This law prohibits any North Carolina state agency or court from accepting payments made with central bank digital currency issued by the Federal Reserve. It also bars these government entities from participating in any testing programs for such digital currencies run by the Federal Reserve. The bill defines central bank digital currency as a digital form of money directly issued or validated by the Federal Reserve System or a federal agency. Although the Governor vetoed the measure, it became law over his objections and applies immediately to all state institutions.
This bill codifies North Carolina's laws regarding tenancy in common, which allows multiple people to own a property separately without the right of survivorship. It clarifies how such ownership is created, defines specific terms like "actual ouster," and sets rules for how married couples holding property as tenants in common are treated. The legislation also includes changes to notary public laws, prohibits local governments from banning landlords from refusing tenants based on federal housing assistance income, and adjusts procedures for small claims court and eviction cases.
Senate Bill 607, known as the Regulatory Reform Act of 2024, modifies licensing rules in North Carolina to reduce barriers for certain professionals and adjust training standards. The bill exempts specific individuals, such as medical staff and inmates, from needing barber or cosmetologist licenses while performing their duties, and it removes the state residency requirement for electrologists wishing to obtain a license. Additionally, the legislation increases the minimum training hours for massage and bodywork therapists from 500 to 650 hours before they can be licensed. These changes directly affect barbers, cosmetologists, electrologists, and massage therapists by altering the qualifications and exemptions required to practice legally in the state.
This North Carolina bill adjusts the 2023 state budget by extending the spending deadline for certain one-time funds until December 31, 2024, rather than letting them expire on June 30. It also reassigns money from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund, reducing specific allocations to agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services and the University of North Carolina while redirecting those funds to other programs. A major provision moves $800 million from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund to the Office of State Budget and Management to offset other state expenses, while simultaneously appropriating $800 million from the General Fund to the Department of Environmental Quality for water and wastewater projects. Additionally, the legislation continues funding for childcare stabilization grants to support the Department of Health and Human Services.
This bill allows four specific charter schools in North Carolina to join the state health plan for teachers and employees, overriding a previous two-year waiting period that usually applies to such schools. It also updates related pension laws for firefighters and clarifies rules for employee stock ownership plans. Additionally, the legislation addresses parental leave for charter school staff and ensures employees are notified about their health plan status.
This bill updates North Carolina's automatic expunction laws to streamline how criminal records are cleared when charges are dismissed or result in a not guilty verdict. It establishes a specific timeframe of 180 to 210 days after a case concludes for eligible records to be automatically expunged, while excluding cases involving felony plea agreements. The legislation also clarifies that expunged records remain confidential but allows prosecutors to access them for certain purposes, such as calculating prior record levels or determining habitual offender status, even after the record is sealed from public view. Additionally, the bill extends a temporary pause on automatic expunctions to ensure all eligible dismissed cases from a previous legislative session are processed.
This amendment to the 2023 Appropriations Act directs that any extra state revenue generated by mandated teacher salary and benefit increases be used specifically to fund those same increases for the 2024-2025 school year. It also modifies the rules for supplemental teacher funding by changing how the state calculates a "supplant factor" to determine if local schools are using state money to replace their own funds. Under the new rules, if a local school district is found to have violated these funding requirements, the state board must either continue funding if the district fixes the issue or withhold all supplemental funds for the following year if it does not. These changes directly affect local school administrative units and the state's financial management of teacher compensation.
This bill modifies North Carolina laws in three main areas: clarifying how protective services are provided to disabled adults, updating the definition of family child care homes, and modernizing qualifications for local health directors. Regarding disabled adults, the bill clarifies that petitions for protective services must be served according to specific rules and ensures the individual has the right to be present and represented by counsel at the hearing, with state funding for representation if the person is indigent. For child care, the legislation updates the definition of a family child care home to specify that it involves caring for more than two but fewer than ten children in a residence. Finally, the bill sets new education and experience requirements for local health directors, including options for various master's degrees paired with years of relevant experience, and establishes a review process where the State Health Director verifies if a candidate's degree is in a related field.
This bill amends existing wastewater regulations to allow for the discharge of treated domestic wastewater into low-flow or zero-flow surface waters, such as intermittent streams and wetlands, under specific conditions. It directly affects municipalities, businesses, and developers by establishing a new permitting process that permits discharges of up to 2 million gallons per day if the treated water has high dissolved oxygen and low biological oxygen demand. The legislation requires the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Management Commission to develop and submit draft rules to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval by August 1, 2024. Once approved, these rules will create site-specific criteria based on flow data from the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure wastewater discharge does not harm water quality.
This amendment to Senate Bill 303 modifies procedures for questioning juveniles aged 16 or older by law enforcement. It requires officers to make a reasonable effort to contact a parent, guardian, or custodian if the minor requests their presence during an interview. If the primary adult is unavailable, the law allows a caretaker to be present instead. These changes aim to ensure that minors have adult support during police interactions while maintaining the focus on the questioning process itself.
This bill allows patients with life-threatening or severely debilitating conditions in North Carolina to access custom-made investigational drugs, biological products, or devices that are not yet approved by the federal government. To qualify, a patient must have a doctor confirm that standard FDA-approved treatments are unlikely to help and must provide written informed consent acknowledging the risks and potential costs. The law requires that the patient or their guardian understands they are personally responsible for any expenses related to the treatment unless a separate contract states otherwise. Additionally, the bill clarifies that using these individualized treatments may temporarily remove a patient's eligibility for hospice care, though that eligibility can be restored if the treatment stops.
This amendment to House Bill 250 modifies North Carolina's rules for obtaining a limited driving privilege for individuals required to use an ignition interlock device. Specifically, it mandates that if a person commits an interlock violation within the 90 days before their initial compliance period ends, their required compliance time must be extended. The change directly affects drivers subject to these safety requirements by ensuring that violations immediately preceding a license restoration attempt result in a longer waiting period. Additionally, the amendment removes the previous text that established the criteria for obtaining a limited driving privilege under these specific circumstances.
