This bill establishes the Nursing Fellows Program at Winston-Salem State University to support students pursuing degrees in nursing or nursing education. The legislation creates a trust fund that provides forgivable loans to high-achieving students who commit to working as nurses or instructors within North Carolina after graduation. Funds from the trust are used to cover tuition and fees, with loan amounts increasing for those who plan to become nursing instructors. The program includes provisions for mentoring, administrative costs, and extracurricular activities to enhance student success.
This bill creates a new advisory council and grant program in North Carolina to support high-quality after-school activities for children and youth up to age 18. It establishes the LEAP Advisory Council to guide the Department of Public Instruction on grant criteria, program quality standards, and strategies to serve rural and underserved communities. The legislation also sets up the LEAP Fund, which will be financed by state appropriations, federal funds, private donations, and any legal settlements against social media companies, to distribute grants to eligible community-based organizations and schools. These grants, limited to a maximum of two years per award, must provide structured programs with adult mentors focused on positive youth development rather than basic classroom instruction. The bill ensures that grant funds supplement existing programs and includes requirements for evaluating outcomes such as attendance, skill development, and community engagement.
This bill establishes a new licensing framework in North Carolina for artificial intelligence chatbots that handle health information, requiring operators to obtain permission from the Department of Justice before offering such services. To qualify for a license, companies must submit detailed technical documentation, prove insurance coverage, and demonstrate that their systems meet rigorous safety and efficacy standards through independent testing and expert review. Once licensed, operators are required to implement strong data security measures, report breaches within 24 hours, provide clear disclosures about the chatbot's artificial nature, and allow users to access or delete their personal data. The state's Department of Justice will enforce these rules by conducting regular physical and digital inspections of chatbot systems, including reviews of source code and data practices.
This bill requires North Carolina's Department of Information Technology to offer advisory and consultation services to state agencies that are currently exempt from its standard IT programs. To support this new requirement, the legislation appropriates $50,000 to create an interagency liaison network and takes effect on July 1, 2026. The law does not change the existing list of exempt agencies but ensures they can still access guidance on IT activities if they request it.
This bill reformulates the composition of hospital authority boards in North Carolina to ensure greater public and elected official representation. It mandates that each board include at least four public members and four elected officials, while also requiring that board meetings follow specific open meeting laws. To prevent all members from leaving at once, the law establishes a staggered term system where initial terms range from one to two years before standardizing to three years. Additionally, the state provides $50,000 in funding to assist hospital authorities with the transition to these new requirements by December 2026.
This bill mandates that all public schools in North Carolina, including charter and laboratory schools, provide free breakfast and lunch to every student starting in the 2026-2027 school year. To support this requirement, the state will allocate $116 million from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction, with additional flexibility to use existing state aid if necessary. The legislation outlines specific criteria for distributing these funds, such as school size, the number of eligible students, and the quality of food provided, while ensuring that state money supplements rather than replaces other funding sources.
This bill, titled the Investing in North Carolina Act, establishes a new salary schedule for public school teachers and provides raises for state employees, community college staff, and University of North Carolina employees. The proposed teacher salary schedule sets monthly pay based on years of experience, ranging from $4,600 for new teachers to $6,370 for those with 29 or more years of service, while also adding specific supplements for certified teachers, school nurses, counselors, and other instructional support personnel. These salary increases are contingent on the failure of the 2026-2027 Current Operations Appropriations Act to pass, meaning the changes would only take effect if that budget bill does not become law. Additionally, the bill includes a 6% cost-of-living adjustment for eligible state-funded employees effective July 1, 2026, and allocates $921.2 million in recurring funds to implement the teacher salary raises.
This North Carolina bill proposes administrative updates to state retirement laws, primarily affecting teachers, state employees, and local government workers. It reinstates previously forfeited military service credits for eligible employees who purchase that service back, ensuring their retirement calculations reflect their full career history. Additionally, the legislation protects fully contributory death benefits from being reduced to cover any overpayments or errors in other retirement benefits. The bill also introduces a contribution-based benefit cap for future retirees, which would limit pension payouts to a specific percentage of contributions to ensure long-term financial sustainability.
SB 960 increases the funding cap for North Carolina public schools serving students with disabilities from 13% to 16% of a district's student population. The bill also creates a new High-Cost Disabilities Support Fund to provide extra reimbursement for students requiring intensive and specialized services. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, the state will allocate approximately $97.8 million in recurring funds to help districts meet these obligations without diverting money from general classroom instruction.
This North Carolina bill allocates $359.3 million in recurring funds to hire additional school psychologists and counselors starting in the 2026-2027 school year. The legislation establishes specific staffing ratios, requiring one psychologist for every 700 students and one counselor for every 250 students statewide. These positions are intended to create a tiered support system for students within the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan.
This bill directs the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority to conduct a feasibility study on creating a student loan forgiveness program for graduates of public colleges and universities in the state. The study will evaluate the costs, eligibility requirements, and potential economic benefits of offering debt relief to encourage graduates to remain in North Carolina after graduation. To fund this analysis, the bill appropriates $150,000 from the state's General Fund for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The Authority must complete the study and submit a report with recommendations to the legislature by October 1, 2027. The bill does not establish a forgiveness program itself but rather authorizes a review to determine if such a program is viable.
This bill provides funding to the North Carolina Department of Commerce for small business support and the Biotechnology Center, while also transferring the Advisory Council on Rare Diseases to the Department of Health and Human Services. It establishes a 19-member council with representatives from medical professionals, patients, caregivers, and industry stakeholders to advise on rare disease research and treatment. The legislation also creates a new reserve fund for life sciences and biomanufacturing technologies and allows certain water and sewer economic development projects.
