AN ACT to make the statewide general election day an official state holiday, to amend the state human resources act to make that day a paid holiday for state employees, and TO appropriate funds for that purpose.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 103‑4(a) reads as rewritten:

(a)      The following are declared to be legal public holidays:

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(16)      Each statewide general election day.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 126‑4 reads as rewritten:

§ 126‑4.  Powers and duties of State Human Resources Commission.

Subject to the approval of the Governor, the State Human Resources Commission shall establish policies and rules governing each of the following:

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(5)        Hours and days of work, holidays, vacation, sick leave, and other matters pertaining to the conditions of employment. The legal public holidays established by the Commission as paid holidays for State employees shall include Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday and Veterans Day. Birthday, Veterans Day, and each statewide general election day. The Commission shall not provide for more than 12 13 paid holidays per year, with three paid holidays being given for Christmas.

(5a)      In years in which New Year's Day falls on Saturday, the Commission may designate December 31 of the previous calendar year as the New Year's holiday, provided that the number of holidays for the previous calendar year does not exceed 12 13 and the number of holidays for the current year does not exceed 10. 11. When New Year's Day falls on either Saturday or Sunday, the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina that adopt alternative dates to recognize the legal public holidays set forth in subdivision (5) of this section and established by the Commission may designate, in accordance with the rules of the Commission and the requirements of this subdivision, December 31 of the previous calendar year as the New Year's holiday.

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The policies and rules of the Commission shall not limit the power of any elected or appointed department head, in the department head's discretion and upon the department head's determination that it is in the best interest of the Department, to transfer, demote, or separate a State employee who is not a career State employee as defined by this Chapter.

SECTION 3.  Effective July 1, 2022, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of State Human Resources the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.

SECTION 4.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.