AN ACT to appropriate funds to expand community employment services provided by the divisions of services for the blind and vocational rehabilitation services for citizens with disabilities.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Services for the Blind, the sum of one hundred twenty‑eight thousand four hundred dollars ($128,400) in recurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year and the sum of three hundred eighty‑five thousand dollars ($385,000) in recurring funds for the 2024‑2025 fiscal year.

SECTION 1.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, the sum of four hundred fifty‑eight thousand three hundred dollars ($458,300) in recurring funds for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year and the sum of one million three hundred seventy‑five thousand dollars ($1,375,000) in recurring funds for the 2024‑2025 fiscal year.

SECTION 1.(c)  Funds provided under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be used for recruitment and retention of service‑critical positions and to increase the rates to service providers to enhance capacity.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2023.