Bill > S652

This bill appropriates funds for salary increases for various state employees, provides cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, expands a childcare program, and creates a tax credit for small businesses, covering the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 fiscal years. * **Teacher Salary Increases:** $673,612,851 from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for teacher raises for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This includes a new monthly salary schedule based on experience and supplements for advanced certifications and specific roles. * **State Employee, Community College, and University of North Carolina Pay Raises:** $666,842,000 in recurring funds and $568,443,000 in nonrecurring funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and $1,003,074,000 in recurring funds and $43,466,000 in nonrecurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve for Compensation Increases. This provides a 5% raise effective July 1, 2023, and a 3% raise effective July 1, 2024, for eligible state-funded employees, community college personnel, and University of North Carolina SHRA employees. EHRA employees at the University of North Carolina may receive increases based on board policies. * **Retention Bonuses:** Funds are allocated for retention bonuses for state and local education employees, with payments in November 2023 and April 2024. * **Child Care WAGE$ Program Expansion:** $22,700,000 in recurring funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and $36,300,000 in recurring funds for the 2024-2025 fiscal year from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services to expand the Child Care WAGE$ program statewide, providing salary supplements for early childhood educators. * **Small Business Tax Credit:** A new tax credit is created for qualifying employers, effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and sunsets on January 1, 2027. The credit is equal to the lesser of $10,000 or 5% of wages paid during the taxable year. Qualifying taxpayers are employers with annual receipts of $8,000,000 or less. * **Retiree Cost-of-Living Adjustments:** Retirees of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, the Consolidated Judicial Retirement System, and the Legislative Retirement System will receive a 2% increase effective July 1, 2023, and one-time supplement payments in Fall 2023 (2%) and Fall 2024 (1%). * **Correctional Officer, Law Enforcement, and Probation/Parole Officer Salary Schedules:** The bill establishes new salary schedules for these groups for the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium, with increases effective July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024.