Sen. Jim Burgin

Maddy summarySB 537 defines the scope of practice for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) in North Carolina, specifically for nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), and clinical nurse specialists (CNSs). The bill provides statutory definitions for each role, detailing permitted activities like diagnosing conditions, prescribing medications, ordering diagnostic tests, and managing patient care within their specialized focus areas. By codifying these definitions in state law, the bill removes longstanding ambiguity about APRN practice that has persisted for decades, as noted by North Carolina courts and the executive branch. This change directly affects over 20,000 APRNs in the state by legally clarifying their scope of practice.

Maddy summarySB 624 requires licenses for artificial intelligence chatbots that handle health information in North Carolina, directly affecting developers and operators of such tools. The bill mandates strict licensing applications detailing technical security, data practices, and risk management, with the Department of Justice reviewing for safety, compliance, and efficacy. Licensees must implement encryption, report data breaches within 24 hours, obtain explicit user consent, allow data access/deletion, and demonstrate clinical effectiveness through peer-reviewed studies. It also requires annual third-party audits, quarterly safety reports, and clear disclosures about the chatbot's artificial nature and limitations. The law applies only to chatbots substantially handling health data, including medical conditions, mental health, reproductive care, genetic information, and location data tied to health services.

Maddy summarySB 672 requires large medical facilities in North Carolina (including hospitals, outpatient clinics, and high-revenue practices) to adopt a Medical Debt Mitigation Policy (MDMP) that limits unfair debt collection tactics. The bill bans excessive interest charges, restricts selling medical debt without strict safeguards, and ensures patients eligible for financial assistance don’t pay more than their share - preventing double payments if debt is sold to collectors. It mandates clear, plain-language summaries of financial aid eligibility and requires facilities to calculate charges fairly based on household income. This directly affects patients with medical debt and large healthcare providers, aiming to reduce burdens from debt collection practices.

Maddy summarySB 673 protects licensed healthcare professionals (physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and registered nurses) employed by hospitals in North Carolina. It prohibits hospitals and stakeholders from retaliating against these workers for reporting safety concerns, ethical violations, or breaches of hospital medical staff rules. The bill also bans non-compete clauses in hospital employment contracts and requires nondisclosure agreements to explicitly allow reporting of safety or legal violations. Violations of these provisions make the agreements unenforceable, with affected workers entitled to damages and legal fees.

Maddy summarySB 704, the "Ronnie Long No Cap Act," removes the $750,000 cap on compensation for exonerees in North Carolina, replacing it with $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment. It also requires the state to seek federal approval for Medicaid coverage without income or asset limits for exonerees and mandates the Department of Adult Correction to provide tailored transition services (including housing and employment support) with a $25,000 per person spending limit. The bill directly affects individuals exonerated after wrongful convictions, such as Ronnie Long (44 years incarcerated), by expanding financial compensation, healthcare access, and reintegration support. These provisions apply to exonerees released after the bill's effective date, with compensation retroactive for living individuals.

Maddy summarySB 727 adjusts North Carolina's Medicaid program by reducing the maximum number of regional contracts awarded to provider-led groups (PLEs) from up to 12 to up to 4 per contract cycle. It maintains four statewide contracts for commercial health plans to cover Medicaid recipients across the state. The bill requires the state to award contracts based on provider responses to requests for proposals, ensuring coverage continuity if fewer than four providers meet requirements. This directly affects Medicaid recipients, commercial health insurers, and provider-led groups managing regional or statewide coverage.

Maddy summarySB 759, the Minors Health Protection Act, amends North Carolina law to clarify when minors can consent to specific medical services without parental involvement and when parents can access their minor child's medical records. It allows minors to consent to treatment for venereal diseases, pregnancy, substance abuse, and emotional issues (Section 2(a)), but requires written parental consent for emergency-use vaccines not yet fully FDA-approved (Section 2(a1)). Parents generally have access to all medical records, except for records related to abuse investigations, court orders, or if the parent is under criminal investigation (Section 3(b)). The law takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summarySB 745 allows North Carolina child care centers operating under voluntary enhanced requirements to increase maximum group sizes for infants (0-12 months) from 10 to 12 children and for toddlers (12-24 months) from 12 to 15 children, while maintaining stricter staff-to-child ratios (e.g., 1:4 for infants). It also aligns nap time supervision rules for one-year-olds with existing rules for two-year-olds, requiring visible supervision by a staff member present in the room. The bill directly affects licensed child care centers seeking flexibility under voluntary enhanced licensing standards. These changes aim to provide capacity options without reducing staff ratios, effective upon enactment.

Maddy summarySB 530 creates the Agricultural Manufacturing Investment Grant Account (AMIG) within North Carolina's One North Carolina Fund to provide competitive grants to agricultural manufacturers. The bill authorizes grants of up to $500,000 total per company, requiring recipients to invest at least $5 million in private funds within two years, maintain 25+ full-time employees with wages at 110% of the county average, and meet performance targets. Grants prioritize projects in designated development areas, those using advanced technologies like AI or biotech, or those with significant R&D spending. Recipients must repay grants if they fail to meet employment, investment, or wage requirements over the grant term.

Maddy summarySB 462 is a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved by North Carolina voters in 2026, would set legislative salaries equal to the average public school teacher salary and align travel, subsistence, and per diem rates with state employee standards. It would also limit members of the General Assembly to 16 consecutive years in either chamber and restrict regular legislative sessions to 120 days in odd-numbered years and 90 days in even-numbered years (with limited extensions). These changes would directly affect all members of the North Carolina General Assembly by altering their compensation, term limits, and session duration. The bill requires a statewide referendum on November 3, 2026, to take effect, with separate votes for each provision.