Part I

Transfers the NC Utilities Commission (Commission) from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the State Treasurer (DST). Specifies that the Commission will be administratively located in DST but exercise its prescribed statutory powers independently.

Amends GS 62-10 (pertaining to the composition of the Commission) as follows. Changes the number of commissioners from seven to nine.  Reduces the number of commissioners appointed by the governor from seven to four. The remaining commissioners will be appointed as follows: two by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House, two by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and one by the State Treasurer.  Changes the appointing authority if the Governor and State Treasurer fail to submit nominees for appointments or vacancies to the Commission from the Lieutenant Governor to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Changes term of Commission chair from four years to three years.  Provides that General Assembly must fill vacancies in line with GS 120-122 (governing vacancies for General Assembly appointments.) Makes conforming changes. Removes outdated language.  

Specifies that two commissioners appointed by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate will serve an initial four-year term starting on July 1, 2023, so that the number of commissioners is increased to nine.  After the four-year terms conclude, subsequent commissioners appointed to these seats will serve six-year terms. Designates appointment authorities for the commissioners whose terms are expiring. For the three commissioners whose terms are expiring June 30, 2023, one will be appointed by the Governor and the other two by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate each. For the three terms expiring June 30, 2025, two commissioners will be appointed by the Governor and one by the State Treasurer.  And for the term expiring June 30, 2027, one commissioner will be appointed by the Governor.

Makes conforming changes to GS 143B-433 (organization of Department of Commerce) to remove the Commission.

Part II

Amends GS 143B-437.54 (establishing the Economic Investment Committee [Committee]) as follows. Increases the Committee membership to seven with the two additional members appointed by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate each. Deletes language barring members of the General Assembly from being members of the Committee. Specifies that members not appointed by the General Assembly will serve until they are no longer in office or are replaced with another designee.  

Repeals GS 120-123(76) listing the Committee as one of the government boards or committee where members of the General Assembly may not serve. Makes other conforming changes.

Part III

Amends GS 143B-283, pertaining to the composition of the Environmental Management Commission (EMC), as follows.  Changes the appointing entity from the Governor to the Commissioner of Agriculture (Commissioner) for two commissioners.  Makes conforming changes to account for new appointing authorities. Makes technical changes.

Amends GS 143B-284 (EMC officers) to have the chair elected by the members of the EMC, rather than designated by the Governor. Makes technical changes and language gender neutral.

Part IV

Amends GS 130A-30, pertaining to the composition of the Commission for Public Health (CPH) as follows. Changes the appointing authority for CPH members, by reducing the number of members appointed by the Governor from nine to five. Specifies that the General Assembly will appoint the remaining four members as follows: two upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and two upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Removes the requirement that one of the Governor’s appointments be a registered engineer experienced in sanity engineering or a soil scientist. 

Removes outdated language. Makes technical and conforming changes.

Specifies that the General Assembly will appoint the successors of four members for those members previously appointed by the Governor whose terms are expiring on April 30, 2023.

Part V

Amends GS 143-350, pertaining to the Board of Transportation (Board), as follows. Deletes provisions pertaining to the membership of the Board (currently, 14 members are from one of the highway divisions with six at-large members, with the 14 division members appointed by the Governor and the at-large members appointed by the General Assembly). Deletes provisions for staggered terms. Replaces the membership as follows.  Specifies that the Board will consist of 20 voting members, 14 of whom will be appointed by the General Assembly, seven upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and seven upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Governor will now appoint six at-large voting members. Specifies that each highway division must have at least one voting member that is a resident of that highway division, however, no more than three voting members may reside in the same highway division. Designates the Secretary of Transportation as an ex officio nonvoting member of the Board. Provides that all terms will be for four years and will expire on June 30 of the year of expiration. Provides that the chair will be elected by members of the Board, rather than the Governor.  Sets schedule of appointing authorities for when terms expire as follows: (1) the General Assembly will appoint Highway Division 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 14 board members from the six division appointments expiring in 2024. Three of these appointments will be made by the Senate and three by the House; (2) the General Assembly will appoint Highway Division 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 board members from the five at-large appointments expiring in 2024. Three of these appointments will be made by the Senate and two by the House; (3) the Governor will appoint six at-large board members from the eight division appointments expiring in 2026; (4) the General Assembly will appoint Highway Division 10, 11, and 13 board members from the remaining two division appointments expiring in 2026 and the one at-large appointment expiring in 2026. One of these appointments will be made by the Senate and two by the House.

Part VI

Amends GS 113A-104 to change the membership of the Coastal Resources Commission (GRC) as follows. Retains the same number of members but removes the three members who must have experience in land development, coast related business, and coastal agriculture, respectively and who are appointed by the Governor. Replaces those members with three members as follows: one member to be appointed by the Commissioner of Insurance with experience in land development and the other two at-large members to be appointed by the General Assembly, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate each. Provides that the chair will be elected by members of the GRC, rather than the Governor. Makes conforming changes.  

