House Bill 389 is a broad budget-adjustment and appropriations measure that makes a wide range of recurring and nonrecurring funding changes across state government. It provides new or additional funding for education and university programs, including support for UNC Charlotte’s data science and battery engineering/recycling initiatives; health and human services programs, including the Transitions to Community Living Initiative, electronic health records at state-operated facilities, Medicaid’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots, and a new rural health transformation application process; and natural and cultural resources, including staffing and operating support for parks, historic sites, the aquarium, and the zoo.
The bill also funds public safety, justice, and general government priorities such as VIPER network operations, school safety grants, a mental health grant program for detainees in local confinement facilities, emergency training center operations, state fire insurance needs, and veterans home renovations. In addition, it includes transportation funding for ferry vessel maintenance, an information technology appropriation for IBIS replacement and stabilization, and a tax change allowing certain insurance holding company investments to be deducted from franchise tax net worth calculations. The bill further adds a transparency requirement that appropriations bills identify the legislator or legislators who requested each provision, and it contains effective-date and severability provisions.
Its impact on state law is both fiscal and structural. It appropriates substantial General Fund, Highway Fund, and reserve funds, creates or expands grant programs and reporting requirements, directs transfers from state IT and DHHS funds, and amends statutes governing the Environmental Management Commission, Utilities Commission subsistence allowances, franchise tax calculations, and legislative budgeting procedures. It also authorizes new administrative staffing and, in some cases, changes how funds may be spent or reported to legislative oversight committees.
The overall sentiment reflected in the voting history appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial: the bill passed second reading in the House 113-0 and later passed a Senate amendment and second reading 48-0. No committee transcript material was provided, but the unanimous votes suggest broad bipartisan support for the bill’s mix of operational funding, targeted capital and program support, and administrative changes.
The main points of contention, based on the text itself, are not reflected in recorded opposition but could include the size and breadth of the appropriations, the creation of a business incentive tied to a large private investment and job-creation commitment, the retroactive tax change for insurance holding companies, and the new requirement that legislators be named as requesters for budget provisions. The bill also centralizes legislative control over certain federal funds and creates new reporting obligations, which may be of interest to agencies and oversight committees even though no formal opposition is shown in the vote record.
The bill appropriates and reallocates funds across multiple agencies and programs, including UNC, DHHS, DEQ, Commerce, the Center for Safer Schools, the State Highway Patrol, OSBM, DOT, and the Office of State Fire Marshal. It amends state law to authorize new grant programs, staffing, and reporting requirements; modifies franchise tax treatment for certain insurance holding company investments; changes Utilities Commission subsistence allowances; and requires appropriations bills to identify the legislators who requested each provision. It also directs the handling of certain reserve and special funds and makes several provisions effective immediately or retroactively.
The recorded vote history indicates overwhelming support for the bill. It passed the House on second reading 113-0 and later passed a Senate amendment and second reading 48-0, with no recorded dissent in the provided history. No committee transcript was available, but the unanimous votes suggest the bill was viewed as a broadly acceptable budget operations package rather than a partisan or highly divisive measure.
No formal opposition is shown in the provided transcripts or votes, but the bill contains several provisions that could draw scrutiny: a new water and sewer economic development incentive tied to a large private investment and job-creation threshold; a retroactive franchise tax exemption for certain insurance holding company investments; and a new rule requiring each budget provision to identify the legislator or legislators who requested it. Agencies and oversight bodies may also focus on the bill’s expanded reporting requirements, legislative control over federal rural health funds, and the use of reserve funds for multiple large appropriations.