Fiscally Responsible and Sustainable Budgeting.

HB 180 requires North Carolina's legislative and executive branches to collaborate annually on a long-term budget assessment covering at least five years. The bill mandates analyzing how to maintain current services amid inflation and population changes, the cost of new policies or court mandates, employee salary/benefit adjustments, and economic or federal funding shifts. This assessment must directly inform the Governor's annual budget message, which must include a five-year fiscal outlook for new or expanded programs. The law applies to all state budget planning starting with the next fiscal year, affecting how state agencies and the Governor project spending sustainability.