AN ACT to give preference to applications for state grants if the grant will directly benefit tier one or tier two counties that also have military installations located in that county.

Whereas, North Carolina has a proud tradition of mutually beneficial cooperation with the military; and

Whereas, North Carolina has the fourth‑largest population of military personnel of any state; and

Whereas, the military accounts for over a half million jobs, $66 billion in gross State product, and represents 10% of the overall economy of this State; and

Whereas, North Carolina is home to many military installations; and

Whereas, some of those installations may be vulnerable to closure as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure initiative; and

Whereas, a failure to adequately strengthen and protect the military in this State would make military installations in the State vulnerable to closure under the federal Base Realignment and Closure initiative; and

Whereas, a strong economy benefits both the military installations in this State and the communities that surround and support those installations; and

Whereas, the people of this State recognize the interdependence of the military and the communities that surround and support its operations; and

Whereas, it is in the best interest of the State to support the economic growth of the communities that surround and support our military installations; and

Whereas, the economic growth and success of one community in this State benefits us all; and

Whereas, this State has developed strategies to foster economic growth in targeted areas by categorizing those areas within distinct zones; and

Whereas, the use of economic prosperity zones has strengthened and bolstered the communities of our State to the benefit of all of its citizens; and

Whereas, this State must use its resources to determine similar ways to strengthen and bolster the economic growth of the communities that surround and support our military installations; and

Whereas, strong, supporting communities are invaluable to the military institutions in our State and benefit the military as a whole and its continuing operations throughout the nation; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑10 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(k)      Grants; Preference for Counties Hosting Military Installations. – The head of each principal State department shall give additional scoring weight or preference to any applicant for a grant administered or given by that department if all of the following apply:

(1)        The grant would directly benefit the communities located in a county that is a development tier one county or a development tier two county as determined by G.S. 143B‑437.08.

(2)        One of the following military installations is located in whole or in part in the county identified in subdivision (1) of this subsection:

a.         Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

b.         Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

c.         United States Army Fort Bragg.

d.         Marine Corps Air Station New River.

e.         Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

f.          United States Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City.

g.         Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.