Conference report deletes all provisions of the 6th edition and replaces them with the following. 

Changes the act's titles.

Part I.

Appropriates $239,220,554 for the 2019-20 fiscal year and $572,705,157 from the General Fund for the 2020-21 fiscal year to the specified entities in the specified amounts to cover the costs of implementing the act.

Appropriates from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation (DOT) $9,805,035 and $22,327,533 in recurring funds for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, respectively, to cover the cost of implementing the act.

Deems the funds appropriated for each year of the biennium as agency receipts to implement the act.

Part II.

Transfers from the Department of Insurance (DOI) to the General Fund $1,249,541 for the 2019-20 fiscal year and $2,700,421 for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Transfers from the Office of State Treasurer (OST) to the General Fund $41,913 for the 2019-20 fiscal year and $91,132 for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Part III.

Effective July 1, 2019, awards a 2.5% salary increase of the 2019-21 fiscal year and allowable salary adjustment for any person whose salary is set by Part III of the act or otherwise authorized in the act who is employed in a State-funded position on June 30, 2019. Similarly, effective July 1, 2020,  awards a 2.5% salary increase of the 2020-21 fiscal year and allowable salary adjustment for any person whose salary is set by Part III of the act or otherwise authorized in the act who is employed in a State-funded position on June 30, 2020. Excepts from the eligibility to receive the legislative salary increases: employees of local boards of education, local community college employee, UNC employees, clerks of superior court compensated under GS 7A-101, correctional employees to which HB 609 applies, law enforcement officers to which HB 126 or HB 777 applies, and employees of schools operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Safety, and the State Board of Education paid based on the Teacher Salary Schedule. Provides for part-time employees to receive the increases on a prorated basis. Allows for eligibility despite the employee's maximum salary range.

Amends GS 147-11 to increase the Governor's salary from $147,287 to $150,969, effective July 1, 2019, and to $154,743, effective July 1, 2020.

Sets the annual salaries for members of the Council of State at $133,365, effective July 1, 2019, and $136,699, July 1, 2020.

Sets the annual salaries for specified executive branch officials and judicial branch officials, effective July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020. Requires average salaries for assistant district attorneys or assistant public defenders not exceed $80,579 or be less than $43,248 for the 2019-20 fiscal year, effective July 1, 2019, and not exceed $82,593 or be less than $44,329 for the 2020-21 fiscal year, effective July 1, 2020.

Provides $800,000 of the funds available to the Administrative Office of the Courts to increase the budgeted annual salary to $70,000 for each new ADA position created in SL 2017-57 (Appropriations Act of 2017).

Effective July 1, 2019, amends GS 7A-101 to establish a salary schedule for clerks of superior court based on the number of State-funded assistant and deputy clerks of court as determined by the AOC workload formula, ranging from $95,000 for 0-19 assistants and deputies and $127,500 for 100 or more assistants and deputies (previously, based on county population, ranging from $90,972 for less than 100,000 and $123,554 for 250,000 and above). Makes conforming and technical changes. Effective July 1, 2020, increases the salaries in the schedule in specified amounts ranging from $97,375 to $130,688.

Effective July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, amends GS 7A-102 to increase the maximum salary of assistant clerks and head bookkeppers to $62,691 and $64,258, and deputy clerks to $49,235 and $50,466, respectively.

Effective July 1, 2019, amends GS 7A-171.1 to increase the amounts set in the table of salaries for magistrates, ranging from $39,586 to $63,212. Effective July 1, 2020, increases the amounts again, ranging from $40,456 to $64,792. 

Effective July 1, 2019, increases the annual salaries of the Legislative Services Officer and nonelected employees of the General Assembly in effect on June 30, 2019, by 2.5%. Effective July 1, 2020, increases the annual salaries of the Legislative Services Officer and nonelected employees of the General Assembly in effect on June 30, 2020, by 2.5%. Provides that GS 120-32 controls. 

Effective July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, amends GS 120-37 to increase the salary of principal clerks from $111,107 to $113,885, and $116,732, respectively.

