HB 952 establishes the North Carolina Child Care Finance Agency to provide loans and bonds for constructing or rehabilitating childcare facilities. The agency will prioritize small providers (under 10 locations), high-quality licensed centers, faith-based organizations, and businesses offering on-site childcare for employees. It directly affects childcare providers, employers with childcare programs, and families seeking affordable, accessible care by financing facility development. This policy change creates a dedicated state mechanism to address North Carolina’s childcare shortage through targeted infrastructure investment.
HB 888 appropriates $1 million from the General Fund to the North Carolina Community Health Worker Association (a nonprofit) for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The funds will directly support the Association's work in mobilizing, training, and certifying community health workers across North Carolina. This grant enables the Association to expand its workforce development efforts, specifically targeting the training and certification of community health workers. The bill affects the Association's operations and the community health workers they certify, but does not change health service delivery or eligibility for residents. The appropriation becomes effective July 1, 2025.
HB 910 creates a $2 million recurring grant program to increase teacher diversity in North Carolina public schools, primarily benefiting school districts, colleges, and community organizations. The bill funds partnerships that support recruitment, training, and retention of educators of color through specific initiatives like dual enrollment programs, paid clinical experiences, mentorship, and financial aid for aspiring teachers. Grants require evidence-based proposals addressing recruitment or retention gaps and must include long-term sustainability plans. Local school systems and institutions of higher education will administer the program, with annual reporting required to track progress toward diversifying the educator workforce.
HB 954 creates a State Critical Infrastructure and Construction Resiliency Fund to support disaster recovery and preparedness. It requires counties that experienced a Governor-declared Type I, II, or III disaster in the past three years to redirect 5% of their annual highway use tax revenue into the fund. The Governor can use these funds for new infrastructure projects and resiliency efforts in disaster-affected areas, as well as for state/local response activities following a federal disaster declaration under the Stafford Act. This directly affects eligible counties and their residents by providing dedicated resources for rebuilding and preventing future disaster impacts.
HB 931 limits towing fees to reasonable and clearly disclosed amounts, prohibits charging storage fees when towing companies are closed, and bans towing to locations without 24-hour vehicle recovery access. It requires towing companies to accept debit/credit/cash payments without processing fees exceeding 2% of the total. The Utilities Commission enforces these rules, imposing up to $5,000 penalties per violation for noncompliance. This bill directly affects towing companies and vehicle owners in North Carolina by regulating fee practices and payment options.
HB 917 establishes a new Data Analytics, Transparency, and Accountability Division within North Carolina's General Assembly. The bill requires all state agencies to provide the Division with requested data and access to systems (while protecting personal information), mandates annual reports from agencies like the Global TransPark Authority detailing job creation metrics and financials, and allocates $2 million for the Division's operations. This Division will oversee transparency efforts, analyze agency data, and receive reports from state entities on performance metrics and real property portfolios. The Division becomes operational starting July 1, 2025, with updated statutory references reflecting its new name.
HB 914 allows colleges and religious institutions in qualifying North Carolina cities (population over 50,000 in urban areas) to develop affordable housing on their owned land without needing special zoning approvals or permits. The bill requires 80% of new housing units to be reserved for low-income residents (at or below 80% of median income), with limited exceptions for staff housing. It includes location restrictions, such as avoiding historic districts, heavy industrial areas, and sites where over one-third is currently light industrial. This policy change streamlines development by treating such housing as a "use by right" under existing zoning.
This bill allows federally licensed gun dealers in North Carolina to safely store firearms for private owners without charging a fee. It provides legal protection for these dealers against lawsuits if someone is injured or killed during the storage period, unless the dealer was negligent or acted unlawfully. The state Bureau of Investigation will create a standard form for these agreements and keep them confidential, while dealers cannot store illegally possessed guns or return weapons to prohibited individuals. The law takes effect on July 1, 2025.
HB 933 increases Medicaid rates to ensure direct care workers for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities earn at least $18 per hour, affecting home/community providers, group homes, and waiver programs like NC Innovations. It adds 1,000 slots to the NC Innovations waiver program (with $36 million in annual state funding) and requires a 10-year plan to address unmet service needs. The bill also removes income and resource limits for Medicaid eligibility under the Health Coverage for Workers with Disabilities program. These changes take effect July 1, 2025, with $183 million in annual state funding supporting the wage increases and $36 million for new waiver slots.
HB 890 requires North Carolina's Department of Public Instruction to create an Emergency Internet Service Plan (EISP) ensuring public schools can access temporary internet during state emergencies, like natural disasters. The bill establishes a dedicated Emergency Internet Service Fund with $3.9 million in initial funding for equipment and service contracts, which schools cannot be charged to activate. Key provisions include requiring the plan to cover activation conditions, equipment needs, data protection, and third-party partnerships, while ensuring the fund is nonreverting (unused money carries over). This directly affects all public school units by guaranteeing emergency internet access without requiring school-level funding. The plan must be updated annually and reported to the legislature.
This bill modifies North Carolina law to change how confidential legislators' documents are handled. It requires legislators to serve as custodians for all documents they receive or create while in office, but allows specific exceptions where these documents must be disclosed. The exceptions include federal grand jury subpoenas, requests from investigative authorities, correspondence about state funding for businesses and nonprofits, communications with lobbyists, staff compensation records, and correspondence with state agencies regarding business interests. The law applies to both current and former legislators and takes effect immediately upon becoming law.
HB 945 requires North Carolina public schools to specify whether incidents of sexual assault, harassment, or other violence occurred on school buses when submitting reports to the State Board of Education. It increases reporting frequency from annual to biannual (at the end of each school quarter) and establishes a Class I felony penalty for school employees or board members who fail to report such incidents. The bill directly affects local school boards, administrators, and staff who must comply with these reporting requirements. The State Board will compile and publish these reports, excluding sensitive minor identifiers, starting with the 2025-2026 school year. This law aims to improve tracking of violence on school buses through standardized reporting and enforcement.
