AN ACT to establish a rural tourism recovery pilot program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the funds received by the State of North Carolina pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117‑2, to the Department of Commerce the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) to be allocated to the North Carolina nonprofit corporation with which the Department contracts pursuant to G.S. 143B‑431.01 to create the North Carolina Rural Tourism Recovery Pilot Program. The purpose of the Program is to invest in rural areas of the State impacted by the COVID‑19 pandemic with funds to support local tourism, job creation, and economic development in those areas. The nonprofit corporation to which funds are allocated pursuant to this section shall develop guidelines providing for the administration of the Program. Funds appropriated in this section do not revert but remain available for the Program for as long as applicable federal law permits.

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