims, does not apply to records that have been made part of the court file in the custody of the General Court of Justice. Makes conforming changes.

Section 22.3

Amends GS 15A-173.2 to require that the notification that a certificate of relief is automatically removed for a subsequent felony or misdemeanor conviction appear on the Petition and Order for a Certificate of Relief (was, on the forms that record criminal judgments).

Section 22.5

Amends GS 115C-218.90 by adding that a municipal charter school’s board of directors may elect to participate in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System and the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees. Applies only to Cornelius, Huntersville, Matthews, and Mint Hill.

GS 135-5.3 by allowing the board of directors of a charter school operated by a municipality to elect to become a participating employer in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System.

Amends GS 135-4 allowing for the purchase of creditable service  in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System for employment as an employee of a charter school operated by a municipality whose board did not elect to participate in the system upon completion of five years of membership service.

Amends GS 135-48.47 by providing that the section, which allows employees and dependents of employees of local governments to participate in the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees, does not apply to employees of a charter school operated by a municipality.

Amends GS 135-48.54 by providing that no later than two years after a written charter has been signed, the board of directors of a charter school operated by a municipality must elect whether to become a participating employer in the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees.