Conference report makes the following changes to the 4th edition. Adds new Parts I through VIII and X through XVI, described in detail below. Makes organizational changes.

Part I.

Explains that the act’s appropriations are for maximum amounts necessary to provide the services and accomplish the purposes described in the budget in accordance with the State Budget Act. Directs that any savings will revert to the appropriate fund at the end of the fiscal year, except as otherwise provided by law.

Part II.

Section 2.2

Repeals the General Fund availability for 2024-25 listed in 2.2(a) of SL 2023-134 (2023 Appropriations Act), which listed a general total prior year-end fund balance of $1,864,437,931. Now lists the total prior year-end fund balance as $2,103,735,641. Lists the following figures: (1) the revised consensus revenue forecast of tax and non-tax revenue as $34,164,300,000, (2) the total statutory reserves as $1,461,333,238, (3) the total discretionary reserves as $3,043,000,000, (4) the revised total general fund availability as $31,763,702,403, (5) the general fund total net appropriations as $31,647,156,312, and (6) the unappropriated balance remaining as $116,546,091.

Establishes an Education Reserve (ER) in the General Fund and directs the State Controller to reserve $248 million in nonrecurring funds from the available General Fund funds to the ER for 2024-25. Directs the Controller to then transfer those funds to the UNC BOG for related educational programs appropriated by the act. Increases the amount reserved for the Economic Development Project Reserve (EDPR) for 2024-25 set forth in Section 2.2(h) of SL 2023-134 from $100 million to $250 million and transfers $150 million to the Department of Transportation (DOT).  Directs that no transfer will be made to the Unfunded Liability Solvency Reserve for 2024-25.

Reserves Parts III and IV.

Part V.

Eliminates $60 million appropriated in recurring funds for 2024-25 for the Education Enrollment Reserve. Specifies that the funds are used to support budget requirements associated with enrollment changes provided in Section 6.1 of this act for the Community College System and in Section 6.3 of this act for public school enrollment.

Part VI.

Section 6.1

Appropriates (1) $64,043,411 in recurring funds and (2) recurring sum of $12,723,442 million from the General Fund to the Community College System (CCS) to account for increases in enrollment.

Section 6.2

Removes the requirement in establishing and maintaining kindergartens (GS 115C-47[1a]) that the State Board of Education allocate funds for the purpose of operating and administering kindergarten to each school administrative unit in the State based on the average daily membership for the best continuous three out of the first four school months of pupils in the kindergarten program during the last school year in that respective school administrative unit. Makes conforming changes. Amends GS 115C-111.05 (funding for children with disabilities) and GS 115C-150.9 (funding for academically or intellectually gifted students) to change funding requirements from percentages of allocated average daily membership to allotted average daily memberships for each student group. Amends GS 115C-472.18(b) (phase-out provision) as follows. Removes provision stipulating that a local school administrative district will not become ineligible for funding if either the highest of the first two months' total projected average daily membership for the current year or the higher of the first two months' total prior year average daily membership would otherwise have made the unit eligible for funds under the schedule in subsection GS 115C-472.18(a). Specifies that eligibility for funding is based on the allotted average daily membership of the unit. Directs that the initial allocation is based on the allotted average daily membership and cannot be adjusted for current year actual average daily membership. Reduces the appropriation to the State Public School Fund (Public School Fund) by $36,224,422 in recurring funds for 2024-25 to accommodate the transition to an arrears-based funding model as well as changes in average salaries, special population headcounts, and other technical adjustments.

Section 6.3

Appropriates $95 million from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in recurring funds for 2024-25 to be allocated to the ADM Contingency Reserve to fund growing public school units.

Section 6.4

Allocates $248 million of the nonrecurring funds appropriated in this act to the UNC BOG for 2024-25 from the ER to the State Education Assistance Authority (Authority) to provide additional funds for opportunity scholarships. Directs that the funds not be allocated to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve (Reserve) and instead be made available for scholarship awards in the 2024-25 school year. Appropriates $215,460,000 from the General Fund to the Reserve in additional recurring funds for 2024-25 to be used for the purposes set forth in GS 115C-562.8 (Reserve’s enabling act). Increases the appropriations to the Reserve from the General Fund listed in GS 115C-562.8(b), as amended, starting in 2025-26 through 2031-32, so that the Reserve’s appropriation increases as follows:

• $415,540,000 to $625 million in FY 25-26;  
• $430,540,000 to $675 million in FY 26-27;
• $445,540,000 to $700 million in FY 27-28;
• $460,540,000 to $725 million in FY 28-29;
• $475,540,000 to $750 million in FY 29-30;
• $490,540,000 to $775 million in FY 30-31; 
• $505,540,000 to $800 million in FY 31-32.

Increases the appropriations to the Reserve from the General Fund for 2032-33 and thereafter from $520,540,000 to $825 million.