Effective July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, amends GS 120-37 to increase the salary of the sergeant-at-arms from $438 per week to $449 per week and $460 per week, respectively. 

Mandates the legislative increases, unless otherwise provided, for (1) all permanent, full-time State officials and persons whose salaries are set pursuant to the State Human Resources Act (SHRA); (2) permanent, full-time State officials and persons in positions exempt from the SHRA; (3) permanent, part-time State employees; and (4) temporary and permanent hourly State employees.

Details parameters and limitations of the legislative salary increases, including that the increases do not apply to persons separated from service prior to June 30, 2019, for the 2019-20 fiscal year, or June 30, 2020, for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Allows for the reallocation of funds appropriated for the increases in excess of the amounts required by an agency to another agency that received insufficient funds. Requires excess amounts to be credited to the Pay Plan Reserve. Establishes reporting requirements for the Office of State Budget and Management by May 1, 2020, and May 1, 2021, to the specified NCGA committee and division on the expenditure of funds for legislatively mandated salary increases and employee benefits for the respective fiscal year. Details required content of the reports.

Grants state employees a one-time additional five days of annual leave, credited on July 1, 2019. Excludes full-time permanent state employees eligible to earn annual leave; UNC employees; and employees to which HB 609, HB 126, or HB 777 apply. Details parameters and limitations for the leave awarded, including that the leave has no cash value and cannot be paid out upon separation or retirement. Adds that any vacation leave remaining on December 31 of each year in excess of 30 days is reduced by the number of days awarded by the act that were actually used by the employee during the year, so that the calculation of vacation leave days that would convert to sick leave reflects the deduction of those days of special annual leave awarded that were used by the employee during the year. Allows the leave to carry forward to each following year, as specified. Clarifies that no employee is required to take the additional leave awarded.

Effective for the 2019-21 fiscal biennium, mandates that required employer salary-related contributions be paid from the same source as the source of the employee's salary, with those paid from the General Fund or Highway Fund paid proportionately to the salary portion supported by those funds. Makes the provisions applicable to payments on behalf of the employee for hospital medical benefits, longevity pay, unemployment compensation, accumulated leave, workers' compensation, severance pay, separation allowances, and applicable disability income benefits. 

Sets the State's employer contribution rates budgeted for retirement and related benefits for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, effective July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, respectively, for teachers and State employees, State law enforcement officers, the University and Community Colleges Optional Retirement Programs, the Consolidated Judicial Retirement System, and the Legislative Retirement System.

Sets a cap for annual employer contributions payable monthly by the State for each covered employee or retiree for the State Health Plan for the 2019-20 fiscal year at $4,900 for Medicare-eligible employees and retirees and $6,306 for non-medicare-eligible employees and retirees; and for the 2020-21 fiscal year at $5,165 for Medicare-eligible employees and retirees, and $6,647 for non-Medicare-eligible employees and retirees.

Sets the total State contribution to the North Carolina Firefighters' and Rescue Squad Workers' Pension Fund at $18,652,208 in 2019-20 and $19,002,208 in 2020-21.

Sets the total State contribution to the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund at $11,031,715 in 2019-20 and $11,031,715 in 2020-21.

Requires that $215,000 from the funds allocated to the Office of State Controller be used to adjust the salaries of SAP-skilled employees closer to 85% of the midpoint of average market pay rates.

Requires that of the funds appropriated in Part I of this act, 0.05% of the estimated General Fund payroll for each entity be used to pay short-term disability benefits.

Part IV.

Provides that if any provision of this act and GS 143C-5-4 (enactment deadline; procedures to be followed when the Current Operations Appropriations Act does not become law prior to the end of certain fiscal years) are in conflict, the provisions of this act prevail. Provides that the appropriations and the authorizations to allocate and spend funds set out in this act remain in effect until the Current Operations Appropriations Act for the applicable fiscal year becomes law, at which time that act becomes effective and governs appropriations and expenditures. 

Effective July 1, 2019.