GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2019

 

SESSION LAW 2020-32

SENATE BILL 836

 

 

AN ACT to increase the amount of coronavirus relief funds used for the continuity of operation needs across state government.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

SECTION 1.  Section 3.1 of S.L. 2020‑4 reads as rewritten:

SECTION 3.1.  Transfer of Funds from Reserves to Relief Fund. – The State Controller shall transfer the sum of one billion two five hundred seventy‑five million nine hundred eighty‑eight thousand twenty‑nine dollars ($1,275,988,029) ($1,575,988,029) for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year from the Reserve established in Section 2.1 of this act, and the sum of one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year from the Local Government Coronavirus Relief Reserve established in Section 2.3 of this act, to the Fund established in Section 2.2 of this act.

SECTION 2.  Section 3.2 of S.L. 2020‑4 reads as rewritten:

SECTION 3.2.  Appropriation of Funds from Relief Fund to OSBM. – There is appropriated from the Fund to OSBM the sum of one billion four seven hundred twenty-five million nine hundred eighty‑eight thousand twenty‑nine dollars ($1,425,988,029) ($1,725,988,029) in nonrecurring funds for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year to be allocated and used as provided in Section 3.3 of this act. The funds appropriated in this section shall not revert at the end of the 2019‑2020 fiscal year but shall remain available to expend until December 30, 2020.

SECTION 3.  Subdivision (3) of Section 3.3 of S.L. 2020‑4 reads as rewritten:

(3)      $70,000,000 $370,000,000 to OSBM to be used for the continuity of operation needs across State government. As referenced in Section 2.2 of this act, expenditures incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020, are eligible for funding under this subdivision. Expenditures eligible under this subdivision may include, but are not limited to, covering overtime costs at mental health institutions, prisons, community corrections, juvenile facilities, and veterans homes; covering costs of pay provided to employees of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice at the Department of Public Safety in accordance with The Communicable Disease Emergency Policy established by the Office of State Human Resources; covering costs of in‑home monitoring for all nonviolent juvenile offenders and nonviolent, elderly, health‑compromised, and near‑release adult offenders; covering costs of personal protective equipment, COVID‑19 testing, and hygienic supplies for the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice at the Department of Public Safety; purchasing critical information technology equipment and software licenses; enhancing telepresence services in public safety facilities and the court system; and purchasing emergency sanitation and hygienic supplies. Provided that the United States Department of Labor does not approve additional funding for the Customer Call Center operated by the Division of Employment Security, funds may also be used to hire additional time‑limited staff in the Customer Call Center to meet the unprecedented demand for services. Up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) of the funds allocated in this subdivision may be used to establish a temporary North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office in accordance with Section 4.3 of this act. Up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) of the funds allocated in this subdivision may be further allocated to the Office of the State Auditor to perform the requirements set forth in Section 1.8 of this act. OSBM shall provide a report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations no later than August 15, 2020, detailing the allocation of funds under this subdivision. The report shall include which State agencies received allocations, the amounts disbursed, the amount spent in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year, and for what purposes the funds were used by fund code and line‑item detail.

SECTION 4.  The Office of State Budget and Management shall work with State agencies eligible to receive funding under Section 3.3(3) of S.L. 2020‑4, as amended by this act, to determine what expenditures may be offset with the funds received under Section 3.3(3) of S.L. 2020‑4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the net General Fund appropriations saved pursuant to this section shall revert and remain unexpended until appropriated by the General Assembly.

SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of June, 2020.

 

 

                                                                    s/  Philip E. Berger

                                                                         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

 

 

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

 

 

                                                                    s/  Roy Cooper

                                                                         Governor

 

 

Approved 2:20 p.m. this 19th day of June, 2020