Section 6.5

Appropriates $24.7 million from the General Fund to the UNC BOG in recurring funds for 2024-25 to be allocated to the Authority for the NC Personal Education Student Accounts for Children with Disabilities Program (PESACD). Increases the appropriations to PESACD from the General Fund listed in GS 115C-600(a), as amended, starting in 2025-26 through 2031-32, so that the PESACD appropriation increases as follows:

• $50,493,166 to $75,643,166 in 2025-26;  
• $51,943,166 to $76,643,166 in 2026-27;
• $52,943,166 to $77,643,166 in 2027-28;
• $53,943,166 to $78,643,166 in 2028-29;
• $54,943,166 to $79,643,166 in 2029-30;
• $55,943,166 to $80,643,166 in 2030-31; 
• $56,943,166 to $81,643,166 in 2031-32.

Increases the appropriations to PESACD from the General Fund from 2032-33 and thereafter from $57,943,166 to $82,643,166.

Section 6.5A

Sets forth five defined terms that apply in Section 6.5A of the act, including eligible student (student who meets all of the following: (i) submitted an application for the award of an Opportunity Scholarship or PESA award (“scholarship funds”) for the 2024-25 school year by March 1, 2024; (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive available scholarship funds following the Authority’s lottery process for the 2024-25 school year; and (iii) did not receive a scholarship funds award prior to the effective date of the act). Directs the Authority, as soon as practicable, to distribute the additional scholarship funds allocated in Sections 6.4 and 6.5 of this act to eligible students for the 2024-25 school year. Directs the Authority, to the extent feasible and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, to award these funds for the fall semester of the 2024-25 school year for all eligible students who are enrolled by October 1, 2024, in an eligible nonpublic school and remain continuously enrolled in that same school for the spring semester. Specifies that notwithstanding GS 115C-592(c), a student who receives a PESA award for the fall semester of the 2024-25 school year and is also eligible for an opportunity scholarship pursuant to this section will receive the award of the opportunity scholarship in the spring semester of the 2024-25 school year only. Allows the Authority to establish necessary procedures in order to administer the award of scholarship funds for the fall semester of the 2024-25 school year. Requires any nonpublic school that receives scholarship funds from the Authority where the student’s parents have already paid the student’s tuition and fees for all, or a portion of, the 2024-25 school year’s fall semester, to (1) reimburse the student’s parent or guardian up to the amount disbursed to the nonpublic school for the student by the Authority within 60 days of receiving those funds by the Authority and (2) arrange for the method of reimbursement with the parent or guardian. 

Directs the Authority to make applications to eligible students available no later than April 1, 2025, for the award of scholarship funds for the 2025-26 school year, and extend any other deadlines for the receipt of applications and notifications of awards accordingly.

Specifies for FY 2024-25 only, (1) that the Authority’s deadline to report on the information required by GS 115C-562.7(e) (information pertaining to scholarship recipient schools and enrollees) to DPI is April 1, 2025, and (2) that DPI’s deadline to report on the information required by GS 115C-562.7(f) (the cumulative difference in the current school year between the scholarship grant award amount for each prior public school attendee enrolled in a nonpublic school and the average State per pupil allocation for average daily membership for a student in a public school unit) to the specified NCGA committee is June 1, 2025.

Requires the Authority to report any reasons eligible students did not receive an award of scholarship funds for the fall semester of the 2024-25 school year, including the number of students impacted, to the specified NCGA committee by April 1, 2025.

Part VII.

Section 7.1

Appropriates the following from the General Fund for 2024-25 fiscal year to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Benefits (DHB): (1) $277 million in recurring funds and associated receipts to adjust Medicaid funding to account for various types of projected changes and (2) $100 million in nonrecurring funds and associated receipts to be used to support nonrecurring Medicaid costs.

Section 7.2

Amends Section 9E.5(b) of SL 2023-134 by increasing the amount that DHHS must deposit for 2024-25 from its revenues with the State Treasurer to be accounted for as nontax revenue from $88.4 million to $159.5 million (as already specified in that section, these deposits represent the return of advanced General Fund appropriations, nonfederal revenue, fund balances, or other resources from State-owned and State-operated hospitals used to provide indigent and nonindigent care services).

Part VIII.

Appropriates $55.1 million in nonrecurring funds for 2024-25 from the General Fund to the Department of Commerce to be allocated to the City of Sanford for water and sewer expenditures in Chatham County. Specifies the funds do not revert and will remain available until the project is complete. Requires any funds that remain upon completion revert to the General Fund.

Part IX.

Amends the content of the previous edition as follows.