Specifies that the seat eliminated by the repeal of the seats specified above will be the member who was at the time of appointment a coastal property owner or experienced in land development and whose term expires on June 30, 2023.

Part VII

Amends GS 143-241, pertaining to the appointment and terms of office of members of the Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) as follows. Increases the amount of appointees by the General Assembly to the WRC from eight to ten members, five upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House and five upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

Reduces the amount of at-large members appointed by the Governor from two to one. Designates the Commissioner of Agriculture as appointment authority for that additional at-large seat. Makes conforming changes. Effective June 30, 2025.

Part VIII

Amends GS 124-15, pertaining to the membership of the NC Railroad Board of Directors (NCRBD) to reduce the number of members appointed by the Governor from seven to six, with the seventh member now appointed by the State Treasurer. Removes outdated language. Provides that the State Treasurer’s appointee will be one of the appointees with a term expiring in 2023. Permits the Board to determine which of those appointees will be replaced by the appointee of the State Treasurer. Effective on the date that revisions to the Articles of Incorporation of a State-owned railroad to implement the changes in appointing authority made by this section are enacted by the Board of Directors of the State-owned railroad and become effective. The railroad must report to the Revisor of Statutes the effective date of those changes.

Part IX

Amends GS 116-37, pertaining to the Board of Directors of the UNC Health System (UNC Health Board), to change the composition of the members of the UNC Health Board as follows following:

• Four ex officio members who are:

1. The President of The University of North Carolina or the President's designee.
2. The Chief Executive Officer of the University of North Carolina Health Care System.
3. The Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4. The President of the University of North Carolina Hospitals. 

(Currently eight ex-officio members from UNC which include those listed above, two of whom are faculty members and one of whom is an additional administrator designated by the chancellor, and the President of the UNC faculty physicians.)

• Eight members at large appointed by the General Assembly as follows:

1. One member appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives annually.
2. One member appointed by the General Assembly upon  recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate annually.

• Twelve of the members at large must be appointed by the Board of Governors after consultation with the President of The University of North Carolina. The Board of Governors will appoint three members annually.

(Currently sixteen at-large members, all serving four-year terms. Four of the members are appointed by the board of directors.)

Removes outdated language. Makes conforming changes.

Specifies that terms of office for all ex officio members of the board of  directors of the UNC Health Board repealed by this section will expire July 1, 2023. All at-large members of the board of directors of the UNC Health Board serving as of July 1, 2023, will remain in office until their current term of appointment expires. Any vacancy occurring in a seat appointed by the board of directors expiring October 31, 2024, will be filled by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the remainder of that term of office.

Sets the following schedule for appointments made in 2023, notwithstanding the provisions set forth above relating to one-year terms:

• For a term beginning July 1, 2023, and ending October 31, 2027, one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Members appointed to fill those terms of office in 2027 will be appointed to four-year terms of office. These members will fill seats vacated by the prior ex officio members of the UNC Health Board.
• For a term beginning July 1, 2023, and ending October 31, 2026, one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Members appointed to fill those terms of office in 2026 will be appointed to four-year terms of office. These members will fill seats vacated by the prior ex officio members of the UNC Health Board.
• For a term beginning October 1, 2023, and ending October 31, 2025, one  member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The member appointed to fill that term of office in 2025 will be appointed to a four-year term of office. This member will fill a position expiring in 2023 held by a board of trustee appointment.
• For a term beginning October 1, 2023, and ending October 31, 2024, one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon  recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. This member will fill a position expiring in 2023 held by a board of trustee appointment.
• For a term beginning October 1, 2023, and ending October 31, 2025, one member will be appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The member appointed to fill that term of office in 2025 will be appointed to a four-year term of office. This member will fill a position expiring in  2023 held by a board of trustee appointment.

Sets the following schedule for appointments made in 2024:

• Upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, appoint one member to the UNC Health Board for the expiring position held by the board of trustee appointment expiring in 2024. The member appointed to fill that term of office in 2024 will be appointed to a four-year term of office.
• Upon recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, appoint one member to the UNC Health Board for the expiring one-year term appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore in 2023. The member appointed to fill that term of office will be appointed to a four-year term of office.

Notwithstanding the requirement for the Board of Governors to appoint three members annually, and length of terms, sets the following schedule for appointments made by the Board of Governors in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026:

• No appointments will be made in 2023.
• In 2024, the Board of Governors will appoint three members to terms ending October 31, 2028, and one member to a term ending October 31, 2027. Members appointed to fill those terms of office when expired will be appointed to four-year terms of office.
• In 2025, the Board of Governors will appoint one member to a term of office ending October 31, 2029. The member appointed to fill that term of office when expired will be appointed to a four-year term of office.
• In 2026, the Board of Governors will appoint three members to terms ending October 31, 2030, two members to terms of office ending October 31, 2029, and two members to terms of office ending October 31, 2027. Members appointed to fill those terms of office when expired will be appointed to four-year terms of office.

Part X

Contains severability clause.
Effective July 1, 2023 except as otherwise provided.