Rep. Diane Wheatley

Maddy summaryHB 402 requires North Carolina state agencies to assess the financial impact of proposed permanent rules. If a rule would cost affected individuals or businesses $20 million or more over five years, it must be approved by the General Assembly before taking effect. For rules with a $1 million or more annual cost impact, agencies must prepare a fiscal note for review by the Office of State Budget and Management. The bill also mandates a two-thirds vote by agency boards to adopt rules exceeding the $1 million cost threshold. This directly affects state agencies creating regulations and the businesses or residents who would bear the costs of those rules.

Maddy summaryHB 907 creates a new Disaster Readiness and Response Fund within the Office of the State Treasurer in North Carolina. This fund is designed to be separate from the state's General Fund and other existing reserves, providing a dedicated financial resource for disaster-related activities. The bill does not specify how the money will be used or who will administer it, leaving those details for future legislation. It applies to the state government and establishes a new financial mechanism for potential future disaster preparedness and response efforts.

Maddy summaryHB 210 establishes minimum standards for the care and maintenance of licensed cemeteries in North Carolina, directly affecting cemetery operators and license holders. The bill requires the Cemetery Commission to set these standards - covering tasks like grass cutting, grave upkeep, and facility repairs - and allows the Commission to impose $50 civil penalties for violations, with a 10-day notice period before penalties apply. It also mandates annual reports from cemetery companies detailing all care and maintenance work performed, using forms provided by the Commission. These provisions aim to ensure consistent upkeep of cemetery properties while holding operators accountable for compliance.

Maddy summaryHB 612, the "Fostering Care in NC Act," updates North Carolina's laws governing child abuse, neglect, and dependency cases. It expands the definition of "abused juveniles" to include specific offenses like sexual crimes, human trafficking, and certain violent acts, affecting how cases are classified. The bill requires county social services directors to use either a family-centered assessment or a formal investigation when reviewing reports, and to collect military affiliation details of the juvenile's caregiver. It also clarifies that court jurisdiction over juveniles continues until age 18, emancipation, or death. These changes standardize responses to child welfare reports and improve information gathering for safety decisions.

Maddy summaryHB 476 is a procedural bill focused on technical corrections and administrative updates to the State Treasurer's office operations. It does not introduce new policies or directly affect residents, but rather aims to fix minor errors or update existing procedures within the department's statutory framework. The bill is currently in committee review (referred to Judiciary and Pensions committees) and has passed its first reading. As a technical corrections bill, it involves no substantive policy changes or public impact.

Maddy summaryHB 79, "North Carolina Work and Save," creates a voluntary retirement savings program for North Carolina workers without access to employer-sponsored plans. It allows covered employers (small businesses not already offering tax-qualified retirement plans) to set up payroll deduction IRAs (traditional or Roth) for employees, enabling automatic retirement savings. The program is administered by a 12-member Board under the Department of Commerce, with funds held in a trust managed by private entities. It directly affects approximately 1.7 million North Carolina workers in small businesses, focusing on moderate- and lower-income households to improve retirement security. Participation is voluntary for both employers and employees, with no state funding required for employer participation.

Maddy summaryHB 578, the Jason Flatt Act, requires all North Carolina public K-12 schools to implement suicide prevention education and training for school staff. It mandates that licensed educators complete at least one hour of annual suicide prevention training, while staff working with grades 6-12 must receive guidelines for identifying at-risk students and procedures for referrals. Schools must adopt a mental health plan including these elements, with initial staff training of six hours (within six months of hire) and two hours annually thereafter. The law applies to all public schools, charter schools, regional schools, and lab schools starting the 2025-2026 school year.

Maddy summaryHB 477 reorganizes and clarifies North Carolina's existing death benefit laws for public employees by creating a new standardized Article 8 in the retirement statutes. It directly affects state employees, teachers, local government workers, judicial staff, and legislators covered under the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, Local Government Employees' Retirement System, Judicial Retirement System, and Legislative Retirement System. The bill's key mechanism is technical: it recodifies scattered provisions into a single, clear article with updated section numbers, ensuring consistent application of death benefit rules across all retirement systems. This is a procedural update to improve clarity and administrative efficiency - no new benefits or funding changes are created.

Maddy summaryHB 231 establishes North Carolina's participation in the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact, allowing licensed social workers from participating states to practice across state lines without obtaining separate licenses in each state. The bill directly affects licensed social workers seeking to provide services in multiple states, particularly those serving military families or addressing workforce shortages. Key provisions include mutual recognition of licenses among member states, accountability for social workers practicing where clients are located, and streamlined processes for disciplinary information sharing. This reduces duplicate licensing requirements while maintaining state authority to protect public health and safety through existing licensure systems.

Maddy summaryHB 569 requires PFAS manufacturers (those who produce PFAS compounds like GenX) to pay public water systems for cleaning up PFAS contamination in drinking water when levels exceed EPA safety limits. It allows the Environmental Quality Secretary to order polluters to cover actual cleanup costs, including technology to reduce PFAS levels, and applies retroactively to expenses since 2017. The bill appropriates $300,000 for implementation and mandates annual reports on fund use, with water systems refunding ratepayers when manufacturers cover costs. This directly affects water systems burdened by PFAS cleanup, PFAS manufacturers deemed responsible, and ratepayers who may see reduced future water rates.