Amends in proposed GS 162-62(b1) the conditions for determining when a prisoner for which Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued a detainer and administrative warrant can be released so that it includes the passage of 48 hours from receipt of the detainer and administrative warrant (was, the passage of 48 hours, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, from receipt of the detainer and administrative warrant). No longer requires the administrator or other person in charge of any county jail, local confinement facility, district confinement facility, satellite jail, or work release unit to adopt a policy for compliance with the new (b1). Removes the requirement of an annual report on compliance from the administrator or other person in charge of each county jail, local confinement facility, district confinement facility, or satellite jail or work release unit within the State to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety. Changes the effective date of the proposed changes to GS 162-62 from July 1, 2024, to December 1, 2024.

Removes proposed GS 162-63, concerning reports of and remedies for noncompliance with GS 162-62.

Adds an appropriation of $278,994 in recurring funds from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Services Regulation, Construction Section for 2024-25 to hire two full-time Jail Inspectors.

Part X.

Section 10.1

Specifies that of the funds appropriated to the Department of Information Technology (DIT) from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund for projects under the Completing Access to Broadband grant program (Program) in GS 143B-1373.1, DIT must utilize up to $190 million to provide the county project cost responsibility required in GS 143B-1373.1(e) and the State project cost responsibility for the 37 counties that have committed to DIT to participate in the Program and provide the county match as of May 1, 2024. Allows a county to decline to accept any portion of the county project cost responsibility funding from DIT by notifying DIT within 30 days of the effective date of the act (July 1, 2024).

Amends GS 143B-1373.1 as follows. Changes the amount that a broadband service provider must (was, may) provide for a project from up to 30% to at least 30% of the total estimated project cost. Removes language allowing the Broadband Infrastructure Office in the Department of Information Technology (BIO) to contribute up to 35% of a project and requiring a county to provide a certain amount from funds received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Makes technical and conforming changes. Effective July 1, 2024, and applies to grant funding requests submitted on or after that date.

Section 10.2

Establishes the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program. Contains 24 defined terms, including broadband serviceable location (BSL: a location where broadband service is or could be installed, as identified by the Federal Communications Commission for purposes of its Broadband DATA Maps), NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the US Department of Commerce), and IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act).

Specifies if there’s any conflict between the act and the IIJA, the IIJA takes precedence. Requires the Department of Information Technology (DIT) to report to the specified NCGA committee any actions to conform to federal law if an actual conflict arises. Prevents the Broadband Infrastructure Office in the Department of Information Technology (BIO) from prescribing the rates of service which applicants may deliver, nor can the BIO indirectly regulate the rates of service which applicants may deliver by affording any preference or differentiated scoring weight based on the specific rate of service an applicant may deliver.

Establishes the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Fund (GREAT 3.0 Fund) as a special revenue fund in DIT for infrastructure costs associated with an eligible project. Specifies that if: (1) DIT has entered into grant agreements for deployment of service to all unserved and underserved locations in the state, (2) the NCGA appropriates funds in a future enactment for purposes specified in the BEAD notice of funding and (3) there are funds remaining in the GREAT 3.0 program, then DIT may use any remaining funds in the GREAT 3.0 Fund for those purposes. 

Requires BIO to prioritize projects proposed to address the following in order: (1) unserved BSLs, (2) underserved BSLs, and (3) community anchor institutions. Provides for a process for project proposals. Provides for a formal challenge process developed by BIO. Requires BIO to develop a prequalification process to identify potential grantees with the financial, managerial, operational, and technical capacity to complete an eligible project. Sets forth ten required pieces of information an applicant must include in a grant application to BIO. Provides for a competitive selection process with a scoring system that conforms with the published regulations and guidelines under the IIJA. Provides for priority to applications with the most number of new unserved and underserved areas in case of a tie based on points. Provides for an award agreement with BIO. Requires BIO to monitor each project to ensure: (1) that the grantee is making adequate progress towards project completion by the required deadline; (2) compliance with all relevant and applicable  federal, State, and local laws, rules, and regulations; and (3) compliance with all NTIA guidelines for the BEAD Program and any guidelines developed by BIO. Requires BIO to require a letter of credit or an alternative form of satisfactory performance security, such as a performance bond, from the grantee to secure the grantee's performance of its obligations under the grant contract consistent with the federal requirements. Requires DIT to submit an annual report to the specified NCGA committee and Division upon completion of each funding round containing at least six listed prongs of information, including the number of grants applied for and awarded, a summary of areas receiving the grants, and any breach of agreements or grant fund forfeitures or reductions in funding. After two rounds of selection, requires DIT to submit a progress report to the specified NCGA committee and division containing four required pieces of information, including the remaining number of unserved and underserved areas of the state, remaining funds in the GREAT 3.0 program, and the estimated amount of funding needed to award projects serving the remaining unfunded and underfunded areas of the state. 

Limits DIT’s use of grant funds for administrative purposes to the lesser of $22.5 million or 1.5% of allocated BEAD funds over the term provided for network deployment in the BEAD notice of funding. Specifies that DIT cannot expend more than: (1) 25% of that amount by the end of 2024-25, (2) 50% of that amount by the end of 2025-26, and (3) 75% of that amount by the end 2026-27.

Requires the State Controller to establish a BEAD Reserve (Reserve) in the General Fund to maintain federal funds received from the IIJA. Directs the State Controller to transfer funds into the GREAT 3.0 program fund only as needed to meet the appropriations set out in subsequent legislation. Specifies that funds reserved in the Reserve do not constitute an "appropriation made by law," as that phrase is used in Section 7(1) of Article V of the North Carolina Constitution.

Appropriates $23 million to DIT from the funds received for digital literacy from the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program under section 60304 in Division F, Title III, of the federal Digital Equity Act of 2021 of the IIJA in accordance with the North Carolina Digital Equity Plan (Plan) approved by the NTIA for the purposes specified in the Plan. 

Repeals Section 38.4 of SL 2022-74 (modifying the 2021 Appropriations Act), pertaining to future uses of federal infrastructure broadband funds.   

Removes the December 31, 2024, expiration date to the changes made in Sections 38.10(b) through (k) of SL 2021-180 (2021 Appropriations Act).

Part XI.

Requires the Office of State Budget and Management to transfer to the Housing Trust Fund all remaining Emergency Rental Assistance funds allocated in specified acts in 2021 and any interest earned on those funds, as well as in specified budget codes and funds, for 2024-25 to be used for eligible programs administered by the Housing Finance Agency. Requires that these projects comply with the US Department of the Treasury's Emergency Rental Assistance guidelines, and appropriates the funds for that purpose.

Part XII.

Amends Section 39.26(c) of SL 2023-134 by reducing the amounts of the employer contribution rates for the Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJRS) and the Legislative Retirement System (LRS) that were effective July 1, 2024. Makes conforming changes.

Adds the following to Part XXXIX of SL 2023-134. Increases the amount appropriated in the act to the Department of State Treasurer by the recurring sum of $1,120,949 for 2024-25, to be used for the State's contribution to the North Carolina National Guard Pension Fund to match the actuarially determined contribution amount. Reduces the funds appropriated in the act to the Administrative Office of the Courts for the State's contribution for members of the CJRS by the recurring sum of $962,687 for 2024-25. Reduces funds appropriated in the act to the Office of Indigent Defense Services for the State's contribution for members of the Consolidated Judicial Retirement System by the recurring sum of $61,246 for 2024-25. Reduces funds appropriated in the act to the NCGA for the State's contribution for members of the LRS by a recurring sum of $97,016 for 2024-25.

Part XIII.

Amends Section 40.4(a) of SL 2023-134 by authorizing the use of funds in 2024-25 for the following additional capital projects: Mary Ann Brittain Education Center, Fort Fisher Aquarium Energy Efficiency System, Jennette's Pier Weather Station Upgrades, NCMA West Building Kitchen Storage Upfit, State Fair Flower Show Building, Piedmont Aviary, Raleigh State Farmers Market Improvements, Sykes Depot Greenhouse, D7 Storage Building, Caswell Shooting Range Expansion, Coastal Restoration & Resiliency, Washington Baum Bridge Public Fishing Access, Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery, Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, and Salisbury State Veterans Home. Makes conforming changes.

Part XIV.

Requires that the funds transferred from the Economic Development Project Reserve to the Department of Transportation for 2024-25 under Section 2.2(c) of this act are to be used to for specified transportation needs for the megasite industrial park in Randolph County.

Part XVI.

Sets out provisions governing the interpretation of the act.

Includes a severability clause.

Effective July 1, 2024.

Makes conforming changes to the act’s titles.

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

Amends GS 162-62 by requiring adoption of a policy for compliance with the new provisions related to compliance with detainers.

Adds new GS 162-63, establishing a complaint procedure for any person, including a federal agency, to file a complaint with the Attorney General alleging that an administrator (as defined) has failed or is failing to comply with GS 162-62 as amended by the act. Requires petitioner to include any evidence of noncompliance the person has in support of the petition. Requires administrators to comply with any document requests from the Attorney General relating to a complaint. Allows for the Attorney General to file a petition for declaratory or injunctive relief, mandamus, or other relief in the Superior Court for Wake County, or the superior court of the county where the facility is located, against the administrator.  Requires the court to issue an injunction if it finds that an administrator is not in compliance with GS 162-62 and provides for continuing jurisdiction.  Provides for orders approving consent decrees and for an appeal. 

Removes appropriation of $278,994 in recurring funds for each year of the 2023-2025 biennium from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Services Regulation, Construction Section to be used to hire two full-time Jail Inspectors.

Changes effective date to July 1, 2024, and applies to offenses committed and persons released from custody on or after that date. Makes conforming changes to the act’s long title.